The term LEAP, evoking a spring forward, was chosen to convey Leonardo’s intention to optimise its relationship with suppliers, while enhancing the technological capabilities of both main players in this new project: the Group and the supply chain.
But LEAP also stands for Leonardo Empowering Advanced Partnerships, with the terms Empowering and Advanced Partnerships constituting the true essence of Leonardo's message: that of strengthening partnerships with suppliers so as to generate mutually beneficial value.
 

Through LEAP, Leonardo has set up a new model for managing and enhancing its supply chain to establish stronger, more sustainable relations with the supply chain and act as a driver and accelerator for the growth of SMEs in the Italian ecosystem. Through this constantly evolving programme, Leonardo has become a de facto promoter and leader of an industrial policy to support the competitiveness and sustainability of the country's AD&S sector.

After an initial start-up phase focusing on product categories of strategic relevance in Italy, with a perimeter extending to the entire Leonardo Group all over Italy, in 2021 the programme evolved to combine objectives for operative performance and cost competitiveness with sustainability targets, in the belief that a sustainable business must generate value for the customer, for society and for the environment. The transition to LEAP - Partnership for Sustainability signalled the raising of ambitions for the supply chain in terms of innovation, digital transformation, cyber security and the green transition.

The drive towards a greater focus on sustainability issues has been implemented in every stage of working with suppliers, with the goal of building a competitive, innovative, sustainable ecosystem: from pre-qualification and qualification requirements to selection criteria for tenders, and from contractual terms & conditions to assessments aimed at the continuous improvement of key suppliers, with the intensity of Leonardo's ‘acceleration’ differing according to the supplier's role in the supply chain.

Through initiatives undertaken also in collaboration with external stakeholders and a

continuous improvement approach, Leonardo intends to ensure greater punctuality, quality and competitiveness of supplies, as well as the qualitative and dimensional growth of its partners, by ensuring skills development, innovation capability and financial soundness – essential factors to increase business resilience and sustainability and be even more competitive on international markets.

LEADS, Leonardo Assessment and Development for Sustainability, is a supplier evaluation model which has been introduced to improve assessment of suppliers’ performance and potential in relation to key suppliers’ sustainability and development risks. Operative performance, capability and sustainability have been integrated into a single new supplier assessment tool.

In 2023, more than 1,100 key suppliers were assessed in terms of ESG sustainability, identifying strong points and areas for improvement in the supply chain. Based on the results, Leonardo published the Manifesto for the Sustainability of the Supply Chain, which addresses three main issues, closely aligned with Italy's development guidelines: digital transformation, Cyber Security, People & Planet. These are divided into 18 concrete projects with progressive and measurable milestones to support and accelerate the transformation of Leonardo's supply chain.

Already by 2022 Leonardo has reached and exceeded the target of managing over 75% of the value ordered by the Leonardo Group through digital collaboration platforms, in 2023 the sustainability targets were achieved: 100% of LEAP partners with targets and plans on themes of green energy, reduction of CO2 emissions, waste recycling, water consumption and the objective of involving over 80% of key suppliers in awareness and training courses on SDGs and support tools for reporting.