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Accelerating Supplier Pre-Qualification with Trust Your Supplier

In the realm of procurement, time is a precious commodity. According to McKinsey*, it typically takes three months to complete a single supplier search, with a sourcing professional dedicating over 40 hours of work—often only managing to consider a few dozen suppliers from a pool of thousands. This statistic underscores the inefficiency and frustration inherent in traditional supplier pre-qualification processes. 

At Trust Your Supplier (TYS), we recognize these challenges and have designed our platform to streamline and enhance supplier pre-qualification, allowing businesses to operate more efficiently and make informed decisions swiftly. 

 

The TYS Advantage

Premarket Analysis with Pre-Populated Data One of the key features of TYS is the integration of pre-populated firmographics by the supplier and risk data, along with verified and accurate contact details. This comprehensive database provides procurement professionals with essential information upfront, significantly reducing the time spent on initial research and data gathering. 

Swift Qualification & Verification With TYS, users can quickly move through the qualification and verification steps necessary for onboarding suppliers. Our platform facilitates thorough market analysis before onboarding tasks begin, enabling companies to identify potential suppliers that meet their criteria early in the process. This upfront analysis ensures that only the most suitable suppliers are considered for further evaluation, eliminating unnecessary effort and costs associated with onboarding unqualified candidates. 

Informed Decision-Making By providing more information at your fingertips upstream, TYS empowers procurement teams to make informed decisions about whether to proceed with onboarding a particular supplier. This early determination helps to minimize the time and resources spent on suppliers that may not ultimately meet the organization’s needs. 

Realizing the Benefits 

The advantages of using TYS for supplier pre-qualification are manifold: 

  • Efficiency: Reduce the time required to identify and qualify suppliers, allowing your team to focus on strategic tasks. 
  • Cost Savings: Lower the costs associated with the onboarding process by eliminating unqualified suppliers early. 
  • Risk Mitigation: Access to accurate risk data helps in identifying potential issues before they become problematic. 
  • Enhanced Collaboration: Our platform fosters better collaboration between sourcing professionals and suppliers, ensuring a smoother onboarding process. 

By leveraging TYS, your organization can streamline procurement operations and build stronger, more reliable supply chains. 

*Source: McKinsey & Company 


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April Harrison Blog, Digital Transformation, Supplier Information Management 0 Comments ,

Beyond Technology: How Trust Your Supplier Delivers Real Business Value Through Collaboration

Technological advancements are often hailed as the ultimate game-changers. However, as Jim Mason aptly put it, “Technology is just… well… technology. It delivers value only through real business systems engineering.” At Trust Your Supplier (TYS), we understand this principle profoundly. While our innovative blockchain-based solution is a cornerstone of our offering, the true essence of our value proposition lies in our collaborative approach with clients and our robust business system engineering. 

The Power of Blockchain Technology
Blockchain technology is undoubtedly transformative. Its immutability, transparency, and security features have the potential to revolutionize supplier and risk management. By leveraging blockchain, TYS ensures daily monitoring and provides historical, predictive, and prescriptive risk insights. This enables trusted data exchange and workflow automation that extends beyond traditional boundaries. 

However, blockchain alone is not enough. The real business value emerges when this technology is seamlessly integrated into an ecosystem that addresses the specific needs and challenges of our clients. 

Collaboration: The Heart of TYS
At TYS, we believe collaboration is the key to unlocking the full potential of technology. From the outset, our approach has been to work closely with our clients, understanding their unique pain points and business objectives. This partnership goes beyond mere consultation; it is a co-creative process where the TYS team and our clients come together to define and refine the right solutions. 

Jim Mason’s observation resonates deeply with our ethos: “There was a clear business value opportunity in the market. The TYS team and their clients came together collaboratively to define the right solution that delivers value.” This collaborative spirit ensures that the solutions we develop are not only technologically advanced but also practically applicable and tailored to deliver tangible business outcomes. 

Business System Engineering: Bridging Technology and Value
Our emphasis on business system engineering bridges the gap between cutting-edge technology and real-world value. Business system engineering involves a holistic approach to designing and optimizing business processes and systems. It requires a deep understanding of the interplay between technology, people, and processes. 

At TYS, we bring this expertise to the table, ensuring that our blockchain solution is integrated into the broader business context of our clients. This integration is critical for achieving operational efficiency, risk mitigation, and strategic advantage. Our clients benefit from streamlined supplier management processes, enhanced transparency, and data-driven decision-making capabilities. 

