New digital tool equips manufacturers to identify and mitigate risks related to PFAS, forced labor, and more across global supply chains

Assent Inc. (Assent), a leading solution provider in supply chain sustainability management, announced the launch of its newest digital resource to help manufacturers understand and mitigate supply chain risks. The free Supply Chain Risk Assessment Tool for Complex Manufacturers consists of an educational self-assessment that provides manufacturers with insight into critical regulations and requirements that can lead to financial, operational, and reputational risks. The user-friendly risk assessment tool enables companies to quickly understand their regulatory risks through a customized report.

As the global regulatory environment grows more complex, manufacturers are under increasing pressure to address concerns around responsible sourcing, forced labor, and harmful chemicals in their supply chains. In September, for example, the U.S. EPA released its final rule on per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), indicating that companies will be required to report on at least 1,450 substances that meet the agency’s definition of PFAS.

Manufacturers must act fast to ensure they remain compliant with this new ruling and a range of other regulations that may impact them. Failure to address their obligations could result in significant risks of market disruptions, penalties, and reputational damage. For many of these regulations, manufacturers need to report extensive part and subcomponent information from their suppliers, making the supply chain a critical place to start for compliance. With Assent’s Supply Chain Risk Assessment, manufacturers can understand regulatory risks impacting their supply chain and obtain high-level guidance for where to start to mitigate them.

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“The regulatory landscape is becoming more complex every day and the urgency to take action is paramount. Manufacturers with global supply chains must implement proactive compliance programs to mitigate the severe business risks associated with non-compliance,” said Andrew Waitman, Assent CEO. “Today, we announced our new risk assessment tool, which is an essential step for manufacturers to identify where to focus their supply chain sustainability program. We are seeing great momentum across the industry as companies continue to partner with us to proactively reduce their risk and ultimately gain a competitive business advantage.”

This tool comes at a pivotal time for manufacturers as regulations and new legal requirements are being rolled out at unprecedented speed. The recently finalized TSCA PFAS reporting rule, increased enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), and proposed climate disclosures to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), for example, have forced manufacturers to implement greater supply chain due diligence and visibility to avoid significant operational, financial, and reputational damage.

“Regulations were already overwhelming for manufacturers to manage, but as new rules emerge quicker than ever, product compliance is becoming an increasingly complex business challenge and risk,” said Cally Edgren, senior director of sustainability at Assent. “The question is shifting from ‘do we have risks?’ to ‘where are our risks?’ and as manufacturers look to their supply chains for data, they are quickly learning that transparency doesn’t happen overnight. This new tool provides companies with a critical first step to effectively engaging supply chains to manage new risks.”