Vendors are an integral part of a successful supply chain. But without a comprehensive vendor management process workflow, it’s challenging to establish and maintain strong partnerships with vendors.
That’s why it’s vital to have processes that help you manage vendor relationships, track performance, and ensure compliance with regulations. CloudLogix can support your vendor management workflow to help take your supply chain to the next level — and beyond. Find out more!
Where the Typical Vendor Workflow Falls Short
Most supply chain companies have embraced robust vendor management systems, many of which can collect workflow data. The problem is these systems often lack the granular detail needed for proper vendor relationship management and performance tracking, and they don’t make it easy for all necessary parties to contribute information to the workflow.
These systems are also rigid in their design, preventing teams from adequately accommodating exceptions or specific business rules and nuances. The result is gaps in functionality, leaving users to compensate via manual communication methods. In turn, vendor information is disjointed and out of full compliance with the system of record. You end up with an inefficient workflow that needs to be improved to maintain productivity and profitability.
In short, the conventional vendor management workflow isn’t enough to drive your supply chain to the level of efficiency you’re striving for. There’s a better way.
What Does the Ideal Vendor Management Process Workflow Look Like?
The ideal vendor management process workflow helps you achieve the level of efficiency needed to manage multiple vendors, track performance, improve communication, and reduce operational costs.
While each company’s exact process may be unique, the ideal workflow has a few common elements. Here are six characteristics of the preferred workflow.
1. Timely Supplier Purchase Order Acknowledgment
The purchase order (PO) acknowledgment is vital for keeping the communication loop open and on track during the vendor onboarding process. When vendor acknowledgments of purchase orders are timely, that means less time chasing after documents and more time spent executing plans.
2. Adherence to the PO Shipping Terms
Every PO comes with a set of predetermined shipping terms. These terms should be adhered to for the purchase order to flow properly through the supply chain. Vendors must follow the shipping terms to avoid delays and disruptions in the supply chain.
3. Visibility into Potential Delays or Discrepancies
Accessing real-time data and breaking down the supply chain into various nodes can help identify potential delays and discrepancies. This visibility helps maintain a high-level overview of vendor performance, allowing for proactive action if needed — long before a disruption occurs. What would have been a crisis can instead become a minor hiccup.
4. Shipping Notifications
Knowledge is power. Vendors should provide shipping notifications as a part of their communication process to keep everyone in the loop and ensure that goods arrive as promised. These notifications should be easily accessible to all relevant parties.
5. Tracking Visibility
Knowing the location of goods in transit is critical. Visibility into the tracking of goods helps supply chain teams react quickly when issues arise and make better business decisions. It also allows for better customer service and communication as goods move along the supply chain.
6. Receiving Acknowledgments
Receiving acknowledgments are just as important as PO acknowledgments. This alert is the formal notification that goods were received in full and on time, confirming that goods were shipped per the PO terms. Having a receiving acknowledgment process in place helps to ensure accuracy and consistency.
Identify & Close Gaps with CloudLogix
The CloudLogix platform is designed to make it easier to identify and close gaps in your current workflow, moving your business operations closer to the ideal workflow we identified.
With CloudLogix, you can reap the benefits of vendor management to the fullest. All of the desired outcomes can be achieved with our system, with the added benefit of allowing you to automate your vendor management processes.
Managing each vendor in real-time is simple with CloudLogix:
- Automated vendor management brings key parties together safely and securely.
- Stakeholders gain easy access to necessary information.
- No more communication waste – constant calls and emails for status updates are a thing of the past.
- Your company is positioned to achieve maximum optimization and scalability in the supply chain.
We’re not a one-size-fits-all software provider. Instead of providing generic solutions, we customize our existing framework to accommodate your specific business needs. Choosing CloudLogix gives you access to a team of experts with extensive supply chain backgrounds who can easily understand your pain points and implement the rules you need.
Contact Us Today to Schedule a Demo
Our cloud-based platform has lightweight tools that can integrate seamlessly with your existing systems and processes, and you won’t have to handle the implementation alone. We’ll work with you every step of the way to make sure your vendor management process workflow is optimized for success.
By implementing CloudLogix tools to work with your current systems, you can apply all the necessary processes your company needs to function efficiently. Better yet, our tools are incredibly agile, so you can easily make changes as your business needs evolve.
Game-changing vendor performance and efficient supply chain operations are within reach. Contact us today to schedule a demo of the CloudLogix platform and begin the journey to supply chain optimization.
