Resilient Supply Chain Podcast: Resilience Fails Where Supplier Data Fails

In the latest episode of the Resilient Supply Chain Podcast, host Tom Raftery is joined by Lily Hogan, Senior Product Manager at 3E, to discuss how unreliable supplier data undermines supply chain resilience. The episode examines why resilience strategies often fail in execution due to incomplete, inconsistent, or low quality supplier data. The full episode is available at www.resilientsupplychainpodcast.com

Raftery highlights a concerning statistic: more than 50% of compliance and sustainability professionals report receiving low quality or incomplete supplier data, while over 40% say they receive no response at all. At a time when companies are filing ESG disclosures, complying with tightening chemical regulations, and modelling climate exposure, this level of data failure represents operational risk rather than administrative inconvenience.

Fragmentation at Scale

According to Raftery, the root cause is scale and fragmentation. A single electronic product can contain thousands of components sourced from hundreds or even thousands of suppliers across multiple jurisdictions. Each region brings its own regulatory requirements, including REACH, RoHS, PFAS restrictions, and emerging digital product passport mandates. Meanwhile, suppliers often receive overlapping data requests from procurement, compliance, sustainability, and marketing teams, frequently via spreadsheets and email.

The result is supplier fatigue, inconsistent reporting, and unreliable data flows.

Tom Raftery, host of Resilient Supply Chain Podcast

From Data Collection to Decision-Grade Governance

The episode outlines three practices among organisations making progress. First, treating supplier transparency as an enterprise governance issue rather than a siloed sustainability initiative. Second, embedding material disclosure and compliance requirements directly into procurement contracts. Third, focusing on decision grade data - identifying which data points would actually trigger a change in supplier, formulation, or sourcing strategy.

PFAS regulation is presented as a case study. As scrutiny of “forever chemicals” intensifies, companies with structured supplier data can respond quickly by reformulating products or shifting sourcing strategies. Those without visibility face delays, reputational exposure, and regulatory consequences.

Digital product passports and AI enabled automation are discussed as emerging tools, but Raftery stresses that technology alone does not create resilience. It must support disciplined data governance and clearer accountability upstream.