We are committed to delivering real business value that goes beyond technology. Our blockchain-based solution is a powerful tool, but it is our collaborative approach and expertise in business system engineering that truly sets us apart. By working closely with our clients and understanding their unique needs, we co-create solutions that drive efficiency, transparency, and strategic growth. 

In a world where technology is constantly evolving, it is this human-centric approach that ensures our clients stay ahead of the curve and realize the full potential of their investments. Trust Your Supplier is not just about technology; it is about delivering value through innovation, collaboration, and engineering excellence. 

 


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April Harrison Blockchain, Blog, Digital Transformation, Value Engineering 0 Comments ,
TYS Precheck Blog image

Streamlining Supplier Engagement: The TYS Pre-Check Experience

As many of us prepare for summer holidays, the anticipation of travel often brings to mind the sometimes tedious experience of going through airport security. The long lines and exhaustive checks can turn what should be a seamless process into a frustrating ordeal. This got us thinking about an analogy that perfectly encapsulates the traditional supplier engagement process versus the innovative solution offered by Trust Your Supplier (TYS).

Traditional Supplier Engagement: The Airport Security Experience

⛔ Long Boarding Time

Just as waiting in line at the airport eats into your travel time, onboarding a new supplier can be a lengthy process. Traditional methods involve multiple steps, approvals, and verifications, leading to delays that can impact your project timelines and overall efficiency.

⛔ Redundant Administration

Imagine filling out the same forms over and over again for every trip you take. That’s how repetitive and cumbersome traditional supplier engagement can feel. Suppliers often need to provide the same information to multiple customers, causing unnecessary delays and administrative headaches.

⛔ Tedious Security Checks

The rigorous security checks at the airport, while necessary, can be time-consuming and exhausting. Similarly, traditional supplier vetting processes are thorough but often slow and labor-intensive, requiring extensive background checks, certifications, and compliance verifications.

The TYS Pre-Check: Revolutionizing Supplier Engagement

✔️ Immediate Onboarding

With Trust Your Supplier, the onboarding process is as smooth as breezing through the TYS Pre-Check. Our system significantly reduces the time it takes to get suppliers up and running. Immediate onboarding means no more waiting in line or dealing with prolonged processes.

✔️ AI-Driven Profiles

TYS leverages advanced AI to create comprehensive supplier profiles. These profiles are automatically updated and maintained, eliminating the need for redundant paperwork and ensuring that all information is current and accurate. This automation leads to a more streamlined and efficient engagement process.

✔️ Pre-Certified, Ready-to-Do-Business

Just like having a TSA Pre-Check status gets you through security faster, our pre-certified suppliers are ready to do business right away. Suppliers in the TYS network have their information and questionnaires completed, so you can confidently engage with them without the usual delays and uncertainties.

Experience the Difference with Trust Your Supplier

Say goodbye to the hassle of traditional supplier engagement and hello to streamlined efficiency with Trust Your Supplier. Our blockchain-based solution ensures daily monitoring, and historical, predictive, and prescriptive risk insights, enabling trusted data exchange and workflow automation beyond traditional boundaries.

Enjoy a seamless and efficient process that keeps your business moving forward. Safe travels to all!


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April Harrison Blog, Digital Transformation, Supplier Information Management 0 Comments

The Evolution of Supplier Management (Part 2)

Winning the Tomorrow War, Today

by Gary Storr, General Manager

In Part 1, I talked about how this will be the first time your AI technology capability will – through Supplier Digital Identity, “put your organization ahead of future industry demands.”

I then emphasized the importance of “laying a universally consumable digital supplier identity foundation” today to achieve an unprecedented level of “supplier trust…and a single version of the truth.”

Let’s revisit the following graphic from the first post to understand the bridge or path to getting to trust and a single version of the truth.

 

If you take a step back to reflect on the above, it is hard to argue with the validity of the key points or theme. In short, moving to the “future state” that is Supplier Digital Identity sounds good.

But what does it mean, e.g., the future state of Supplier Digital Identity in the here and now? How do you leverage AI to get there? And what tangible benefits will it deliver? To put it another way, what good is my telling you about Eden and how great it is and then not showing you the way to get there?

It Isn’t About The Technology

As a service provider with what I believe is the most amazing technology in the industry, you will be surprised by what I am about to say.

