Globalization has brought not only significant benefits to the business but also difficulties in sharpening its competitive advantages. Across all industries, many organizations have been embracing a strategic supplier diversity program to set themselves apart from the competition.
However, to certify or not certify – that’s still a question most suppliers face at some point in the journey of positioning their brand. Is a supplier diversity certification worth it? Why does it matter? Do I have to certify my business? This article will give you answers to these questions.
Diversity Certification for Suppliers, Explained.
A supplier diversity certification is issued when a third-party certification agency verifies, screens and validates that your business is diverse. This certification serves as proof to buyers that your business meets the inclusion program requirements, therefore increasing opportunities to get into the door that may not be available to the non-certified suppliers.
These certifications are vital when you’re trying to partner with government agencies, some of which are mandated by law to source a certain percentage of the supply needs from certified small or diverse-owned businesses.
Type of Diversity Certification for Suppliers
As per definition, a diverse supplier is a business that is at least 51% owned and operated by an individual or group that is part of a traditionally underrepresented or under-served group. Some common classifications include:
Small Business
Minority-Owned Business
Woman-Owned Business
Veteran-Owned Business
Disability-Owned Business
LGBTQ-Owned Business
Does It Really Matter to Buyers?
Today consumers are getting smarter in knowing what brand aligns with their values, whether it’s supporting small or minority-owned businesses. Hence, supplier diversity matters to buyers. It is a key part of a company’s efforts to keep promises in maintaining high ethical and moral standards.
For example, Coca-Cola is spending over $800 million annually on diverse suppliers and has a goal of increasing that to more than $1 billion by the end of 2020. As of 2019, the retailer Target, one of our SupplierGATEWAY platform users, increased diverse supplier spend by over 35% (compared with 2017) and spent $1.4 billion on goods and services provided by first-tier diverse suppliers.
Certifications Are Your Marketing Tool, Not Everything You Have
It’s great for your business to have a certification. Yet, it’s not the only thing you should rely upon, especially when you’re pitching to buyers. Certifications don’t guarantee winning new business. Instead, certification should be a marketing tool to facilitate your business being noticed and make the right sales pitch. Leveraging it as a value of trust shows your brand’s promise and what you stand for.
Introducing Enhanced Digital Certification – A New Digital Diversity Certification for Suppliers
Enhanced Digital Certification™ (EDC) is a fast and inexpensive way for small businesses to get certified as a diverse-owned organization while at the same time exposing them to new opportunities afforded by being in the SupplierGATEWAY network.
EDC is gaining widespread acceptance by some of the most prominent advocates of inclusive purchasing – all of whom also seek to create new economic impact at scale. By digitizing and streamlining the diversity certification process, we have made it easier, faster and much less costly to achieve your diversity certification.
If your business belongs to a small and minority-owned category, EDC is a go-to program for becoming certified as a diverse-owned business.
Promote Your Business With Certifications
Certifications increase the opportunities for your business to be found and get noticed by buyers. For those looking to expand your market presence with prospects, registering a free account with SupplierGATEWAY gives you access to new business opportunities. Our platform connects you with customers of all sizes – from Fortune 500 companies and globally recognized companies to your local health system, manufacturer or business. Our easy-to-use app will help you stay connected to the opportunities that could make all the difference to your bottom line.
4 Best Practices To Streamline Supplier Onboarding
Today, more and more companies, especially global ones, have grown their supply base exponentially, which makes the onboarding process more complex than ever. It is becoming common for large companies to have hundreds of thousands of suppliers. But establishing new supplier relationships and managing these new suppliers’ risk profiles can be a problem.
Despite these constraints, companies are also expected to gain a deeper understanding of supplier activities. The solution to these issues starts from picking the right suppliers to partner with and optimizing the onboarding process.
To effectively manage the process, an organization must master its risk assessment, due diligence and supplier relationship management (SRM), which can be difficult without proper tools and good business operations. The following four best practices are the answers you need to streamline and improve the process.
Mitigate Risk and Fraud From The Beginning:
Carefully assessing and prequalifying your potential suppliers is crucial to avoid any future risks and reduce fraud. To achieve that, having clear communication about your organization’s values and, in turn, if the supplier’s value aligns with yours is a must. You should also certify and verify all pieces of information – categories, insurance, financial information, sub-suppliers, and so on – provided by suppliers.
