As the automotive sector navigates increasingly complex sustainability and due-diligence demands, Drive+ is advancing a practical, collective answer: a Supply Chain Mapping Pilot Project.
Entering the last quarter of 2025, the pilot kicked off and is now moving towards major milestones. Powered by the collaboration between two members of Drive+, five Drive Sustainability (DS) OEMs and with the support of NQC, the project aims at developing a scalable, confidentiality-minded approach for mapping critical supply chains.
Project Scope & Approach
The pilot, kicked off in July 2025, brings suppliers and OEMs together to co-develop a scalable, confidentiality-respecting approach that improves traceability while minimizing burden. Supported by a shared commodity scope, streamlined templates, and a joint communications plan, the project aims to enable faster responses and greater supplier participation. Additionally, the pilot ensures compliance with key regulations through progressive disclosure and independent verification.
The distinctive strength of this initiative lies in its collaboration: suppliers and OEMs working together to build a practical, supplier-focused approach that cuts duplication, boosts transparency, and transforms mapping into real, industry-wide impact.
From Concept to Action
- – Early April 2025: NQC/SupplierAssurance began onboarding seven pilot participants, providing training, resources, and strategy sessions
- – 23 June 2025: Formal pilot launch on the platform
- – July 16th Session: members aligned on agenda, participant status, success measures, in/out-of-scope commodities, progress metrics, and communications plan, establishing a shared framework for Q3–Q4 delivery
- – By July 2025: Six of seven participants were fully onboarded and two had already engaged Tier-1 suppliers and started mapping
Defining Success
Participants generally pointed to supplier engagement, visibility across sub-tiers, and practical usability of solutions as important outcomes. They also noted that success may depend on reducing reporting burdens through more targeted data requests, while fostering collaboration between OEMs and suppliers. In this context, discussions often touch on confidentiality rules and role definitions, with efforts aimed at finding a balanced approach that builds trust and generates insights to guide sustainability improvements.
Driving Value Together and Unlock Supply Chain Impact
The Pilot Project plans to provide suppliers with a lighter-weight, aligned mapping method co-designed with their input, fewer duplicated requests, and direct visibility into OEM expectations, in order to reduce uncertainty, guesswork, and rework. OEMs, in turn, would gain faster visibility into critical tiers and priority commodities, verified evidence to support regulatory compliance, and a collaborative mechanism that raises standards consistently across shared supply bases.
The initiative exemplifies how Drive+ unites suppliers and OEMs in a shared space to co-develop practical, real-world solutions. In doing so, it empowers the value chain to actively shape sustainability standards, rather than simply adapting to them.
For more information, please contact Filippo Spiezia at fs@csreurope.org
