News Press Releases

Supply Chain Management at Quest Diagnostics

DGX | November 15, 2023

NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / November 15, 2023 / Quest Diagnostics

Originally published in Quest Diagnostics Corporate Responsibility Report 2022

Our global suppliers play a significant role in enabling us to deliver safe and high-quality services to patients.

We expect our suppliers to uphold our commitments to ethics, safety, quality, and more. Suppliers are required to read and adhere to our Supplier Code of Conduct as a condition of doing business with Quest. They must train their employees in our code of conduct, self-monitor, and demonstrate their compliance. In keeping with best practices, we conduct facility audits at intervals determined by risk assessments. By adhering to our code, suppliers agree to provide the highest-quality products and services and to operate under quality management principles based on industry standards.

Managing ESG risks in our supply chain

We have defined ESG screening factors in our Supplier Business Engagement Model (SBEM) framework and embedded our ESG program into our strategic sourcing process. The SBEM requires that Quest weigh supplier ESG performance in our evaluation matrix for supplier selection. Our procurement team is trained on our SBEM framework, including the importance of our Supply Chain ESG program.

We began rolling out an ESG assessment to our suppliers in 2022. By the end of the year, over 40% of suppliers (based on volume of spend) successfully completed their assessments, allowing our team to improve monitoring of ESG-related risks across our supply chain.

Additionally, our Supply Chain team communicates with and learns from our peers about innovations and best practices that can enhance our efforts to improve the sustainability of our testing materials, packaging, and product delivery logistics.

Our commitment to human rights

We uphold our commitment to human rights by operating in a way that treats all people with respect and dignity. Furthermore, we embrace diversity across our workforce and strive for a work environment that promotes diverse opinions and equal opportunities. We also respect our employees' rights to freedom of association, consistent with applicable federal, state, and local laws.

We hold our suppliers to the same high standards, including:

Providing fair and equitable opportunity, wages, benefits, and other conditions of employment
Prohibiting child labor and human trafficking in workforce operations
Prohibiting coerced, indentured, or prison labor
Providing a safe and healthy work environment, including personal protection equipment and the tools for a safe working environment
Maintaining a workplace intended to be free of discrimination and harassment and prohibiting threats or abuse
Maintaining an inclusive culture that values the diversity and opinions of all employees

If a supplier fails to follow the standards established within our Code of Conduct, their relationship with Quest may be terminated.

Growing our supplier diversity program

Quest promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion across our supply chain through our procurement efforts, supplier engagement, and professional memberships and networking. In the last 4 years, we purchased more than $1.4 billion in goods and services from small and diverse US businesses, including $375 million in 2022. We aim to grow our small business and diverse supplier spend annually.

Review our full approach in our Supply Chain Transparency overview and Supplier Diversity overview.