Successful supplier collaboration
What is supplier collaboration?
Supplier collaboration involves a team working together towards a common goal. It includes active communication, information sharing, and collaborative task assignments. Supplier collaboration emphasizes transparency, ensuring that all members of the team have access to key information, ensuring maximum fairness and efficiency.
How is supplier collaboration different from supplier management?
Supplier management involves everything from identifying vendors, qualifying them for a particular project, onboarding them, and managing physical and monetary transactions. Supplier collaboration, on the other hand, revolves around ensuring that different project stakeholders and suppliers can work together and coordinate for their individual and collective benefit, not to mention the project itself.
What’s the importance of supplier collaboration?
Without supplier collaboration, it’s easy for managers, stakeholders, and suppliers to lack essential information and encounter barriers to effective communication and project management. Supplier collaboration increases visibility, ensuring each party has access to the information they need when they need it. This contributes to more effective supplier management and helps build trust both internally and within supplier relationships.
What do you need to ensure proper supplier collaboration?
Effective supplier collaboration requires a commitment to communication and data visibility. A centralized supplier management platform can help keep all parties in the loop, avoiding miscommunication and increasing efficiency. For supplier collaboration to work best, ensure visibility into all relevant workflows, paying attention to handover points. Graphite Connect champions collaboration through features such as in-app messaging and automated action plans, equipping you to proactively manage projects through a single platform.
Ready to see the Graphite supplier collaboration system in action?
Learn how Graphite Connect can improve supplier collaboration from procurement to supplier management and beyond.