For instance, she and her colleagues apply the Sustainability Rating (S-Rating), which was introduced in 2019. The S-Rating is a tool that the company and its suppliers use to ensure that human rights, occupational safety and environmental protection are observed along the supply chain. To verify these points, they inspect the human rights policy and the environmental management system for suppliers and sub-suppliers, for example, or interview employees during risk-based on-site checks. A positive S-Rating is a prerequisite at Audi for awarding contracts to suppliers and makes a significant contribution to sustainability in the supply chain. A negative rating is taken very seriously: the supplier company must work through the documented points before another on-site check is carried out if necessary. “The aim, however, is not only to uncover problems, but also to solve them together. To prevent problems from occurring in the first place, we offer our suppliers regular training courses and training materials,” Schwellinger explains. Since January 1, 2023, this form of cooperation in the supply chain has become even more important: that is when the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act came into force, which governs compliance with human rights and environmental due diligence obligations.