Sustainability at the heart of Leonardo's supply chain

Leonardo is about to launch its sustainability training project for suppliers. It has selected over 500 Italian SMEs to participate in this new video course project. These videos were produced in partnership with The European House – Ambrosetti. The initiative aims to provide practical support to suppliers to draw up a sustainability plan and report on progress through a dedicated toolkit.

The training course consists of six videos split into two modules, which Leonardo Technical Training will provide free of charge to all the staff of participating companies:

• Module 1: two overview videos to cover all the main sustainability issues and challenges
• Module 2: four videos on specific vertical themes, proposing KPIs and various practical actions to take to achieve specific goals 
   

The initiative falls under Leonardo's commitment to promoting the ESG sustainability of the supply chain by engaging more than 80% of its key suppliers in SDG awareness-raising and training activities by 2023 and by developing dedicated reporting support tools. Also, by 2023, all LEAP partner suppliers must have defined targets and plans for green energy, CO2 emissions reduction, waste recycling and water consumption.
The project follows on from Leonardo’s ESG sustainability assessment of the supply chain conducted in 2020 and 2022, involving more than 800 key suppliers. It originated in the innovative supplier development programme LEAP, through which Leonardo adopted a new model for managing and enhancing its supply chain. Leonardo has used LEAP, launched in 2018, to establish stronger, more sustainable relations with the supply chain – comprising more than 4,000 companies in Italy (of which 86% are SMEs), employing 126,000 people, and generating EUR 10.8 billion of added value (direct, indirect and allied industries) – thus driving and accelerating the growth of the SMEs in the domestic countries.

This supplier initiative goes hand in hand with a training programme launched in-house:

Through initiatives in partnership with external stakeholders and a continuous improvement approach, Leonardo intends to ensure better punctuality, quality and competitiveness of supplies, as well as the qualitative and dimensional growth of its partners, by leveraging skills development, innovation capability and financial soundness. Indeed, these factors are essential to increasing business resilience, sustainability, and competitiveness in international markets.

The qualitative and dimensional growth of partners benefits Leonardo and its suppliers. Sustainable growth in the supply chain is undoubtedly an element of competitiveness for everyone involved. For example, Leonardo benefits from a stronger, higher performing, innovative and resilient supplier base. By including new challenges such as sustainability and decarbonisation in its strategic vision, the supply chain can be competitive now and in the future. 

For suppliers, and SMEs in particular, the prospect of medium-to-long-term business horizons, combined with Leonardo’s strategic guidance and practical support, is an excellent opportunity to take a qualitative and dimensional leap forward. These companies can also act on new international customers/markets and create sustainable value wherever they operate.

In the opening and closing messages, Giacinto Carullo, Chief Procurement & Supply Chain Officer of Leonardo and Paolo Rostirolla, VP Supplier Sustainability & Development, underlined the importance of facing the challenge of sustainability with a project management logic, translating intentions into concrete actions, starting from 18 projects promoted by Leonardo with the "Sustainable Supply Chain Manifesto".