Supplier Diversity and Inclusion

Promoting diverse perspectives for supply chain excellence.
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Supplier Diversity & Inclusion

Investing in What Matters

Owens & Minor invests in supplier diversity and development to advance a superior healthcare supply chain. We collaborate with qualified small-, woman-, minority-, veteran- and disabled-owned manufacturing and service organizations that meet our business requirements to build innovation, infrastructure, and ethical business practices that drive supply chain efficiency and help grow local economies. 

Uniting purpose and product.

We are committed to diversity at Owens & Minor and that’s why we support a robust supplier diversity program. Fresh perspectives lead to innovative solutions, and that’s exactly what today’s healthcare challenges demand.

Suppliers play an essential role in Owens & Minor’s ability to deliver on our mission of empowering our customers to advance healthcare. We’re proud to partner with our diverse network of trusted suppliers to drive progress, productivity, and performance across the healthcare supply chain.

Building community
We actively cultivate relationships with qualified small-, woman-, minority-, veteran- and disabled-owned businesses.
Expanding purchasing power
One-third of our MediChoice® brand sales are sourced from small-, minority-, woman-, or veteran-owned businesses.
Supporting innovation
The diversity of our suppliers gives our customers a wider range of products and helps them stay compliant with diversity requirements.
"Owens & Minor has been a great partner with Century Hosiery since 2003. Their long history of supplier diversity in challenging us and helping us, pushing us, has benefitted Century Hosiery in our continued growth."
- Kathy Martin, CEO of Century Hosiery, Inc.
"Owens & Minor has been a great mentor and partner. Their support and guidance has been one of the major ingredients for our success. In the ever-changing world of healthcare, O&M and Kerma have built a bond that has withstood the constant fluctuations of business. Our appreciation is immeasurable. "
- Joe Reubel, President, Kerma Medical

Advancing diverse sourcing through partnerships

At Owens & Minor, we take great pride in excellence in servicing our customers. When it comes to Supplier Diversity Solutions and Partnerships, we never follow.  WE LEAD. We hold ourselves to a high level of excellence when it comes to ensuring we meet and exceed our customer’s expectations. Key elements of our Supplier Diversity program include:

Diverse supplier spend as a percent of total revenue
Diverse supplier spend as a percent of private-label revenue
Unique thought leadership industry collaboration and healthcare supply diversity forums and recognition event
Earl G Reubel Awards

Honoring a Legacy

Owens & Minor is proud to partner with our diverse network of trusted suppliers to drive progress, productivity, and performance across the healthcare supply chain. The Supplier Diversity Earl G. Reubel Awards are awarded to those that are making significant progress in advancing supplier diversity in the healthcare industry. We are honored to serve as a founding partner of these awards honoring Earl G. Reubel’s legacy.

Learn More

Supplier Diversity FAQs

Supplier Diversity references a proactive strategy for the inclusion of goods or services from small-, women-, minority-, disabled- or veteran-owned businesses (51% ownership) within a broader supply chain.
Businesses that are 3rd party certified as minority-, women-, disabled-, disabled-veteran, veteran-owned and small (SBA 8(a), SDB, and HUB Zone) are included within those designations recognized by Owens & Minor as diverse.
At Owens & Minor, we are committed to promoting a diverse supplier network in the procurement of quality products, and services at competitive costs.

Our core values are incorporated in the following diversity statements:

  • We support the development of small-, minority-, women-, veteran-, disabled-owned suppliers, promoting their growth as a win-win proposition.
  • We continually strengthen our supplier diversity relationships to reflect the global marketplace.
  • We partner with organizations committed to cultivating diverse business ownership.
  • View our Supplier Diversity Policy on our Ethics & Compliance site.

The foundational principle of Owens & Minor’s commitment to supply chain diversity is that inclusion is a value-added dimension for sourcing competitive products and services that meet both cost and quality requirements while contributing to the economic development of the communities in which we work and live. Our Supplier Diversity initiatives incorporate diverse businesses by extending equal opportunities for competition as a growth stimulus. Our program is comprised of two dimensions: Direct Supplier Diversity and Indirect Vendor Diversity.
Diverse Suppliers with products or services that want to flow through the Owens & Minor channel or serve the company’s operational needs must start the process by completing this form.

There are 3-levels of the engagement process:

  • Registration
  • Qualification
  • Approval

To become qualified, a supplier (vendor) must provide a more detailed profile demonstrating compliance to O&M’s business requirements. This level is triggered by O&M as it relates to business needs. Approved suppliers (vendors) have been identified by a provider-customer or an O&M department through a competitive RFQ process as having products and/or services that are in demand.

Third-Party Certification FAQs

Certified Suppliers have secured third-party verification that they are independently-owned (+51% ownership) and controlled by one or more socially and economically disadvantaged individuals or groups – Small-, Women-, Minority-, Veteran- (service-disabled) business, and meeting all small business administration criteria.
This process is initiated by the supplier by contacting a third-party certifier such as the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC), Office of Small Business Certification, US DOT, or state agency responsible for this function.
No. Certification only guarantees that a company may be considered (along with others) with an added designation (diverse) for business opportunities. There is a Supplier Registration and Qualification Process, in addition to O&M sourcing considerations, that allows for a specific business relationship.

NOTE: Selection criteria are driven primarily by our corporate business needs. Once requirements are developed, we identify candidates whose products or services can fulfill the requirements.

Yes. While all suppliers (diverse or not) may be considered, only diverse companies that are third-party certified are approved for consideration as a diverse supplier. O&M does not accept self-certifications when tracking diversity spend.
Supplier profiles remain in our database until their certification expires.
Fill out the Statement of Supplier Certification below.

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Contact us to learn more about our supplier diversity program.

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