Fall in love with Supplier Relationship Management software

The recent case of a chicken supplier providing contaminated meat to large supermarket chains horrified customers and highlighted the need for better management overall relationships with suppliers, from initial selection through to measuring the performance of each.

Thumbs up for online relationships

Our own research (of senior operators in the foodservice and hospitality space) showed that 60% of respondents use a spreadsheet or paper-based method to manage their key supplier information.

Crazy, right?

In a world where there is an app for everything, and people can literally live all their lives online, it’s hard to comprehend the vast amount of time and effort it must take someone to manage supplier information in these manual ways.

Much like real-life relationships, supplier relationships require a little TLC, but this shouldn’t be a burden for either party. Fortunately, effective supplier relationship management software is readily available, streamlining processes, reducing administration and ensuring compliance, which can ultimately protect your brand.

Relationships work both ways

Effective SRM technology puts the responsibility on your suppliers to provide you with the information that you need to know in order to consider working with them.

By providing you with all the relevant accreditation and certificates upon registration, you have the ability to select suppliers that are fully compliant with your requirements – and proves that you have done your due diligence.

Clear and transparent online dashboards provide users with an ‘at-a-glance’ view over the entire registration process, and can allow you to score your suppliers against the risks that matter to your business – there’s no shame in being selective when getting into any relationship!

By doing this, you are able to easily identify high scoring suppliers and build a fully compliant supply base, aligned with your company’s needs and requirements.

It’s OK to archive your communications – romantic or not

Saving romantic messages sent by your significant other is a guilty pleasure many of us do.

Similarly, in the SRM world, keeping hold of communications, including meeting notes and results of site/product audits is really important, especially if your auditor comes a-knocking.

Having all of this information stored centrally in the cloud and at your fingertips can significantly reduce administration and make your job so much easier when you are required to produce information and documentation on demand.

It also reduces paper trails and banishes messy filing cabinets – what’s not to love?

Never forget your anniversary – or to update your information if you’re a supplier!

A good SRM system will have automated reminders to improve communication and prompt activity by stakeholders.

Imagine sitting at your desk frantically emailing and calling each of your suppliers that haven’t sent you an up to date version of their Modern Slavery Act policy – this could take weeks!

Similarly, chasing that one person in your business to approve a supplier contract (let’s face it, we all have at least one) can be exhausting and can hold up business.

Luckily for SRM software users, they have the ability to set up automated email alerts for this, which prompt each supplier to update information periodically.

Measuring up – are you still satisfied?

Measuring and tracking your supplier’s success enables you to easily identify risk and non-compliance, and enable you to make better purchasing decisions.

Effective SRM systems should allow you to measure the success of your suppliers against the KPIs and SLAs that matter the most to you and your business. By aligning the performance of your suppliers with corporate KPIs, you are able to have a global view of them in relation to your business strategy.

Mobile and tablet friendly questionnaires can be sent to large volumes of suppliers and stakeholders to gather and feedback important performance information into your system. Intuitive reporting functionality then gives you the tools to identify underperforming suppliers and the evidence to support your future purchasing decisions.

Taking the above steps are just some of the benefits an effective Supplier Relationship Management system can have – and can ultimately help your relationships blossom into something really quite special.

Did you know that the ARCUS^® platform is made up of individual modules that can help you address your SRM needs? Take a look at the full video here. Alternatively, you can get in touch with us direct by clicking here. We would love to hear from you!