supplier dashboard

Knowledge is power: The supplier dashboard

Especially regarding a supplier relationship, there is an incredible amount of information in a company: What does the supplier do at all? What is the contractual situation? What articles or services does the business partner supply, at what prices, in what quantities and at what intervals? Which locations are supplied? Have there been problems in the previous cooperation? Are there risks in the supply chain? What about the issue of digital collaboration? And so on…

As a rule, all this information is available somewhere in the company, if it is documented. The problem: It is rarely bundled in one place. Possible sources, both internal and external, can be:

  • Master data
  • (Self-)Registration
  • Orders
  • Invoices / Payments
  • Stock data
  • Supplier evaluation
  • Initiative tracking
  • Contract management
  • Supply chain risk management software
  • Creditworthiness indices (e.g. CREFO)

Wouldn’t it be nice if, for example, as a buyer preparing for a supplier meeting or negotiation, you could press the button once and see all the information about the counterpart at a glance, updated daily and clearly arranged? We are talking here about the so-called 360° view of the supplier or the supplier dashboard. This is usually part of purchasing controlling, whereby the supplier dashboard already focuses on the data of one supplier or one supplier group. The advantage of the dashboard is that the sum of all data and information is already prepared in a structured manner for the „end user buyer“ and is clearly presented in tables and diagrams. The user does not have to work through different sources and/or possibilities of the breakdown first, rather he receives a condensed result. At the same time, however, there is always the option of delving deeper into the subject matter and taking a closer look at details of purchasing documents, for example, if desired.

The supplier dashboard

In the following, we would like to give you an overview of the information that can be included in a supplier dashboard. As is often the case, every company is different, and it is possible that not all the information and key figures mentioned here are relevant for you. When implementing such a dashboard in your company, it is therefore important to define the content as well as the sources individually.

Information on the business partner and contractual design

  • Company data in general
  • Affiliated companies / group structure
  • Turnover and its development
  • Dependence of the supplier on your company
  • Contract status
  • Information about quality and environment management
  • Certificates
  • Payment and delivery conditions
  • Market competitors

Purchasing volume and order structure

  • Purchasing volume and its development
  • Share of the supplier in the total volume / volume of the material group
  • Share of single sites / countries in the supplier volume
  • Number of orders and positions

Article data

  • Top articles
  • Price development (in the benchmark)
  • Delivery times / Lead times
  • ABC structure (classification of items by value)
  • XYZ structure (Classification of articles according to consumption behavior)

Performance

  • Adherence to delivery dates
  • Complaint rate
  • Supplier evaluations (Overall result, weak points, development)
  • Measures (defined development measures incl. deadlines and responsibilities)
  • Risk assessment (finance, supply chain, raw material, sustainability, …)

Digitalization and innovation

  • Call-off rate from catalogs and framework agreements
  • – Digitized document transmission
  • (Automated) invoice processing

 

Shit in shit out

But at the end of the day, a supplier dashboard can only be as good as the data input that precedes it. It therefore makes sense to take a close look at the data in advance: Which data is already available, is recorded in a structured manner and can therefore be evaluated? Which data requires action to optimize its quality? And what additional information is valuable for a dashboard and should therefore be collected in the future?

As you can see: A supplier dashboard offers very high benefits, but requires precise planning beforehand before asking the question: What data will be collected? Which data will flow into the dashboard? How will the output be presented? Nevertheless: The effort is worth it. Because as Francis Bacon said: knowledge is power. And in this case, it strengthens your negotiating position!

 

Jessica Murawski

Consultant, ADCONIA GmbH