Getting to that single version of truth and supplier insight is about something other than the technology. It is about the expertise behind that technology. To be clear, when I say expertise, I am not just talking about a deep understanding of how the technology works. I am talking about the knowledge and anticipation of the expected and unexpected external disruptions we face in a dynamic and complex world and how to leverage said technology to determine the appropriate response.

For example, the organizations with whom we work are consistently talking about:

  • Concern about the supplier data they house being accurate and current to ensure they have the latest view on that, supplier’s qualifications, credentials, performance, et cetera.
  • The flurry of the evolution of rules, standards, and requirements – that are much more diverse than they’ve ever been.
  • Adoption, cycle time reduction, and administration are “hugely important.”
  • Increasing awareness of the importance of “authoritative data.”

The above are only a few examples of where companies want and need to go to arrive at that future state of optimal supplier management capability. To reach this state of capability, you must look beyond the technology to assess your service provider’s ability to address these points and many others.

The Right Captain For The Right Vessel

You have to have a partner who will have the same vision as you do.

For example, if a partner is “established” in older technology, or if a partner doesn’t understand the regulatory compliance landscape worldwide, or doesn’t have some insights into particular industries that you’re in, you can be guided off course.

It’s a little bit like the analogy that there’s a difference between a sailboat and an oil tanker. You have to hire the right captain for the sailboat and hire a different captain for the oil tanker.

If you prefer something a little less nautical, In Good To Great, Jim Collins said – and I paraphrase “You have to have the right people in the right seats on the right bus.” What success ultimately comes down to is having the right service provider partner with the right expertise doing the right things!

If you do, you will successfully transition from the emerging standards of today to the necessary future state of Supplier Digital Identity and its competitive edge.

April Harrison Blog, Digital Transformation, Supplier Information Management 1 Comment ,

The Evolution of Supplier Management (Part 1)

Successfully Addressing Today’s Needs While Preparing for Tomorrow’s Challenges

by Gary Storr, General Manager

“How do we overlay today’s needs with tomorrow’s needs and build a bridge that organizations can invest in today and be ready for tomorrow?”

During a recent interview, I gave the above response to the question “Where is supplier management technology now, and what it will look like in the future?” It is seemingly a straightforward question. But underlying its simplicity is the complexity of building and proactively managing dynamic and interconnected supply networks in a volatile global marketplace.

Now one might think that as a solution provider, my focus would be on the technology part of the equation. Even though emerging AI technology is the main event when it comes to supplier management, you must look beyond it to the experience and expertise behind it.

Think about it for a moment. ESG investing began in the 1960s as “socially responsible investing, with investors excluding stocks or entire industries from their portfolios.” The industries on the no-investment list included tobacco companies and any businesses deemed to be supporting the apartheid regime in South Africa.

Now ponder this fact – ESG reporting did not begin until 2004 under the UN “Who Cares Wins” banner. Here we are in 2023, and it is only recently that things like carbon emissions, ESG, and global compliance have become emerging mainstream regulatory concerns.

The above “timeline” raises two essential questions:

  • Why are companies now scrambling to comply with new legislative requirements and proposed future ones when we saw this train coming as far back as the 1960s?
  • Regarding future regulations, e.g., ESG, what will the reporting (and technology) requirements be next year or decade? By the way, if you want a glimpse into what is on the compliance horizon, check out the following ESG Regulations link.

From my standpoint and experience, we need to do two things so that we don’t continue to play catch-up with known and unknown compliance realities. In today’s post, I will tell you the two things you need to do to stop chasing compliance and start mastering (and benefiting) from it.

First, A History Timeline Review

 

Regarding the evolution of supplier management platforms, the old saying “if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it” tells a notable story.

In the above graphic, you will note how we have progressed from a “blind trust” qualification process to where we are today – somewhere between email and spreadsheets and corporate web portals.

As your service provider, you will be happy to know that we are on the leading edge of the emerging standard: enterprise supplier networks. I will get into what this emerging standard is shortly.

That said, we have also created an overlay between today’s and tomorrow’s supplier management needs. Why is this important?

It is important because instead of implementing technology to catch up with emerging requirements, we are also creating a seamless bridge to put you out front of the proverbial curve to address not yet known future requirements. If you think about it, this will be the first time that your AI technology capability will – through supplier digital identity, put your organization ahead of future industry demands. 