The SupplierGATEWAY supplier-prequalification app can configure supplier risk questionnaires, standardize workflows and automatically filter suppliers who don’t meet your minimum criteria. Furthermore, you can utilize our Financial Risk Monitoring app to proactively watch for bankruptcy filings, tax clients, late payments and collection fillings within your supply base.
Supplier Self-Service Portal:
As the number of suppliers increases, many organizations are under tremendous pressure to assist and work with suppliers without increasing their staff number. With a self-service portal, your suppliers don’t have to email directly to your team whenever they have a question or need additional information, which has often occurred to organizations managing it manually.
The SupplierGATEWAY self-service portal provides you all the necessary tools to ensure consistency in onboarding new suppliers, regardless of the specific category or the supplier sizes. We help you avoid all these troubles and save your time and money with a simple and efficient supplier-friendly portal.
Access to The Most Current, Relevant, Validated Information:
To save your time and efforts, collecting all relevant, completed and validated documents from suppliers is necessary. Not doing so can potentially interrupt and harm your business. Also, It’s time-consuming without the help of technology. In other words, we believe standardizing the implementation data is your hassle-free solution.
Fortunately, in the SupplierGATEWAY self-service portal, your suppliers can easily update their contact, company, certifications and product information at any time, which is a win-win for both parties to ensure everything is up-to-date.
Automate, Automate and Automate:
Innovations such as AI and automation are more evolving, particularly in business, in which many organizations have been utilizing technology to streamline their operations. Automation brings considerable benefits to your onboarding process, including greater efficiencies, configuring resources and users, fewer errors and tighter control over your SRM platform. Using automation is part of supplier onboarding best practices.
With more and more increasing problems coming from suppliers, the need for automation is expecting to be higher than ever. That’s a reason why the SupplierGATEWAY supplier management solutions are offered, which enhance your process to be more transparent, robust risk management and make better decisions.
Wrapping it up…
No matter what products or services you offer, it’s essential to build a good and strong business relationship with suppliers through supplier onboarding best practices. By doing so, you will positively impact your business’ success in the long run by increasing opportunities for smart and strategic sourcing. And we’re here to help you speed up building that stronger relationship. Schedule your demo today!
4 Tools You Should Be Using to Increase Your Visibility and Win New Business
If you’re looking to land more customers, or maybe target a big one, you will need to increase your business visibility in front of potential clients. According to Forrester, up to 90 percent of a buyer’s journey is complete before they begin reaching out to a vendor. With stiff competition in e-commerce and constant access to the Internet where buyers can source products or services online before buying, boosting your brand visibility is critical to quickly approach buyers.
There are many ways in which companies can find and retain clients. This article will list four main tools you can utilize to optimize your online presence and increase the chance to make it on the buyer’s shortlist.
Customer Review and Rating:
A study by G2 shows that 92% of B2B buyers are more likely to purchase after reading a trusted review. As the digital age evolved, trusted business reviews influence potential buyers at every stage, from consideration and up until they make a final decision. To evaluate and select the best possible potential suppliers in a pool of thousand suppliers, buyers consider the rating score (if applicable) and past clients’ experiences to determine if your business fits what they need.
To make things easier, our platform shows both SG Score and reviews & ratings to help buyers make decisions smarter and quicker. Therefore, it’s crucial for you, as a supplier, to gather reviews from your customer base on our platform.
Tip: Your business gets ranked higher in the buyer search result if the profile has SG Check® validation, which is a seal of approval and instills more confidence in buyers.
Highlight Your Products and Achievements:
Beyond the internal factors such as products, services, quality and professionalism, knowing the market inside out and good timing are also essential. Many buyers have experienced talking to suppliers showing a lack of research and bombardment with calls and emails. In fact, bombarding buyers with product samples can backfire, as they don’t have enough storage space to fill your samples. The best way to get on a buyer’s radar is to grab their attention by highlighting your products, services and achievements within the first few sentences.
After completing your business profile, our system intuitively highlights your business capabilities, achievements and specialties. We also get you matched with the right potential buyers once they look for new suppliers. When the right opportunity presents itself, you will get notifications and submit your response.
Website:
As you may know, simply having a website isn’t applied to the digital age, where many competitors are trying to impress your potential clients. No matter your target market, having a professional website that looks great and lists details of your products and services is necessary.
Additionally, the website design needs to be customized, interactive and professional, which could help optimize search engines and user experiences. Search engine optimization (SEO) is now an essential step in boosting and maintaining your digital brand presence.
