Better Business through Enriched Supplier Data Management

Most companies are aware that driving effective collaboration and communication with suppliers can enable cost reduction, risk mitigation, faster time to market and innovation. But businesses still struggle to extend their collaborative processes related to suppliers across corporate departments.

Quite often, multiple departments deal with different aspects of the supplier, which leads to a fragmented supplier management approach where internal departments have their own processes, systems and applications – and no way to look at the big picture. Supplier information is stored in different siloed systems, which results in duplicate, incomplete and inaccurate data, since updating information in one system doesn’t automatically update it in the other systems. Ultimately, this fragmented and archaic approach to supplier data management makes it impossible to effectively collaborate with suppliers and maximize those relationships.

Strategic Supplier Management Starts with High-Quality Data 

More aspects of the business tie back to strategic management of the supply base than you might think. Proper supplier data management is the basis for high performance across Finance, Procurement, Compliance, and other departments. 

With a dedicated supplier data management solution, you can:

• Consolidate all information about suppliers from multiple databases and siloed systems in one place to have one source of truth

• Make supplier information accessible in real time to all employees across departments, so everyone sees the same information as soon as it’s available

• Drive compliance across the supplier lifecycle – from initial vendor master file cleansing, to supplier on-boarding, to ongoing updates and maintenance. 

External, third-party data sources (e.g. Dun & Bradstreet) can be added to the solution to create comprehensive, reliable and enriched supplier profiles. This empowers all business users to gain critical visibility over supplier information, proactively communicate with suppliers, and quickly achieve a higher level of productivity.

Key benefits of strategic supplier data management include:

• Smooth operations: Supplier data is used in multiple processes during the purchase-to-pay cycle, so ensuring accurate supplier data is critical to preventing bottlenecks, errors, delays, and miscommunications.

• Improved supplier relationships: Accurate data equals hassle-free processes and better interactions with suppliers, improving supplier relationships and ensuring goods/services are received and payments submitted in a timely manner.  

Supplier Data Management Unlocks More Value in Supplier Relationships

To discover the true value of your supplier relationships, you must leverage supplier data and find insights and information to recognize the opportunities hidden in your relationships with suppliers. Solutions with third party data sources, like Dun & Bradstreet, empower users by helping to paint the full picture on how suppliers are conducting business. 

Understanding the way in which two or more entities are connected is the foundation to gain better supply chain visibility, which is at the core of what Dun & Bradstreet does. Dun & Bradstreet Data Enrichment service helps companies understand who their suppliers are and where their services, products and raw materials are being sourced.

With this information, you can: 

• Negotiate better pricing with a view of your total supplier relationship

• Select the right suppliers for the specific products or services, in a certain geography

• Reduce supply chain risk by knowing exactly where your materials are being sourced.

A Holistic Approach to Supplier Management is the Future of Business

The combination of modern supplier data management and performance-driven data services will dramatically change the way organizations manage their suppliers. To stay competitive in today’s global world, companies must take a holistic approach towards their suppliers and other business partners. This will help fuel company workflow systems and only then will insights truly come to life. This is why Basware partners with Dun & Bradstreet to bring customers enriched data for more strategic supplier data management. 

Find out how Basware can help your company with supplier data management and enrichment services here.