Responsible procurement is based on company values
According to the company’s responsibility action plan, Secto has developed its procurement process and value chain management during 2024. Jarno Pajunen, Director, Partnerships & Fleet Management, is responsible for the task, along with his team. The goal is to optimise processes in a way that ensures genuine fulfilment of customer’s smooth and responsible driving experience.
”The purpose of procurement process is not to find the lowest price, but to create a package where a lot of weight is put on the responsibility of the suppliers. The program helps us choose for example the products and services with lowest emissions”, says Jarno Pajunen. He started as the manager of Secto’s procurement team in the summer of 2024.
According to Pajunen, Secto considers everyone which the company purchases from or makes deals with as a supplier. “In our partnership program, the contract goes even deeper: we look at points of development together and ponder, how to offer our services to the clients. The most responsible and innovative partners are chosen into the core, and matters are developed the furthest with them”, Pajunen explains. “We talk about customer-oriented procurement based on values. That ensures that our values – empathy, innovativeness, and sustainability come true visibly through purchases.”
A responsible procurement process begins with a request for proposal that is more thorough than usually. In addition to conventional request for the service package with prices, potential suppliers must clarify the responsibility of both their value chain and operation model.
”Based on the answers, we make estimations about how responsible potential partners are in their operations, and how prepared they are to take sustainability matters further with us. We find out, among other things, what kind of targets they are committed to and what kind of sustainability certificates they have. As responsibility plays a significant role right in the core of our operations, we put a special emphasis on it also when it comes to choosing our suppliers”, Pajunen says.
Tyres are one example of how Secto assesses the responsibility of suppliers. The goal is to find the most environmentally friendly tyre with the best price-quality ratio.
“In addition to durability and other technical features, we take into account how responsibly the tyre is manufactured: what kind of rubber is used, what the production process looks like, how tyres are recycled and how big their life cycle emissions are”, Pajunen explains.
Sectos service promise comes true through partner collaboration
Smooth driving experience is at the centre of Secto’s service promise. For the customer, leasing a car must be easy from acquisition to daily use. “A great part of the customer experience is based on how we collaborate with our partners. The customer may, for example, visit a car dealership to look at the car, use fuel cards and charging services, get in touch with our insurance partner or replacement car provider, or take her/his car in for a service”, Pajunen explains. “Our ways to collaborate with our partners develop continuously. We keep analysing our customer needs and find out how the market can meet them. We make contracts and – especially with the suppliers that are accepted to our partner program – optimise processes so that the smooth driving experience can be genuinely fulfilled.”
Pajunen points out that procurement is not an isolated unit that sends out requests for proposal. Seamless collaboration takes place all around Secto, throughout the leasing lifecycle of the car. Sales, customer service, IT, and financial departments are all involved. In the upkeep of processes, efficient information management played a significant role. “At the procurement stage, the total cost of ownership – meaning all fleet-related costs – is the most important piece of information that is explained to the customer. We can show that for a certain fleet, certain kind of discounts have been negotiated. We keep developing our reporting system and aim to enrich it through our partners’ reports. This way, we can provide even more comprehensive data for example to our customers’ sustainability reports.”
Secto's partners are the best experts in their field
According to Pajunen, the core idea of partner program is that Secto’s partners are the best experts of their respective fields. Working together, the value of the service package becomes greater than the sum of its parts. “This is a classic win-win-win-situation. The customer benefits while we and our partners can grow and develop.”
Secto’s mission is to save driving by making it sustainable. Electrification is not the only solution to this: every means that can reduce total emissions can be considered sustainable. ”The most essential thing is that the customer gets the right and feasible solution to his or her need. We can, for example, provide vans with fossil-free diesel. Even though this may increase total fuel costs, the solution is, as a whole, an easier and cheaper way to sustainable driving than replacing every vehicle to an electric one at once. We research these alternative plans beforehand for our customers’ benefit”, Pajunen sums up.