In the SupplierGATEWAY platform, we list vendors and put your profile in front of potential clients with all information and, of course – a business website included. Buyers in our network tend to visit the vendor’s website before deciding if your solutions meet their needs.
Certifications:
Early in the buyer process, buyers typically evaluate your website to assess if they should take the next step with you. Next, buyers also want to know what certifications you have had and whether it’s valid. Beyond a list of certification numbers, can buyers view and download your certifications online? Are your certifications up-to-date at all times? If the answer is yes, you’re one step closer to a chance of being marked.
As a registered supplier in the SupplierGATEWAY network, you can download and update your certifications easily and conveniently. Buyers in our network have the capabilities to filter suppliers by industry-standard codes, like NAICS and UNSPC. The more details you claim for your business, the more chances you get noticed from potential buyers.
About us:
At SupplierGATEWAY, we offer a robust platform for suppliers where you can gain access to new business opportunities and connect with customers of all sizes – from Fortune 500 companies and globally recognized companies to your local health system, manufacturer or business. Our easy-to-use app will help you stay connected to the opportunities that could make all the difference to your bottom line. Get started today for FREE!
3 Ways to Build Business Resilience – The Role of Procurement
The topic of building business resilience during difficult times, such as COVID-19, is an increasing concern in the supply chain. This unprecedented pandemic has proven that efficiency alone in business operations is not enough to stay resilient.
For decades, businesses have focused on a strategy called ‘just-in-time,’ which basically means only ordering and receiving just enough materials and products that they need for a short period of time from suppliers to minimize costs. But as the COVID-19 has made painfully clear, it has a major flaw: that strategy doesn’t help businesses build resilience.
Therefore, plans must change in ways that help businesses survive through crisis times and stay resilient in the long-term. And now is the time to consider shifting your strategic thinking from just-in-time to just-in-case.
In this blog, we will show you three ways to successfully and effectively make this switch by focusing on procurement.
But before digging into that, what do I mean by saying ‘just-in-case’ strategy?
As per definition, Just-in-case (JIC) is an inventory strategy where businesses keep larger standing inventories to prioritize risk management. In other words, JIC stocks up inventories ahead of time.
Multi-sourcing:
Many of you may still remember the major natural disaster in Japan and Thai in 2011, which caused the supply chain disruption across the world and exposed businesses’ vulnerabilities as relying on a single source of supply.
In response to these global events that threaten the supply chain disruption, multi-sourcing starts gaining popularity and becoming a part of the procurement strategy to mitigate risk and gain competitive advantage. The ultimate goal here is not to let a business depend on any single vendor.
To optimize a multi-sourcing strategy, supply chain leaders must know suppliers and their networks. By doing so, you will easily categorize and monitor your suppliers not only by spend, but also the revenue impact if a disrupted event occurs. Besides, many companies use multi-sourcing to help lower the prices. If you lock your firm in a single vendor, negotiating for better prices will be more challenging to remain competitive.
However, there are drawbacks that a company can experience from multi-sourcing. One of the biggest ones is increasing its complexity of the arrangement. As a result, businesses embracing this strategy need to strategically rethink which resources they allocate to the critical task of supplier lifecycle management and how to make it more efficient.
Fortunately, the power of AI does change the game. The hassle multi-sourcing processes are now automated and handled efficiently. For example, our SupplierGATEWAY pre-qualification tool allows you to pre-qualify and filter suppliers based on your customized business rules. Besides, you can conduct online bids to get the best prices from your list of potential suppliers, and of course – everything is automated. Your only task is giving us what products or services you need.
Network Diversification:
The U.S. – China trade war has negatively impacted the economies of both the United States and China. In response, many companies have begun to diversify their sourcing and manufacturing bases by looking for suppliers outside of China. Diversifying the supply chain will ensure you have a diverse supplier base, no matter what problem may arise. Also, a business is more likely to have the greatest possible choice of goods and services. According to the BCI Supply Chain Resilience Report, supply chain disruptions can cause significant damaging losses in terms of finances (62%), logistics (54%), and reputation (54%). This means the cost of disruption can be seen more as a cost of doing business.
With the global network of 500,000+ active registered suppliers, a business can utilize the SupplierGATEWAY strategic sourcing tool to quickly identify prospective suppliers through our advanced search criteria and get all information you need from suppliers. Did I mention you can even search for suppliers with our mobile app?
