Becoming their best customer

Respecting our suppliers

Custom manufacturing is very demanding. At Schmidt Groupe, each customer project is unique and produced to order. Our suppliers are central to our success.

And the quality of supplier relations has always beena pillar of our business model, with supplier relationships built over time, based on fairness, high standards and trust.

Source as closely as possible

We prefer to source locally. Out of conviction, but also to be consistent with our business model: producing as close as possible reduces lead times, transport and carbon footprint.

Our suppliers are therefore selected on the basis of proximity: first local, then regional, national and finally international.

85% of our expenditure is in Western Europe, half of which is in France.

And if we look even closer to our production sites :

  • every year we work with 500 suppliers in the Grand Est region, accounting for 82 million euros of expenditure
  • 66 million of which is spent in the Rhine basin, where our production sites are located, with 432 suppliers.
  • 1 supplier in 4 is from Alsace.

We only buy outside Europe, in Asia for example, if the product does not exist closer by. And our purchasing policy is very clear: we travel to audit our suppliers from whom we buy directly, to check working conditions and ensure that our quality requirements are met. We have also initiated an audit process for tier 2 suppliers and our partners. Our requirements are the same everywhere, without exception.

In 2025, the Suppliers and Responsible Purchasing label, the only public label in this field, was renewed for 3 years. Today, we are one of only 100 French companies to have been awarded this label.

This label does not reward intentions. It certifies actions and practices: financial equity, ongoing dialogue, co-construction.

Pay quickly

23.5 days average payment time

A figure that is constantly improving.

We have gone from 30 days in 2018 to less than 24 days today, on more than 300,000annual invoices.

Our trajectory is in line with – and even ahead of – our medium-term objectives.

Why is this important?Because paying quickly means supporting our partners’ cash flow. It means giving them the means to invest, to grow and to support us over the long term.

At Schmidt Groupe, the buyer is responsible for paying his suppliers. We have introduced automatic reminder software and a strong culture of prevention within the Purchasing department.

We remain convinced that performance is born of trust and a solid partnership between customers and suppliers.

Cultivating trust

We measure the quality of our supplier relationships because we want to be, and remain, the preferred customer of each of our 1,700 suppliers.

Since 2018, we have conducted a supplier satisfaction survey every 3 years. We listen to them just as much as we listen to our customers.

Our aim: to manage a demanding and fair partnership.

If we want to progress, we have to understand what our partners think of us, and do it scientifically

These are the demands of Laurent Belloni, Schmidt Group Purchasing Director since 2017.

The 2025 edition of our survey highlights our constant efforts to strengthen the quality of our partnerships, the fruit of a collective effort, and confirms a continuous improvement in results. Shared with all our buyers, the results of the survey have enabled us to define an ambitious action plan aimed at reducing payment times, increasing the number of returns on calls for tender, clarifying specifications and making our selection criteria more transparent. Our suppliers regularly receive tables on their performance and any non-compliances.

This requirement goes hand in hand with constant dialogue and a willingness to co-construct.

  • 97 % of our suppliers are satisfied with the collaboration

  • 91 % feel like partners

  • 84,3/100 average given by our suppliers

  • + 57 points a solid NPS by 2025

  • 71 % criteria on which we are making progress

Raising awareness of our ecosystem

We support our suppliers in their environmental transition. In 2024, 65 suppliers carried out their carbon inventory with our support. This work earned us the Purchasing Leadership Trophy.

More broadly, we provide all our suppliers with free access to Global Climate Initiatives, a platform that helps them create and manage their environmental transition plan.

And since 2024, 100% of employees in our Purchasing department have had CSR objectives.

Working with ESATs

We work with three ESATs (Etablissements et Services d’Aide par le Travail), including the ESAT in Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines, with which we have worked for over 20 years.

These partners prepare orders for us, packing and packaging parts for production or shipment to customers.

This collaboration is part of our social commitment and our desire to contribute to inclusion through work. As with all our suppliers, we are building a lasting relationship based on trust and respect.

Growing together

60% of our raw material suppliers have been working with us for more than ten years.

Verrissima, our flat glass supplier based in Goetzenbruck in Moselle, illustrates this long-term approach. Jonathan Metz, the company’s CEO, explains: “We started out by offering a two-sided mirror in response to a call for tenders from Schmidt, then went on to supply him with stained glass art, and then glass drawer sets. Schmidt wanted us to produce a million pieces a year, which was a challenge for us.

We sat down with Schmidt and our product and methods managers to discuss how we could scale up production. Year on year, our production grew from 90,000 to 300,000 drawer sets, then 500,000, until it reached one million. And there have never been any late payments.

Some machine manufacturers send their teams to us for training. Our requirements are high, our specifications are precise. This enables them to improve their skills and expertise. What they learn here, they can use elsewhere. That’s how we grow an entire industry.