Vendors are a necessary part of any successful supply chain. Your company can’t do everything on your own; you need reliable partners that can help you move product quickly and efficiently through the supply chain according to your timeline and cost requirements.
But, the global supply chain crisis is still ever-present. This ongoing disruption has impacted vendors’ ability to produce material or product per the contracted purchase schedule. Without a doubt, the process of shipping and receiving material on time is the largest constraint at this time, especially when supply is short and demand is high.
That’s why communication with vendors is so critical at this stage of the disruption. Your company needs to be able to communicate in real-time to better understand what adjustments need to be made, when additional resources need to be assigned to specific orders, and how to prepare end customers for delays.
Learning how to talk with vendors during this disruptive period will help you improve processes and keep costs under control! Let’s take a closer look.
How Poor Communication with Vendors Impacts Supply Chains
Does it seem like your company has more of a transactional relationship with vendors rather than a true partnership working together on the same team? When vendor relationships are fractured, many elements are affected:
- Lost knowledge of the volume of product coming in
- Lack of clarity around when product will arrive
- Inability to support resource planning (e.g., warehouse space, receiving personnel, and staff availability to process or work with the freight)
- Unable to make specific timeline commitments to your end customer
- Challenges fulfilling your customer’s order volume and other expectations
Poor vendor relationships affect virtually every element in the supply chain after that fracture point. The supply chain is extremely fragile in today’s era, as evidenced by constant headaches such as port congestion, labor shortages, and other disruptive elements.
Not having an open line of communication with vendors and clear visibility into each order’s status makes it nearly impossible to effectively manage resources, keep costs under control, and fulfill commitments to end customers.
Fortunately, there is a solution that can help lessen the impact of these challenges. The CloudLogix platform streamlines supply chain processes and supports communication with all third parties, including vendors, so that you can regain control of your supply chain!
How CloudLogix Can Help You Better Communicate with Vendors
The CloudLogix platform directly connects purchase order data to vendor shipping activity. Each of your vendors can be given access to the platform to update purchase order information once their product is ready for shipping. Complicated processes become simplified:
- Keep track of each order in one simple view.
- Allow vendors to update order status directly in the platform, eliminating extra steps.
- Communicate with vendors in the platform to maintain a record of communication.
- Eliminate communication waste and discover greater efficiencies!
Companies that utilize our platform can achieve the earliest possible visibility into what is coming inbound to their facility. Instead of only having a few hours to scramble resources to plan for the surprise arrival of a shipment, you will have days or weeks to make the appropriate plans.
You will also be able to understand the nature of each shipment from your vendor. Is it a full or partial shipment? Are certain products missing? Will a second shipment follow the next incoming shipment? When can we expect each shipment to arrive?
Our platform provides you with visibility to keep track of these critical details so that you can better manage the supply chain. We’d like to further highlight two of the key features in our platform that directly support vendor management.
1. Vendor Portal: Move from a Transaction to a Relationship
Our vendor portal brings all necessary parties together in one centralized location:
- Buyers no longer have to track down order status.
- Vendors don’t have to use multiple systems to obtain the appropriate documentation and labels for shipments.
- Warehouse personnel don’t have to make calls and send emails to find out when the next shipment is coming in.
Additionally, custom business rules allow you to have control over shipments. Don’t want a vendor to ship product until they meet a certain load size? Need a vendor to hold off on shipping product until you have the warehouse space? No problem!
Custom business rules allow you to set the quantities that are allowed to ship and allow you to manage the schedule of when shipments can be made. This way, there are no bad surprises on the receiving end.
2. Custom Roles Functionality: Control Who Has Access
We also offer custom roles functionality that allows you to assign access to specific third-party users. By giving users appropriate roles in the system, everyone sees only what they need to see and not what they don’t. This way, vendors don’t have to waste their time sifting through information that does not pertain to them.
When we created the CloudLogix platform, our goal was to keep everyone’s required functions as simple as possible so that everyone can take of what they need to take care of, then move on with their day. We wanted to make each role clear and straightforward.
Vendors appreciate this because it simplifies processes on their end. Then, vendors will be more willing and able to help the process run smoothly. All involved parties are pleased, everyone has access to what they need, and your personnel can minimize their time answering phone calls and returning emails.
Ready to See CloudLogix in Action?
Vendor management is increasingly important in today’s era. Make sure you have the right tools to improve communication and create a more beneficial working relationship with your vendors.
We’d like to show you how the CloudLogix platform works, especially when it comes to managing vendor relationships. You don’t have to spend any more time trying to figure out how to talk with vendors when CloudLogix can help manage communication for you.
Schedule a no-obligation demo today! We’re here to help you streamline critical processes that involve your vendors.