Build a Robust Procurement System:
The current pandemic has exposed the fragility and thin margins on which many global businesses run. Companies have realized that encouraging procurement teams to pursue efficiency by cutting down inventory costs and freeing up cash flow has negatively resulted in robustness, resilience and effectiveness. Therefore, the challenge of effective supply chain management is to find agile solutions and find the balance between ‘just-in-time’ and ‘just-in-case’ processes while reducing risk as much as possible.
Today’s sourcing is being asked to move quickly to source the company’s raw materials or products. It’s a time-consuming process, not including for buyers to manage and improve relationships with vendors and optimize the performance. SupplierGATEWAY procurement solutions allow a business to automate the process involving purchasing materials and products, managing the inventory, easily select and order a product, managing invoices, pay bills electronically and many more. In other words, the message we try to deliver here is ‘Get More, Do Less’ by automating your purchasing process.
The Glossary of Terms provides you with a comprehensive listing of current supplier diversity terms along with their descriptions. Whether you’re a student, a professor, or a practicing professional, these definitions are provided as a reference to help you reinforce and enhance your understanding of the industry.
To build an efficient supplier diversity program, it’s essential that you familiarize yourself with the following terms:
We will continue to update this list on a regular basis. Please remember to return to this page to keep updated on new terms and their definition.
Last update: November 1, 2023
Acronym/Abbreviation
Description
8(a)
A certification offered United States Small Business Administration (SBA) that enrolls a business in the SBA’s Business Development Program and allows them participation in federal procurements that are specifically set aside for 8(a) certified businesses. As of July 2023, the 8(a) program for minorities has been suspended due to being ruled unconstitutional. See Ultima Servs. Corp. v. U.S. Department of Agriculture.
ABE
Asian [American] Business Enterprise; an Asian-owned business that has received certification.
ACDBE
Airport Concession Disadvantaged Business Enterprise; an airport concessionaire business that has received DBE certification [see DBE below].
BDR
Billion Dollar Roundtable, a group of corporate entities working to increase commitment and spending levels with diverse suppliers.
CAGE Code
Commercial and Government Entity Code, a unique ID assigned to Federal suppliers.
Certification Agency
A third-party certifying body that specializes in the certification process for diverse-owned businesses.
Certified
A business that has received third-party certification (ex: WBENC, NSMDC, etc.) is said to be “certified”.
Classified Suppliers
Supplier Assertion/attestation that they are diverse (if the company is 51% owned and operated by an individual or group that is part of a historically underrepresented or underserved group). If a supplier previously had Certified status and the certificate has expired, their status will change from Certified to Classified.
Data Enrichment
A process of identifying and appending attribute data to supplier records. In Supplier Diversity, this is typically for the purpose of determining the demographics and/or certifications of a company (e.g., Minority, Woman, veteran etc.)
Data Cleanse
A process of identifying and appending attribute data to supplier records. In Supplier Diversity, this is typically for the purpose of determining the demographics and/or certifications of a company (e.g., Minority, Woman, veteran etc.)
Data Scrub
A process of identifying and appending attribute data to supplier records. In Supplier Diversity, this is typically for the purpose of determining the demographics and/or certifications of a company (e.g., Minority, Woman, veteran etc.)
Disability-Owned Business Enterprise (DOBE)
A person with a disability is the owner (or owners) and must own, operate, and control at least 51% of a US-based business to be identified as a Disability Owned Business enterprise (DOBE); and be a United States citizen or permanent legal resident.
Disability:IN
Formerly known as USBLN: 3rd party certifier for Person with Disability or Disabled owned businesses. A person with a disability owner (or owners) must own, operate, and control at least 51% of a US-based business to be eligible for certification, and be a United States citizen or permanent legal resident. Disability:IN Global Directory is a collaborative disability inclusion database with country profiles to help companies achieve disability inclusion and equality around the world.
Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE)
A business that is usually certified by a federal, state or local government agency as having met all of the government standards that award eligibility, but may include women, minority, disabled and other disadvantaged as a result of economic disadvantages with respect to education, employment, residence or business location or social disadvantage and lack of business training.
Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise (DVBE)
This term is used by the State of California, public utilities, and many private corporations to designate a company that is owned (at least 51%) and controlled by a Veteran with a Service-Connected Disability rating of at least 10% from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Additionally, the Veteran must reside in the state of California.
