A business’s vendors and a well-functioning supply chain are critical to the success of the company. Both can assist in an organisation’s growth within its industry and ensure that revenue and profits targets are met. They should therefore be considered core components of companies’ processes and activities.
The importance of effectively managing vendor relationships is often underestimated, much to the detriment of businesses in a range of industries. Previously, procurement was the responsibility of the internal department that purchased goods and services, with minimal thought and planning put in place for a cohesive long-term strategy. This has now shifted and procurement needs to be a key consideration of an overall business plan and strategy.
Increasing levels of competition across the business sphere mean that taking a strategic approach to effectively managing vendors is paramount and doing so will provide a plethora of benefits.
Vendor management is often an area that many businesses lack expertise in so that it tends to lack implementation across the business world. If you are unsure regarding the benefits of vendor management and the opportunities that it could provide your business, then keep reading to find out more.
What is Vendor Management?
Simply put, vendors are other businesses or individuals that provide goods or services to your company. If you are a medium or large business, you most likely engage and work with hundreds of vendors with a range of terms of contract, payment rates and points of contact.
Managing each of these different aspects can quickly become complex. If a strategic approach is not taken, your business will inevitably start overpaying for services, missing payments, and worst of all, losing money due to unforeseen costs.
In order for companies to prevent this from happening, they should invest in a comprehensive supplier information management solution to manage their suppliers. This enables businesses to research and source vendors, effectively manage and streamline supplier relationships, evaluate their performance, reduce the onboarding time plus a range of other benefits.
Having a solution to streamline these processes will not only improve the efficiency of your business but it will also save money and enable investment in other areas of the company and deliver overall growth.
Being able to efficiently manage suppliers and complex supply chains is essential for any business. If you are still not convinced, then the following reasons detail why it should be a top priority for any company.
Optimise performance
Every business is looking to increase efficiency and optimise performance across the company. Managing your suppliers via a supplier information management system will empower you to track and measure the supplier against the terms of the contract to make sure that they are complying with the agreed terms and fulfilling your company’s needs.
The acquired data from tracking their performance enables you to identify areas of concern before they become an issue. It also provides the opportunity to identify other areas that require improvement and refinement to meet your performance requirements.
Reduce risks
Having the possibility to effectively track your suppliers and glean data to identify risks enables your company to reduce issues from occurring that impact your operations, costs and regulatory compliance. Having insights into these areas means that you can identify problems before they take place and, in certain cases, seek out a new supplier to remove the risk entirely in both the short and long-term.
A comprehensive solution will enable you to gain enhanced insights into the supplier, including:
- Certifications
- Performance
- Financial records
Each of these areas means that you can benefit from a greater understanding of the supplier’s predicted performance and understand if risks would be involved in working together. Having this level of insight can ensure that you are avoiding suppliers who could end up having a detrimental impact on the smooth running of essential supply chains.
Faster onboarding
Onboarding new vendors can be time-consuming and impact the efficiency and productivity of your company, meaning a reduction in the generation of revenue. However, when using a supplier management platform, you are presented with all of the essential details of the vendor, such as regulatory data, capacity details, financial details, and much more.
This enables you to onboard them faster and moves them through the procurement process to start the movement of goods and services as soon as possible.
Improving relationships
All businesses wish to work with suppliers who provide excellent service; unfortunately, they can be hard to find. Using a supplier management solution empowers you to build robust relationships that encourage loyalty. This is achieved by refining your processes to ensure that they are smooth and that both sides enjoy a fulfilling and positive working relationship that is maintained in the long-term.
Protect your reputation
Protecting the value of your company’s brand is essential.
There are so many areas in which you need to ensure that it is being upheld. Removing the risks associated with an unprofessional vendor means that you can concentrate on other areas of risk to your brand.
Using an effective supplier management solution provides you with the information required to assess current and potential suppliers in detail to avoid those who could pose a threat to your company’s reputation. This results in being able to avoid the prospect of increased costs and the utilisation of internal time and resources having to rebuild your reputation.
