Large Retailer Compliance & Vendor Audit Services

Vendor Compliance (Audit)

At Pro QC, we specialize in ensuring that your suppliers and sub-suppliers meet essential retail compliance standards. Our Vendor Compliance program is your solution for navigating the complexities of selling to major retailers.

Pro QC’s Vendor Compliance program is your trusted partner in managing and maintaining supplier compliance. We understand that sourcing from foreign suppliers can be challenging, and ensuring adherence to extensive vendor compliance measures adds complexity to your supply chain. Our solution is tailored to:

Regular Compliance Management: We proactively manage your supplier portfolio’s compliance levels.
Customized Retail Compliance: Ensure every supplier meets retailer-specific compliance requirements.
Cost-Effective Compliance: Achieve compliance affordably with tailored factory audits.

Our clients often seek support before formal certifications or vendor compliance audits with retailers. Our preparatory vendor compliance audit support ensures your company’s suppliers conform to all necessary requirements and can pass formal certifications or factory compliance audits. Our team offers:

Vendor Compliance Audit: Assess supplier conformance levels.
Corrective Action Planning: Develop action plans based on audit results.
Supplier Quality Assurance: Provide consulting and training as needed.
Corrective Action Management: Monitor and ensure progress.

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Sample Reports

“Pro QC’s Vendor Compliance program helps you manage the compliance level of your supplier portfolio and ensure each supplier and sub-supplier meets all compliance requirements as requested by the retailer, in a cost-effective manner.”

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Challenges of Selling to Big Retailers

When your company decides to sell products to large retail stores, you’ll encounter an exhaustive application process and specific criteria that must be met before your products can be placed on their shelves. One of the most critical aspects is ensuring that your supply chain aligns with the retailer’s vendor compliance criteria, often referred to as Standard Of Supplier, Supplier Code of Conduct, Responsible Sourcing, or similar terms.

The Consequences of Non-Compliance

Failure of top-tier suppliers or sub-suppliers in your supply chain to comply with the retailer’s vendor compliance program can lead to severe consequences. These consequences may include penalties, such as a refusal to do business with the retailer for a specified period or even a permanent ban. The following diagram outlines key points in your supply chain where violations can occur:

Compliance Requirements

Vendor compliance or supplier code of conduct requirements typically encompass a mix of Quality Management System (QMS) and social, environmental, and supply chain security aspects. Some examples include:

Financial integrity
Verification of insurance, as applicable
Wages & benefits
Child & voluntary labor & hours
Safety & health
Fire safety & prevention
Bribery & ethics
Environmental stewardship & sustainability
Global security criteria
Compliance with laws & regulations
Training and documentation
Quality assurance & control

In the figure below, we use Walmart as an example and demonstrate what is required to ensure vendor compliance.

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Pro QC’s vendor compliance solutions

Pro QC’s vendor compliance solutions include the following retailers:

Walmart – Standards for Suppliers Audit

Walmart Responsible Sourcing Program
Walmart Supply Chain Security
Walmart Factory Capacity & Capacity Audit (FCCA)
Walmart Supplier Audit

Lowe’s – Vendor Code of Conduct Audit

Retail Ethical Sourcing Audit (RESA)

Home Depot – Vendor Code of Conduct Audit

Home Depot Quality System Audit (QSA)
Supplier Compliance Audit Network
Retail Ethical Sourcing Audit (RESA)

Costco – Supplier Code of Conduct Audit

Costco Factory Capability Audit (Costco GMP)
Costco Supplier Code of Conduct

BJ’s – Vendor Code of Conduct Audit

Social Responsibility Audit

Target – Vendor Code of Conduct

Target Vendor Code of Conduct
Target Vendor Factory Evaluation Audit (Target VFE Audit)

Best Buy – Code of Ethics Audit

EICC Audit
Responsible Business Alliance Audit

Other retailers – Supplier Code of Conduct Audit

Amazon – Supplier Code of Conduct Audit
Amazon – Management Systems
Auchan – Code of Conduct Audit
Canadian Tire Corportation – Amfori Business Social Compliance Initiative
Canadian Tire Corportation – Supplier Compliance Audit Network
Carrefour – Code of Conduct Audit
Decathlon – Code of Conduct Audit
Dick’s Sporting Goods – Responsible Sourcing Program
H&M – Code of Conduct Audit
Macy’s – Code of Conduct Audit
Nike – Code of Conduct Audit
JCPenny – Code of Conduct Audit
Starbucks – Code of Conduct Audit
Zara – Code of Conduct Audit

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Selecting Pro QC as your Quality Assurance Partner

It’s essential to note that accredited certifying companies can only offer a pass/fail result. To avoid a conflict of interest, they should not provide both a pass/fail assessment and supplier or factory improvement services on behalf of retailers. Therefore, it’s important to choose a non-conflicting quality assurance partner like Pro QC when managing your supply chain compliance and any follow-up supplier audit corrective action period.

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Results you can expect

Tailored Solution

Pro QC help you choose the right Vendor Compliance program for your product category, supplier origin and ensure a full understanding of the compliance requirement.

Supplier Rating Increase

Continually improve your supplier’s compliance level, upgrade your supplier score card with the retailers and ensure they pass the audit

Cost Reduction

Reduce your QA overhead and travel time by utilizing our network for more cost-effective management of your global suppliers

One Stop Shop

Let Pro QC be your single point of contact for achieving compliance and help you reduce the workload on your procurement and QA team

Successful Audits

Increase the probability of your suppliers passing the formal audit and landing your products on Walmart’s shelf

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Pro QC is your trusted partner in managing and maintaining supplier compliance.

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Why Pro QC International?

Experts in Vendor Compliance and Supplier Quality Management

We have access to the latest retail store factory compliance audit standards and have worked with all the top retailers for decades. We have successfully helped our clients pass big retailer supplier qualification program compliance audits and prominently place their products on the shelves of their preferred retailer.

Facilitating Implementation

We provide more than a Pass/Fail vendor audit. We intend to work with you and your partner supplier every step of the way to achieve vendor compliance.

Corrective Action Supplier Audits

We deliver comprehensive reports leading to a corrective action plan and progress report that clearly explains the required areas of improvement to achieve vendor compliance. We show activities conducted on the day of each factory audit with clear photo evidence as required.

Daily Communication

We maintain a daily communication with our clients and suppliers via your preferred medium of communication (e.g. WeChat, WhatsApp, Skype, Slack, etc.) for a more effective collaboration, and act as your QA consulting partner, so you can quickly achieve vendor compliance, throughout your supplier quality management program.