Disadvantaged Veteran Enterprise (DVE)
A business that is a small business concern owned and controlled by veterans, where not less than 51% is owned controlled and managed by veterans.
USBLN
Now known as Disability:IN. 3rd party certifier for person with Disability or Disabled owned businesses. A person with a disability owner (or owners) must own, operate, and control at least 51% of a US-based business to be eligible for certification, and be a United States citizen or permanent legal resident. Disability:IN Global Directory is a collaborative disability inclusion database with country profiles to help companies achieve disability inclusion and equality around the world.
Diverse Business (Diverse Supplier)
A diverse business is any business that is at least 51 percent owned by a woman (WBE), a minority (MBE) or a business that is independently owned and operated, and able to qualify under criteria defined in the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Table of Small Business Size Standards concerning a number of employees, average annual receipts or other criteria as outlined by the SBA.
Diverse Certification
Diversity certification is a review process to verify a business is 51 percent or more owned, controlled and operated by a diverse applicant or applicants. An authorized third party or regulatory agency performs the diversity certification.
Diverse Supplier Spend
Diverse supplier spend is procurement dollars that directly represent diverse or small businesses.
DOT
An acronym for the Department of Transportation, both at the federal and state government level.
DUNS
Dun and Bradstreet Number
Economic Impact Analysis (EIA)
An economic impact analysis (EIA) examines the effect of an event on the economy in a specified area, ranging from a single neighborhood to the entire globe. It usually measures changes in business revenue, business profits, personal wages, and/or jobs. The economic event analyzed can include the implementation of a new policy or project or may simply be the presence of a business or organization. An economic impact analysis is commonly conducted when there is public concern about the potential impacts of a proposed project or policy.
Economically Disadvantaged Individuals
Socially disadvantaged individuals whose ability to compete in the free enterprise system has been impaired due to diminished capital and credit opportunities as compared to others in the same or similar line of business who are not socially disadvantaged.
El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (EPHCC)
El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, an SBA-approved certifier for the WOSB program for both WOSB and EDWOSB status.
Enhanced Digital Certification (EDC)
Third-party small- and diverse-business certification from SupplierGATEWAY. EDC is done entirely online. The application can be finished in 15 minutes with a decision made in less than 72 hours.
FAR: Federal Acquisition Regulations
Federal Acquisition Regulations are the rules governing how the Federal government procures goods and services
FedBizOpps (FBO)
The website where government buyers posted Federal procurement opportunities. As of November 2019, FBO became a legacy system and federal opportunities can be found on Beta.SAM.
FEIN: Federal Employer Identification Number
The Employer Identification Number, also known as the Federal Employer Identification Number or the Federal Tax Identification Number, is a unique nine-digit number assigned by the Internal Revenue Service to business entities operating in the United States for the purposes of identification.
FSC: Federal Supply Codes
A set of codes the Federal government uses to “group products into logical families for management purposes.”
Government Contracting Goals
Agency contracting goals instruct certain federal agencies in how much of their contracting dollars should be awarded to small businesses.
GSA
The United States General Services Administration establishes long-term government-wide contracts known as GSA Schedules (also known as Multiple Award Schedules or Federal Supply Schedules). These schedules are organized by the goods, services or products purchased. If you want to sell to the federal government it is recommended that you get on a GSA schedule. NOTE: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has their own schedule, the VA Federal Supply Schedules Program, to procure medical supplies.
Historically Black Colleges / Universities & Minority Institutions (HBCU/MI)
Historically Black and minority colleges and universities that are recognized by the government as legitimate set-aside business opportunities.
Historically Underutilized Business Zones Program (HUBZone)
Helps small businesses in urban and rural communities gain preferential access to federal procurement opportunities. These preferences go to small businesses that obtain HUBZone certification in part by employing staff who live in a HUBZone.
HUBZone
Federal designation for historically underutilized business in designated urban or rural areas or designated census tracts, the business must be located in a designated area and 35% of its employees must live in designated HUB areas to qualify. Find HUBZone areas. A HubZone business can take part in the SBA’s HUBZone Empowerment Contracting Program.
HUD: Housing and Urban Development
The Department of Housing and Urban Development administers programs that provide housing and community development assistance. The Department also works to ensure fair and equal housing opportunities for all.
