How NTT DATA got compliant with the German Supply Chain Act in 5 weeks

Carsten Hoffmann is responsible for the Central Purchasing Department of NTT DATA DACH. Harry Springer is Team Lead Procurement & Logistics at NTT DATA DACH.  Together they oversee supplier risk management as well as compliance with the German Supply Chain Act (LkSG).

NTT DATA is a $30+ billion trusted global innovator of business and technology services. NTT DATA's subsidiary in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, one of the largest IT consulting companies in the DACH region, with more than 1,700 suppliers, was faced with the challenge of implementing a tool to support efficient compliance with the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (Lieferkettensorgfaltspflichtengesetz, LkSG).

The need for a easy-to-implement compliance solution

The German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act mandates comprehensive due diligence obligations for companies to identify, prevent, and address human rights and environmental risks in their supply chains. This due diligence includes periodic assessments and real-time monitoring of adverse events. The law took effect on January 1, 2023. Companies with 3,000 or more employees are initially subject to the law, with the threshold dropping to 1,000 employees in 2024.

NTT DATA has more than 1,700 active suppliers. The concern was to implement a single tool to meet the requirements of the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act before 2024. Without a tool like 3rdRisk, it would have been a lot of manual effort to assess all these suppliers related to the regulations.

Straightforward and quick implementation guided by experts

The main reason for NTT DATA to choose 3rdRisk was, that 3rdRisk promised a short timeframe for the implementation of the tool. In addition, they convinced NTT DATA in various stakeholder meetings that they were a true expert in third-party risk management.

Carsten Hoffmann: "Despite our tight project schedule, all milestones were met on time. 3rdRisk worked in a very structured way, but at the same time they were flexible in meeting our internal requirements and the requirements of the LkSG. We had a very good cooperation in the whole project team".

The deadline for implementing the tool was January 1, 2024, but the tool went live on December 22, 2023 - almost two weeks ahead of the original deadline.

User-friendly platform to manage third-party risks end-to-end

Harry: "With the 3rdRisk tool, we have implemented a solution where we can completely handle the qualification and onboarding process of all our suppliers. Without the 3rdRisk platform, we would be faced with a very high manual effort to comply with all regulatory requirements. Other advantages of the 3rdRisk platform are its ease of use and 24/7 monitoring of potential risks.”