The Challenge

Retailers and manufacturers will soon be expected to meet the conflict minerals requirements set forth in Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Consumer Protection Act. While the business community awaits the imminent ruling by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the scope of Section 1502 and the nature of the relevant reporting requirements of conflict minerals, one thing is clear: companies will have to engage in some level of due diligence with respect to the presence of conflict minerals in their supply chains.

The process of determining the presence of conflict minerals in products sold and distributed in commerce is complex. Given the vast network of suppliers and distributors, supply chains can become an intricate web that grows harder to manage the more complex a product is. Companies may turn to consultants, but often the solutions they find are not scalable or affordable, especially for large numbers of products and materials.

Our Solution

Source 44 provides a revolutionary program to simplify the process of tracing potential sources of conflict minerals throughout a supply chain. Our Conflict Minerals Program provides retailers and manufacturers a cost-effective, scalable and automated solution that enables them to meet conflict mineral requirements on a large scale, efficiently and within budget.

While other tools and assessments focus on collecting smelter information and using it to trace back to the mines, our program bridges the gap between a finished product, such as a TV, and the metals that are sourced from smelters.

The Process

1. Tracing: Instead of creating long and complicated spreadsheets, Source 44 uses SourceLink Technology to automate the process. Suppliers are prompted to complete a simple online form about parts they supply that may contain conflict minerals. This process is repeated automatically throughout the supply chain until the origins of the materials are identified. In cases where the tracing process is interrupted, our Supplier Engagement Team is prompted to investigate any incorrect or missing data.

2. Assessment: Source Intelligence™, Source 44’s data management platform, also searches public databases and records for specific or associative information regarding companies throughout a supply chain. This information is verified through an automatic process that compares it to hundreds of conflict mineral data sources, including Source 44’s database of conflict-free sources. Proprietary algorithms in Source Intelligence™ process the tracing information to assess the risk that conflict minerals are present and highlight companies and regions of particular concern.

3. Disclosure: Dynamic visualization tools in Source Intelligence™ enable users to navigate, explore and understand the data collected about a supply chain. Companies can view each and every organization in its supply chain: transparency that makes it easy for a company to identify suppliers that have been flagged for any reasons of concern. Simple and concise product disclosure statements are also generated to provide an effective way to understand potential risk associated with metals that may have originated from the DRC or adjoining countries. The information is automatically updated and is available to companies 24 hours a day.