IDIQ contracts provide a method to order from existing agency indefinite-delivery contracts as well as contracts awarded by another agency
Identified
Demographic data with no proof, generally furnished by the customer themselves and not certified in any way. There are situations where a company may be “certified” as a minority-owned business but “identified” as veteran-owned (i.e., there is proof of their Minority status based on a certification, but the Veteran information is unverified).
LGBT-Owned Business: Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgender business enterprise
A business that is at least 51% owned and operated by an LGBT+ person(s).
Master Vendor File
The vendor master file is the repository of a considerable amount of information about a company’s suppliers, which are used for the payment of supplier invoices and the issuance of purchase orders.
MBE: Minority-Owned Business Enterprise
Minority Business Enterprise; a business that is 51% owned and controlled by one or more persons who are classified as Minority. The MBE designation is typically associated with certification by a recognized certifying body.
MWBE: Minority Woman Business Enterprise
A minority woman-owned business that has received MWBE certification.
NAICS: North American Industry Classifications System
The standard used by Federal statistical agencies in classifying business establishments to collect, analyze, and publish statistical data related to the U.S. business economy.
NaVOBA: National Veteran-Owned Business Association
A 3rd party certifier of veteran and service-disabled-owned businesses. A Veteran or Service-Disabled Veteran business owner (or owners) must own, operate, and control at least 51% of a US-based business to be eligible for certification.
NGLCC: National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce
The 3rd party certifier of LGBT businesses. An LGBT business owner (or owners) must own, operate, and control at least 51% of a US-based business and be a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident(s) to be eligible for certification. NGLCC Global is the international division of the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce.
NIGP Codes: National Institute of Governmental Purchasing Codes
NIGP Code is a universal taxonomy for identifying commodities and services in procurement systems. It is available as a 3-digit class code, a 5-digit class-item code, a 7-digit class-item-group code, and a detailed 11-digit code.
NMSDC: National Minority Supplier Development Council
The 3rd party certifier that certifies minority (for their certifying purpose NMSDC defines minority as Asian, Black, Hispanic, and/or Native American business owner that is “at least 1/4 or 25% minimum” of one of these categories) business. A minority business owner (or owners) must own, operate, and control at least 51% of a US-based business and be a United States citizen to be eligible for certification. Their Global-Link International Program works to connect historically excluded populations with corporate purchasing entities in other countries (Canada, China, UK, etc.).
Non-Classified Suppliers
In the data scrub, a non-classified supplier means there is no evidence showing their diversity status. A company will be marked as non-classified if it doesn’t meet the requirements of 51% owned and operated by an individual or group that is part of a historically underrepresented or underserved group.
NVBDC: National Veteran Business Development Council
A 3rd party certifier of Veteran and Service-disabled-owned businesses. Named by the Billion Dollar Roundtable as their certification organization of preference for VBEs and SDVBEs. A Veteran or Service-Disabled Veteran business owner (or owners) must own, operate, and control at least 51% of a US-based business to be eligible for certification.
NWBOC: National Women Business Owners Corporation
A 3rd party certifier that certifies women-owned businesses and an SBA-approved certifier for the WOSB program for both WOSB and EDWOSB status. A woman business owner (or owners) must own, operate, and control at least 51% of a US-based business to be eligible for certification and be a United States citizen or permanent legal resident. Also, the business has to have been in operation for at least six months and have customers/clients.
OSDBU: Office of Small Disadvantaged Business Utilization
Manages the development and implementation of appropriate outreach programs aimed at heightening the awareness of the small business community to the contracting opportunities available within Health & Human Services
PNW: Personal Net Worth Statement
A financial reporting document listing short and long-term assets and liabilities of an individual. Required for DBE certification.
Prime Vendor
Organization or company that has a direct relationship with the Customer. The Prime performs work/services or provides goods and bills the Customer directly for its goods or services.
PSC: Product Service Codes
A way to classify your business (products and services sold) – these codes are broken down into three types: products, services, and research and development projects, and are used in the SAM system.
PTAC: Procurement Technical Assistance Centers
They provide government contracting (federal, state, and/or local) assistance at little or no charge through training and one-on-one counseling. PTACs are part of the Procurement Technical Assistance Program.
PTAP: Procurement Technical Assistance Program
PTAP: Procurement Technical Assistance Program, a program established to expand the number of businesses capable of participating in government contracts.
PWD: Person with Disability or Disabled
A disabled-owned business (DOBE) that has received certification.
Registered and/or Resident Agent
A company or person designated to receive official notifications from a state on behalf of an out-of-state business entity. The agent must be located within the state in which they are receiving the notifications.