The Here And Now

In Part 2 of this series, I will get into the specifics of supplier digital identity. However, we can’t take our eyes off the immediate challenges you face in managing your present-day supplier network, including the importance of:

  • Reliable supplier data
  • Digital supplier discovery
  • Minimized administration
  • 3rd party verifications

Through this immediate capability, you will meet today’s demands while laying a universally consumable digital supplier identity foundation that will create unprecedented supplier trust and a single version of the truth.

Up Next: The Evolution of Supplier Management (Part 2) – Winning The Tomorrow War, Today

April Harrison Blog, Digital Transformation, Supplier Information Management 0 Comments ,

When It Comes To Data, Failing To Plan Is Planning To Fail

by Sai Nidamarty, TYS Cofounder & CEO

Data knowing is a significant and intimidating problem that almost all organizations face, yet they need the data culture and cycles to do something about it. Beyond focusing solely on the consequences of bad or missing supplier data, we have convened a panel of industry experts and thought leaders to closely examine the data challenge from the following three critical points: 1. Data consequence 2. Data culture 3. Centralized planning & supplier oversight data framework. – Supplier Data: What You Don’t Know Can (And Will) Hurt You

The above link is to a webinar on which I was a panel member with Tom Redman and Greg Tennyson. From its title, you can see that we were talking about the importance of data.

Of course, data being important is not a new revelation. Nor is it a subject that hasn’t received significant attention in the media. However, despite its ubiquitous presence, many organizations still need help turning their vast amount of raw data into actionable knowledge. The question is, why? Of even greater importance than the why is how do we fix it – how do we convert our data currency into tangible returns?

During this panel, we answer this latter question.

Data “Street Cred”

Tom Redman and Greg Tennyson are recognized industry thought leaders. Tom, who graduated from Florida State University in 1980 with a PhD, Statistics and worked with AT&T Bell until 1995, when he started his company “The Data Doc,” has written extensively, including a compelling article on data for the Harvard Business Review.

Greg has a procurement pedigree going back to the late 1990s with companies like Oracle, SalesForce, and Coupa. As for me, my experience dates as far back as the early 1990s in the positions of software engineering and program management with IBM.

In short, individually and collectively, we have a deep understanding of not only technology but data as well.

Based on the above, you must know that the panel discussion would be uniquely insightful because we weren’t tackling the data question from a conceptual or theoretical basis. What this means is that during the 60 minutes, we didn’t just talk about the challenges with data but what you can do “about” getting the most from your data using my 3-Point Supplier Data Plan.

The 3-Point Supplier Data Plan

“Partner, Mitigate, Comply is at the heart of the 3-Point centralized planning & supplier oversight data framework. Going forward, I will call it the 3-Point Supplier Data Plan.” – Sai Nidamarty

So, what is the 3-Point Supplier Data Plan?

During the panel, Tom, Greg, and I discussed at length the specifics of the 3-Point plan, including how you can introduce it to your organization. By the way, you can use this 3-Point link to access the on-demand recording of the session.

In the meantime, at a high level, here is a quick overview or outline of the supplier data plan:

Point #1 – Partner

  • Enterprise data drawn from many data sources are generally inconsistent, incomplete, and unreliable for decision-making. Partnering & investing with automated tools to onboard, manage and monitor a single source of truth for the entire supplier base
  • Enhance authenticity and provenance, creating a data culture with a single source of truth
  • Collaborating with suppliers for the exchange of information
  • Establish relationships with comprehensive 3rd party data providers in monitoring supplier risk in real-time; take appropriate actions to mitigate

Point #2 – Mitigate

  • Data and transactions MUST be transparent with an immutable audit trail
  • Simple, quick discovery of qualified, trusted suppliers
  • Nearly touchless supplier onboarding – A faster turnaround of query resolution and proactive alerts enabling better & timely strategy realignment
  • Monitoring risk is now at least equal to monitoring spend & margins for procurement organizations
  • Governance of data management throughout the supply chain
  • Integrate with a range of immutable ledger technologies

Point # 3 – Comply

  • Maintain control of authenticity throughout the supply chain – enhancing supply chain visibility and risk.
  • Comply with regulative reporting and compliance regulations (SCDDA, Diversity/human rights laws, insurance)
  • Meeting internal objectives on compliance (e.g. ESG)
  • The continued evolution of a globally compliant supplier base
  • Blockchain uses digital signatures, data encryption, and cryptographic function to protect the integrity of the data.

