by Gary Storr

Today in the world of Supplier Information Management speed and risk mitigation are tremendously important in establishing the partnerships so critical to business growth and success. Unfortunately, most organizations have been unable to address these challenges. Did you know that the typical timeframe to onboard a new supplier within many enterprise organizations is more than 30 days? In a world where speed is currency, that can have a huge impact on a business’s ability to pivot, grow, and innovate. A lot of that has to do with the information required to vet a new supplier, and the work required to do that vetting. Numerous spreadsheets, portals, systems, and unsecured document exchanges make this a very cumbersome process. And on the supplier side, each customer demands this same information, creating an incredibly repetitive and non-value added work effort. In summary, it’s a lot of inefficiencies and unnecessary attracted cost for everyone.

Trust Your Supplier (or TYS), addresses these pain points and more. Built on IBM Blockchain, TYS is a strategic collaboration between Chainyard and IBM and a revolutionary solution that brings efficiency and optimization to address these challenges. It’s compellingly different than any supplier management network in operation today. Simply put, TYS creates a Trusted Source of Supplier Information and Digital Identity that simplifies and accelerates Supplier Onboarding and Lifecycle Management. Supplier-provided trusted data, their identity, is used by buyers to validate and manage the partnership. It’s immediate access to real-time data that generates massive savings and reduction of risk. The value proposition is compelling for suppliers too. The single blockchain-based profile eliminates redundant submission of the same information multiple times to different buyers and reduces time to the first transaction and ultimately when they get paid. They are also discoverable on the network, creating opportunities for new business with other buyers on the network.

And the game-changer is the TYS Data Marketplace. Similar to an App Store on your mobile device, this marketplace is a collection of gold-standard services available from firms that are the world’s leading authorities on financial health, sustainability, risk & resilience, and a host of other capacities that help evaluate the performance of your partners. Renowned firms like Dun & Bradstreet, Rapid Ratings, Ecovadis, and many others offer their services directly on the network where their ratings, scores, and evaluations are aggregated into a single, seamless view for the user. This dramatically reduces the time required to conduct due diligence and qualify a partner, saving time and cost. Best of all, free content is available from practically all of these providers, while advanced premium services are can be purchased ala carte to meet your specific needs.  

To ensure state of the art, enterprise-grade trust, TYS is built on Blockchain, creating a decentralized system that is not controlled by a single company. It can quickly become a global standard for supplier and buyer collaboration as well as increasing the participation of third parties who can provide services into this neutral environment.

It’s clear the new normal in supplier management centers on trust. Knowing and trusting your suppliers, in corporate responsibility, sustainability, diversity, financial stability, and a host of other areas are key to ensuring enterprises can responsibly conduct business. Suppliers need to build that trust and continually demonstrate this commitment to their partners. The partnership has never been so important.