RFI: Request for Information
A standard business process that aims to collect written information about the capabilities of various suppliers.
RFP: Request for Proposal
A document that solicits a proposal, often made through a bidding process, by an agency or company interested in procurement of a commodity, service, or valuable asset to potential suppliers to submit business proposals.
RFQ: Request for Quote
A solicitation for goods or services in which a company asks suppliers to submit a price quote and bid on the chance to fulfill specific tasks or projects.
SAM: System for Award Management
Federal contracting registration system. You MUST BE registered to be certified by or do business with the Federal government. SAM has replaced the following disparate systems: CCR (Central Contractor Registration), FedReg (Federal Agency Registration), ORCA (Online Representations and Certifications Application), and EPLS (Excluded Parties List System). Note: The Federal government is in the process of transitioning registration to Beta.SAM, once registered, you should be notified when the transition is complete.
SBA: United States Small Business Administration
A Federal certifier (8(a) and HUBZone), a resource for small businesses and their owners, as well as, prospective entrepreneurs, and the repository holder for the Federal WSOB/EDWOSB program.
Self-Certified
A business that has gone through a self-certification process to attest to being either a small business or 51 %-owned by a woman or minority group. Generally done through the SBA’s self-certify program.
SBE: Small Business Enterprise
SBE is a company-level diversity certification. The local or state government usually issues SBE certifications. Eligibility for certification as a Small Business Enterprise varies depending on the issuer; requirements may relate to the number of employees, the length of time the company has been in business, and the net worth of the company’s owner. SBE certification is non-industry specific.
SDE: Small Disadvantaged Enterprise
A small business owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals as defined by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 19.001
Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOB)
A company owned (at least 51%) and controlled by a Veteran with a Service-Connected Disability rating from the Department of Veterans Affairs. The business also must qualify under the SBA’s Small Business Standards for their particular industry.
SIC: Standard Industrial Classification system
A four-digit classification system that classifies industries where businesses belong based on their business activities. The SIC classification system was created in 1937 to help the U.S. government and government agencies analyze economic activities across the domestic economy.
Small Business
A small business is defined as a privately owned corporation, partnership, or sole proprietorship that has fewer employees and less annual revenue than a corporation or regular-sized business. The definition of “small”—in terms of being able to apply for government support and qualify for preferential tax policy—varies by country and industry. The U.S. Small Business Administration defines a small business according to standards based on specific industries.
Small Business Administration (SBA)
The U.S. Small Business Administration is a United States government agency that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses.
Small Business Concern
A small business concern (SBC) must be independently owned and operated, not be dominant in its field of operation, and not exceed the relevant small business size standard for the particular procurement action.
Small Business Set-Asides (Set-aside Contracts)
Set-aside contracts exist for almost every kind of private sector work the government needs, from construction to catering. In addition to general small businesses, there are several specific categories of small businesses that the government aims to support through set-asides, including 8(a) business development, Women-Owned Small Businesses (WOSB), Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Businesses, and HUBZone businesses.
Small Business Size Standard
Small Business Size Standard: Determined by the US Small Business Administration, a business’s primary NAICS code determines if its standard is based on the number of employees or gross sales. The size standard is the maximum size a business can be and still be considered small. Examples: 541511 – Custom Computer Programming Services, the annual revenue size standard is $27,500,000 million. For 311520 – Ice Cream and Frozen Dessert Manufacturing, the average number of full-time or part-time employees over the last 12 months standard is 1,000 employees.
Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB)
A small business that is at least 51 percent owned by one or more individuals who are both socially and economically disadvantaged. SDB status makes a company eligible for bidding and contracting benefit programs involved with federal procurement.
Socially Disadvantaged Individuals
Individuals who have been subjected to racial or ethnic prejudice or cultural bias because of their identity as members of a group.
Spend
The amount that a corporation or government entity purchases from an SMWVDBE is typically tracked by individual vendors and in aggregate.
Strategic Sourcing
A systematic approach to minimize costs, streamline processes, and improve quality. The process often results in the clustering of like purchases from fewer vendors.
Sub-Contractor
Organization or company that has a direct relationship with the Prime Vendor. The Sub performs work/services or provides goods 1) directly to the Prime or 2) to the Customer under the guidance of the Prime. The Sub bills the Prime for its goods and services. In this scenario, the Prime is the Sub’s direct customer, regardless of which organization consumes the goods or services.
