What are THESIS KPIs?

THESIS assessments are made up of sets of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). KPIs assess transparency and performance on the most pressing sustainability issues for consumer goods companies.

KPIs address impacts throughout the supply chain and can require data collection from upstream suppliers, including those not directly owned or under your operational control. Completing a KPI can involve collecting data from multiple sites and multiple organizations.

Table of contents:

• 3 Components of A THESIS KPI
• 3 Types of KPIs in THESIS
• What are KPI sets?
• THESIS KPI FAQ's

THESIS KPIs have 3 components:

• KPI Question: Each KPI addresses a specific impact or issue that occurs during a specific activity, or set of activities, in the supply chain.
• Response options for that KPI: Response options may be numeric calculation AND/OR qualitative text choices.
• KPI Guidance: detailed information for completing that KPI

KPI Guidance for each KPI typically includes multiple sections:

• Calculation and scope: details about how to calculate the response, including what is included and/or excluded
• Certifications, standards, and tools: resources that are directly useful in completing the KPI
• Background information: context and useful information about addressing the key issues relevant to the KPI
• Definitions: descriptions for technical terms used in the KPI

THESIS Assessments have 3 Types of KPIs

THESIS has 3 types of KPIs that are defined by the types of data you will need to collect in order to answer them.

• Category KPIs require data collection from all your products within that product category.
• Facility KPIs require you to collect data from each facility responsible for final manufacturing of products within that category.
• Supply Chain KPIs require you to collect data from relevant suppliers (direct or indirect) within that category.

What are KPI Sets?

THESIS Assessments are based on shared sets of KPIs referred to as “KPI Sets." These KPI Sets cover common issues and impacts across related product categories, meaning they cover related product categories. By using KPI Sets across different assessments, it allows for more accurate peer comparisons and insights across product categories.

What does that mean for THESIS Suppliers?

Multiple assessments for related product categories might have identical KPIs because they use the same KPI Set. However, your answers for them will not be the same because the assessment product category scope will be different and relevant data sets will be different. For example, the Stone Fruit KPI set is used to create specific, separate assessments for Peaches, Apricots, Cherries, and Plums.

THESIS KPI FAQs

I'm not familiar with some of the KPI terms. Where can I find those definitions?

Every KPI has an associated guidance with four sections, one being “Definitions” where you can review key terms within the KPI that may need clarity. The KPI guidance may be viewed in the THESIS KPI document available for download within each THESIS assessment and is also in a pop-up box linked to each KPI while completing an assessment on SupplyShift, a Sphera company.  

How do I know what Life Cycle Stage the KPI applies to?

There are a few ways to better understand what life cycle stage the KPI applies to. First and foremost, you want to abide by what the [Calculation & Scope] of the KPI indicates.

If you need further clarification you can check the following resources:

1. The Supply Chain Diagram, available via the [Helpful Links] section on SupplyShift, illustrates where the Hotspot and KPI focus is for the life cycle of the product.
2. The PDF version of the assessment, available via the [Helpful Links] section on SupplyShift, list the supporting Hotspots. You can find these at the end of each individual KPI (the Hotspot should indicate the life cycle stage in its title) or you can navigate to the [Category Sustainability Profile] which lists all Hotspots by Life Cycle Stage and which KPI the Hotspot supports.

What if a KPI is only applicable for certain geographies or only pertains to part of our supply chain?

Even if a KPI does not apply to your entire supply chain, you should still answer the KPI related to the portion that is relevant. KPIs will include a “Not Applicable” response to handle situations when it is not applicable to any geography or production stage of your product’s supply chain.