Selection, Validation & Rating processes

How do we select the Suppliers that are listed on our platform?

All TMI contributors can submit companies to be listed as Suppliers at any point of time. 

Businesses that apply or are already listed in the platform can also recommend other businesses, to grow the network and to provide more solutions.

A minimum requirement for the companies is to offer sustainable B2B products and/or Services.

Once received, the application is then examined by the Validation Board.

You may apply as a Supplier or recommend a company.

Please 1/ make sure the company is not already listed, 2/ share as much information as possible for us to get in touch with them. Thank you!

How do we proceed to validate or reject a company?

Our Validation Board examines every company’s submission one by one, based on the following criteria:

  • The company is ready to operate,
  • The company is able to cater to businesses’ needs (B2B),
  • The company has implemented a sustainable business model or provides sustainable services/ products, or its services/ products enable positive impact on the environment (e.g. IoT).
  • The company is able to provide detailed information on its sustainable practices/ services/ products, or holds relevant label(s)/ certification(s) such as the Green Label Singapore, or has been well noted by a relevant rating company.
  • The company is based in Singapore or operates in Singapore.

If any of those criteria is not fulfilled, the application is rejected.

The Validation Board can directly contact the company for additional information if necessary.

When an application is approved, we email the company a form so they can provide all required information, e.g. logo, description, etc.

How do we rate a solution?

Solutions are rated Low, Medium or High by our Rating Board, for:

  • Their cost,
  • The effort they require,
  • Their impact.

Our experts assess the level of cost, effort and impact according to their cumulative experience and business cases. 

Keep in mind that challenges faced by companies can be very different and diverse from an industry to another, what can be applicable to one may not be relevant to others.

Cost refers to additional financial budget and doesn’t include existing internal manpower, as salaries are already integrated in the company’s operation. 
The rating establishes a hierarchy between our solutions more than a quantitative cost analysis of each solution, as needed budgets depend on the company’s size and engagement.

Effort takes into account various factors: man hour, technical complexity, number of stakeholders required to implement the opportunity, time...


Impact conveys a qualitative approach based on:

  • the materiality and importance of the environmental issue behind the solution
  • the relevance and impact of the solution to tackle this issue.

For instance, to reduce greenhouse gases emissions is an important issue, however Solution n.1 “Switch off the lights” has a low impact; Solution n.2 “Change for a supplier that provides renewable energy” has a higher impact. 

Some solutions might not directly impact the company’s footprint. However, they are essential to get results and represent milestones and therefore may be rated as medium or high impact. 
For instance: Measure & Monitor solutions don't inherently reduce the company’s footprint, but are a necessary step to start implementing actions, set tangible objectives and KPIs, gain efficiency, know if your efforts are worth trying, track your impact, etc.

The table here below summarizes the Rating criteria. Kindly note that our purpose is to provide a base for comparison among our solutions. Those factors may differ from a company to another and from an industry to another:

COST
EFFORT
IMPACT
LOW
S$0 < $1K
<1 month
+ 1-3 people
Raising awareness or small impact on environment
MEDIUM
Reasonable budget 
1-6 months
+ 4-6 people
Intermediate impact on or importance for the environment
HIGH
Budget that would require senior management approval
>6 months
+ 7 people or more
Substantial impact on or importance for the environment 

The Rating Board is composed of experts from different fields.
Each of them independently rates all the solutions from 1 to 3, for Cost, Effort and Impact; 1 being Low, 2 being Medium and 3 being High.

The average of their ratings is then rounded (e.g. 1.33 = 1 = Low; 1.66 = 2 = Medium).