Without a doubt, one of the biggest benefits of integrating enterprise quality management software in your software stack is improving supplier performance. Over the last few years, there has been plenty written on the subject of optimizing a global supply chain, but the missing piece of the puzzle has been how to bring theoretical efficiencies to the real world of manufacturing and quality. Here is how EQMS can take supplier performance to the next level:
Scorecards are still an indispensable tool
Previously, this blog has discussed myriad benefits of supplier scorecards, particularly with respect to managing supplier quality across the board. To take the discussion a step further, you have to understand why you should take a fresh look at how – and why – you create and distribute supplier scorecards in the first place.
The fact of the matter remains that today’s global supply chain is getting longer and more complex by the day. Upstream visibility is still a huge concern at the end of the day. Sure, there has been much progress made over the last few years, but there is still plenty of room for improvement when it comes to managing a global supply chain.
If you operate in the automotive industry, for instance, you already know that your supply chain management processes can make or break your company’s bottom line from quarter to quarter. As a way to address supply chain inefficiency, many manufacturers have implemented supplier portals on the Web to foster collaborative relationships. Today, however, the difference boils down to speed and how quickly your organization can keep up with competitors as suppliers and contractors come and go as time passes.
As such, creating and automatically distributing scorecards to suppliers continues to prove its worth time and time again. If your organization implements a supplier portal well enough, suppliers can leverage their newfound ability to assess their own performance at any given time. You can build stronger relationships (i.e., more lucrative business relationships) with suppliers that outperform their peers constantly.
Supplier performance in the cloud era
To pivot the discussion to execution, the evolution of supply chain management has paralleled the era of cloud computing nicely. In the previous era of manufacturing IT, Web portals were not necessarily cloud-based per se; your company could build supplier portals several ways. Today, software-as-a-service solutions have changed the game of supplier performance for the better.
You cannot talk about cloud without talking about the benefits of data integration, improved visibility and quality process automation. Suppliers have become trusted business partners, so it is not uncommon for manufacturers to share data securely in a cloud-based solution to benefit both parties. You should not assume that a supplier Web portal automatically integrates key data because you need to leverage the cloud to foster bidirectional collaboration.
Implementing cloud-based supplier portals affords you the benefit of working with the same data set and application as your network of suppliers. Previously, suppliers had to log-in to a Web portal to access scorecards. In the cloud era, suppliers can still access this information through a “portal,” which essentially is a Web application, hosted off the premises of both organizations. This technology deployment model is simply less expensive and faster than building a supplier portal the old-fashioned way.
Enterprise quality management software supports strong supplier relationships since the solution is so versatile, especially when it comes to cloud integration. As 2016 moves forward, it will be interesting to see how suppliers evolve alongside EQMS offerings and take supplier performance to the next level.
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