Once again, I invite you to use the above links to access the on-demand version of the webinar.

I would also suggest that you stay connected with us, as we are planning to do a special live – open mic Q&A session, where we will specifically discuss the 3-Point Supplier Data Plan in much greater detail. Follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter for updates.

April Harrison Blog, Digital Transformation, Supplier Information Management 0 Comments ,

Digital Readiness and Your Degree For Success

Last week was one of the more interesting ones on the social media circuit, e.g., LinkedIn.

To start, a post referencing Dirk Spijkers raised an interesting debate regarding technology and partnerships. According to Spijkers, “at a high level, you must do more than provide great technology,” although great technology is still important. However, beyond the technology, you also “need to become a trusted “expert” partner who understands procurement organisations’ challenges across the enterprise and beyond.”

In my comment to that post, I said I would write an article about “breaking down the functional silos that limit the ability of internal and external stakeholders to work collectively toward a mutually beneficial outcome.” Today’s post is the fulfilment of that promise. I will also discuss the “critical role that a service provider will play in facilitating this collaboration to ensure seamless integration and user adoption.

The “Right” Skills

According to an August 2022 CIPS report, success in breaking down silos is directly linked to an organisation’s effectiveness at “facilitating collaboration to ensure seamless integration and user adoption” of new technologies. In short, and as intuitively user-friendly and effective digital tech – including AI is today, it still requires people with the right skills to work collaboratively toward a mutually beneficial result.

The report’s skills included “communication, internal stakeholder management, influencing, supplier relationship management, and negotiation.”

While the above observations sound entirely reasonable, a Deloitte Global Survey of CPOs indicates that a significant gap between recognition and realisation of skills still exists. The survey’s findings suggest that most CPOs are dissatisfied with the progress and results of their digital transformation strategies.

You may be wondering where I am going with this track. I will now come to the point. No matter how great the technology, digital success is built on the foundation of an organisation’s “digital readiness.” The core component of digital readiness means having the right talent and skills to communicate and collaborate with internal and external stakeholders. The collective and proactive application of these skills breaks down silos and paves the way for digital transformation success.

A Degree For Success

Several studies and corresponding articles indicate that in the five years leading up to the pandemic, many CPOs did not believe their existing teams possessed the necessary skills to deliver their strategic objectives. As I thought about these findings – which were somewhat surprising, a post by Iain Campbell-Mckenna caught my attention.

The post “Procurement’s Conscious Degree Bias” lamented the profession’s continuing practice of screening job candidates using a university or college degree as the proverbial “golden ticket” to get their foot in the door. How important is a candidate’s degree pedigree for choosing the next great hire? To what degree (excuse the pun) is having a diploma a predictor of success? Based on CPOs’ views of their team’s capabilities, prioritising education isn’t working.

There are a couple of great articles about “hiring for skills” by Chris Burt (University Business, July 2022) and Jonathan Finkelstein (Forbes May 2021) regarding the shift from diploma knowledge to “skilled experience.”

The message from a growing number of procurement industry experts and executives is becoming clear. Organisations need a team with the “right skills” to successfully break down the silos to achieve the level of digital readiness that leads to success.

Partner Skill and Experience Is Also Key

So, why am I talking about end-user skills as a solution provider?

Because when you are selecting a digital transformation partner, you have to look beyond the great technology to find the right skills, experience, and expertise to turn the digital promise into a digital success reality.

In a future post, I will talk about how you can assess a service provider’s technology and industry knowledge to optimise your success by leveraging advanced intelligent solutions.

Michelle Armstrong
TYS, Chief Relationship Officer

April Harrison Blog, Digital Transformation 0 Comments

Ethical Considerations of Digital Transformation

Our Chief Technology Officer, Mohan Venkataraman, provides thought leadership to the tech community at large. His latest article, Ethical Considerations of Digital Transformation, is a sensible case for companies doing the right thing for society and the planet. Mohan lays out three ways to ensure your business is practicing ethical principles.  

By design, Trust Your Supplier incorporates these steps into our features and workflows. From audit & compliance management, supplier diversity, ESG or other compliance initiatives, TYS provides business process transparency, data privacy, and key partnerships to maintain ethical standards. 

Published by Entrepreneur magazine, enjoy the full article here. 

 

April Harrison Blog, Data Privacy & Security, Digital Transformation, ESG, Risk & Compliance, Supplier Diversity 0 Comments