Manufacturing

Procurement teams at large manufacturers are constantly juggling the demands of the direct and indirect suppliers they manage, alongside the business stakeholder demands to keep business moving. With Graphite Connect, you can streamline supplier onboarding, improve compliance tracking, and gain real-time visibility into supplier performance.

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How Graphite Connect Solves Manufacturing Procurement Challenges

Faster Supplier Onboarding and Qualification

Traditional supplier onboarding can take weeks or even months, delaying production timelines. With Graphite Connect, manufacturers can onboard trusted suppliers up to 85% faster, keeping production schedules on track.

Built-in Compliance and Risk Management

Graphite Connect makes managing compliance documents, certifications, and supplier audits easier. Our platform centralizes all supplier documentation for easy access and flags high-risk suppliers based on your own customized scores or our out-of-the-box score before they become problematic.

Enhanced Supplier Visibility

Knowing which suppliers meet performance standards, deliver on time, and maintain quality is critical for manufacturers. Graphite Connect offers supplier scorecards for tracking performance metrics, real-time data insights into supplier activity, and automated alerts for delays, compliance issues, or risks.

One Source of Supplier Truth in Manufacturing

Wenger Manufacturing had a “Wild West” of supplier data that created major business losses for the company. Learn how they improved their onboarding time 75% with Graphite.

Read Wenger's Story

The Challenges of Manufacturing Procurement

Manufacturers depend on a global network of suppliers, but managing these relationships isn’t easy. From confirming compliance to preventing supply chain disruptions, procurement teams need better tools to manage their supplier networks.

A manufacturing vendor management system like Graphite Connect can reduce risks while controlling costs.

Global Supplier Base

Juggling multiple ERPs and P2P/S2P platforms is a common complaint of large, multi-national manufacturers. When you’re sourcing materials from other countries, real-time supplier management and communication with minimal miscommunication is essential.

It’s vital to untangle a web of supplier data living across multiple systems to create one source of truth that includes validated commercial data, supplier contacts, risk scores and spend visibility.

Graphite Connect provides a single source of information, eliminating data silos, consistent and accurate supplier data so that you can make informed procurement decisions.

Compliance and Risk Management Issues

Manufacturers must comply with strict supplier standards to ensure product quality, worker safety, and environmental responsibility. The problem is that manually tracking supplier certifications and managing audits is time-consuming.

Graphite Connect helps manufacturing companies automate compliance, reduce risks, and improve supplier oversight. It centralizes supplier certifications, audits, and performance and risk assessments to ensure you’re meeting your company goals and removing risk of supply chain disruption. Further, the Graphite Question Library offers prebuilt, industry-specific questionnaires that streamline supplier onboarding, risk management, and compliance.

Onboarding Delays and Inefficiencies

Supplier onboarding is time-consuming, involves extensive data collection, and verification. Inconsistent or inaccurate supplier information can further complicate matters, leading to compliance risks and disruptions in the production schedules.

Graphite Connect offers a comprehensive platform designed to accelerate and enhance supplier onboarding. By automating data collection and validation, Graphite reduces manual entry errors and inaccuracies to ensure that supplier information is always accurate and up-to-date.

The platform also provides real-time visibility into supplier credentials and certifications, allowing manufacturers to assess and foresee risks clearly and maintain compliance when dealing with new suppliers.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How does Graphite Connect help manufacturers manage supplier compliance?

Graphite Connect streamlines supplier compliance by leveraging a supplier-managed data model within an integrated network. Suppliers update their compliance data once in their Graphite profile, which can then be shared with any buyer on the network.

This many-to-many sharing ensures continuous updating of supplier information, reducing manual tracking efforts. Automated compliance checks, risk scoring, and performance monitoring help manufacturers maintain regulatory standards, improve oversight, and mitigate risks. By centralizing compliance management, Graphite eliminates inefficiencies, ensuring suppliers remain aligned with industry regulations.

Can Graphite Connect integrate with existing ERP and procurement systems?

Yes, Graphite Connect seamlessly integrates with existing ERP and procurement systems to streamline supplier management. Its API-driven approach supports 50+ ERP integrations. By connecting with platforms like SAP, Oracle, and Workday, Graphite ensures supplier data flows effortlessly between systems, reducing manual entry and minimizing errors.

How does Graphite Connect improve visibility into supplier performance?

Graphite Connect improves visibility into supplier performance through its supplier scorecard software, which centralizes key performance data in real time. Manufacturers can track supplier KPIs, quality metrics, compliance adherence, and risk factors in one unified platform.

The system automates performance scoring and provides customized scorecards tailored to specific business needs, making it easier to evaluate supplier reliability.

How much time can manufacturing companies save with Graphite Connect?

Manufacturers using Graphite Connect onboard suppliers up to 85% faster, reduce administrative tasks by up to 60%, and save costs through smarter vendor selection and risk reduction.