Assent: Decarbonising Manufacturers Supply Chains With AI

According to the Carbon Trust, up to 90% of an organisation’s environmental impact lies in the value chain.

Reporting obligations like the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and the Carbon Disclosure Project  are demanding more compliance, monitoring and mitigation when it comes to emissions, especially those within the supply chain.

Digital platforms are continuing to play a key role in bringing together sustainability, compliance and supplier data into a single source.

Assent, an AI-native platform for supply chain sustainability and compliance, helps manufacturers improve transparency, reduce risk and improve sustainable business growth.

Sustainable visibility across supply chains

Large manufacturers have complex supply chains with little transparency beyond the direct supplier level, states Assent.

Sustainability can impact investor and customer confidence, market access, reputations and revenue, especially when obtaining data is one of the sector's biggest challenges.

With limited access to data, companies can be exposed to ESG risks, regulatory breaches and supply chain disruption.

Assent's platform is designed for complex manufacturing environments, using deep supply chain mapping to provide greater transparency into suppliers and their extended networks. 

“An ESG rating tells you about a company’s comparative values and behaviours both in the company and in the supply chain,” says Andrew Waitman, Executive Chairman of the Board, Assent.

“The world has changed – people are caring about the environment more, sustainability more, climate change, human rights and equity. 

“These are really big topics for most of the world. 

“ESG is the term we are using to share that information and compare companies on those topics.”

By focusing on sustainability, product compliance and trade compliance information, businesses can identify emerging risks earlier and give procurement, sustainability, legal and operations teams access to consistent, up-to-date data. 

Simplifying compliance in regulations

Global sustainability regulations continue to evolve, requiring manufacturers to demonstrate greater transparency across their operations and value chains. 

Requirements surrounding human rights, forced labour, carbon emissions, anti-bribery measures and due diligence legislation are becoming increasingly interconnected, making manual compliance processes difficult to manage at scale.

Assent combines automated data collection, validation and configurable reporting with regulatory expertise to help organisations respond to these obligations more efficiently. 

The platform supports a range of compliance programmes, including the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (SCDDA), the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and anti-bribery and anti-corruption (ABAC) requirements. 

By monitoring regulatory developments and helping businesses collect the necessary supplier information, Assent aims to reduce compliance risk while improving confidence in reported data.

Turning sustainability into a competitive advantage

Reliable sustainability data can improve market access, strengthen investor confidence and help organisations respond more effectively to customer expectations for responsible sourcing.

Assent supports this transition by helping manufacturers prioritise the sustainability issues that matter most to their business and suppliers. 

Educational resources available in multiple languages encourage supplier engagement, while automated workflows help to reduce the administrative burden associated with managing large volumes of ESG data. 

“The best thing about assent is how it is able to seamlessly combine software and services to provide an effective solution which is both scalable and flexible, allowing for large companies like ABB to outsource a critical business process reliably,” says Farhath Mirza, Head of Product Compliance at ABB.

Customer examples, including Corsair Gaming, demonstrate how stronger supplier participation can improve programme performance, with the company achieving an 85% supplier response rate across six ESG topics. 

Combined with its B Corporation certification and advanced status with the UN Global Compact, Assent positions sustainability not simply as a reporting exercise, but as a foundation for building more resilient supply chains and supporting sustainable business growth.