Supplier Information Management

Supplier Information Management Overview

Supplier information is often distributed in different parts of the organization, at corporate level, division level, site level... and most of the time in multiple systems which are not always interconnected, making it almost impossible to have a clear perspective at an aggregate level. Supplier Information Management is all about the "single point of truth", allowing an enterprise to aggregate, collect and maintain the information from all distributed systems within the organization, to offer a consolidated view of supplier data, process status and relationships. This goes beyond traditional master data management systems, which just look at one aspect of maintaining the golden supplier record, to leveraging all information from one place enabling Finance and Sourcing professionals to quickly find insight and opportunities.

How does it work?

ESM Supplier Information Management provides comprehensive functionality to collect data from a variety of sources in a variety of areas, such as risk,compliance, performance and CSR and Sustainability, in such a way to leverage data collection efforts across sites, without duplicating what already exists in other systems.

• Content Aggregation: ESM comes with key technology components allowing you to easily integrate different types of content, from external systems, into it to allow it to act as the single repository. In addition data can be automatically added from the Dun & Bradstreet datawarehouse either automatically or at the click of a button.
• Workflow: Leveraging supplier portals and automation is great but there needs to be a mechanism to manage changes in a controlled way, otherwise if a supplier's account in the portal is compromised it could lead to fraudulent activities. ESM Supplier Information Management delivers all the data management workflows out of the box to allow you to safely leverage the benefits of supplier self service. No data is distributed into an ERP or eProcurement system unless it has been approved.
• Audit Trail: with thousands of suppliers and employees managing different aspects daily, it is important to have a clear story of who did what, when, and why.
• Data Distribution: in order to ensure a consistent picture across the enterprise, once changes to data are approved, they can be automatically propagated to various systems which you desire. ESM can also work together with an existing (master data management) MDM solution if one is already in place.

 

What type of supplier information can be managed?

Below are the most typical types of supplier information which can be managed:

• Contact, legal and financial details
• Status of the supplier: pending assessment, pending evaluation, approved, not approved, pending activation.
• Details of the contact person within your organization responsible of the relationship with the supplier

Supply chain related risks & compliance, addressed through the different policies that your organization requires to the suppliers:

• Financial and credit
• Supply chain and competitive
• CSR and environmental
• Diversity
• IT security and data privacy
• Legal

Supplier Performance:

• Quality of service
• Ease of doing business
• Price competitiveness

External feed summaries:

• eRFx's and eAuctions
• Purchase Ordes
• Invoices
• Contracts
• Catalogs

Dun & Bradstreet (DUNS numbers, supplier parent/child relationships)