While a great many softwares are available in the market. The essential thing to remember is that atleast the basics of a company and its capabilities should be captured. These include:
Ø Supplier Name
Ø Supplier Address
Ø Product portfolio
Ø Client portfolio
Ø Financial muscle
Ø Manpower capabilities
Ø Technical capabilities
Ø Quality certifications
Ø Performance measures (More on performance measures later)
The software needs to be dynamic enough not only to capture the details but also allow for enrichment. While a periodic review of the databases seems to be ideal, my experience has indicated that it is prone to mistakes and at times lethargy creeps in and one has to build up a command and control structure. The databases lose relevance in a short while and become practically useless.
In this regard I have felt that we need to classify our spends based upon strategic importance. Once these have been classified, we are left with a relatively small number of suppliers and strategic spends to manage. Also because of the nature of spend being of strategic importance the buyer tends to have a close relationship with the supplier, therefore the buyer can & does manage the database more effectively. Also limited access maybe given to the supplier who can update his portfolio as visible in the customers database. I have worked in one of the largest automobile company in India and also in one of the largest pharma MNC’s of the world. While I have not been able really incorporate the kind of supplier database that I speak of, I believe that this is a reality. We have been maintaining this database in Excel & Excel is not really well suited for this job. Incase any of you can come up with a better solution I would appreciate the same.
In this regard I have felt that we need to classify our spends based upon strategic importance. Once these have been classified, we are left with a relatively small number of suppliers and strategic spends to manage. Also because of the nature of spend being of strategic importance the buyer tends to have a close relationship with the supplier, therefore the buyer can & does manage the database more effectively. Also limited access maybe given to the supplier who can update his portfolio as visible in the customers database. I have worked in one of the largest automobile company in India and also in one of the largest pharma MNC’s of the world. While I have not been able really incorporate the kind of supplier database that I speak of, I believe that this is a reality. We have been maintaining this database in Excel & Excel is not really well suited for this job. Incase any of you can come up with a better solution I would appreciate the same.
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