Introducing the circular assessment of suppliers (CAoS) tool: A Kraljic matrix-based tool to facilitate circular procurement in private organizations

The emerging paradigm of the circular economy necessitates instruments capable of monitoring advancements in a timely and reliable fashion, thereby fostering superior decision-making and instantaneous feedback within corporations. Although numerous tools offer comprehensive evaluations of a company's circular endeavors, certain strategic facets associated with the circular economy are often overlooked. For example, there is a notable scarcity of frameworks or tools designed to assist private businesses in choosing suppliers in alignment with circular economy principles. This manuscript aims to introduce the Circular Assessment of Suppliers (CAoS) tool, a straightforward instrument that private organizations may utilize to gauge their suppliers' adherence to circular principles. The tool's genesis is rooted in the Kraljic Matrix, an approach employed to categorize a company's suppliers by subdividing them based on the intricacy of the supply market. Its development was concluded after conducting a review of the literature concerning circular supply chains and then choosing the appropriate criteria with expert guidance. This manuscript also unveils industrial implementations of this tool, as evidenced by two case studies. By integrating such a tool, a company can dynamically evaluate all suppliers, thus augmenting the circularity of procurement decisions. This tool could also function as a means to engage suppliers in dialogues about mutual circular priorities within the value chain.