Sub-Subcontractor
Organization or company that has a direct relationship with the Sub-Contractor. The Sub-Sub performs work/services or provides goods 1) directly to the Sub-Contractor, 2) directly to the Prime, or 3) to the Customer under the guidance of the Prime. The Sub-sub-contractor bills the Sub-contractor, who bills the Prime for the goods or services. In this scenario, the Subcontractor is the Subcontractor’s direct customer, regardless of which organization consumes the goods or services.
Supplier Development
Supplier development is a business strategy that encourages working closely with diverse suppliers to help boost performance and drive continued growth. It involves embracing the supplier’s expertise and aligning it with the goals of the purchasing organization.
Supplier Diversity
A proactive business program that encourages the use of minority-owned, women-owned, veteran-owned, LGBT-owned, service-disabled veteran-owned, historically underutilized businesses, and Small Business Administration (SBA)-defined small business concerns as suppliers.
Supplier Management Process
Supplier management is the process that ensures maximum value is received for the money that an organization pays to its suppliers. Because these supplies play a part in the smooth running of an organization, it’s important for both supplier and organization to engage properly and effectively.
Supplier Registration Portal
Is a web-based platform to help buyers engage suppliers, collect critical supplier capabilities, and manage supplier information all in one place.
Third-Party Master Database
A database compiled from several public and private sources, often hundreds in order to create a complete database with all of the vendor data available.
Tier 1 Spend
The amount of spend, or procurement dollars, that an organization spends directly with its tier 1 suppliers. In regards to supplier diversity, Tier 1 diverse spend represents only those dollars directly spent with diverse suppliers.
Tier 1 Supplier
Tier 1 suppliers are the companies that directly sell supplies and resources to the company.
Tier 2 Spend
The amount of spend, or procurement dollars, an organization’s suppliers spend with their tier 1 suppliers.
Tier 2 Supplier
A tier 2 supplier is the company that provides the tier 1 supplier with the product that is to be sold to the end-user. They don’t sell directly to the company, but they supply the companies that do.
Tier 2: Second-level contractor; subcontractor; also referred to as Tier 2 supplier.
Tier 2: Second-level contractor; subcontractor; also referred to as Tier 2 supplier.
UCP: Unified Certification Program
The Unified Certification Program (UCP) allows applicants for the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program to apply only once for a DBE certification that will be honored by all recipients in the state.
UNSPSC: United Nations Standard Product and Service Codes
A taxonomy of products and services for use in eCommerce. It is a four-level hierarchy coded as an eight-digit number, with an optional fifth level adding two more digits.
USPAACC: US Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce
A 3rd party certifier of Asian American (heritage includes China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Mongolia) owned businesses. A business must be 51% owned, managed, and operated by Asian American(s) or Asian legal permanent resident(s).
USWCC: US Women’s Chamber of Commerce
A 3rd party certifier of women-owned businesses offering WBE and International WBE certification is an SBA-approved certifier for the WOSB program for both WOSB and EDWOSB status. A woman business owner (or owners) must own, operate, and control at least 51% of a US-based business to be eligible for certification and be a United States citizen.
VA: Veterans Administration
The Federal certifier for Veteran or Service-Disabled Veteran certification. A Veteran or Service-Disabled Veteran business owner (or owners) must own, operate, and control at least 51% of a US-based business to be eligible for certification.
SDVBE: Service-Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise
A Service-disabled Veteran is a Veteran who possesses either a disability rating letter issued by the VA establishing a Service-connected rating between 0 and 100 percent or a disability determination from the Department of Defense. In addition, at least 51 percent of the business must be directly and unconditionally owned by one or more Veteran(s) or Service-disabled Veteran(s).
Veteran-Owned
Veteran Owned is a company-level diversity registration. Generally, this certification is non-industry specific but requires that the company is at least 51% owned, operated, and controlled by a veteran.
Veteran-Disability Owned Business Enterprise (VDOBE)
A veteran-disability-owned business enterprise, often referred to as a VDOBE, is a business that is at least 51% owned, operated, and controlled by one or more veterans with a disability not incurred during their time of service.
Veteran-Owned Small Business (VOSB)
A company diversity registration designated under the Veteran Benefits, Health Care, and Information Technology Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-461). This certification is non-industry specific and requires that the firm meets the small business requirements established by the Small Business Administration (SBA). Organizations wishing to become verified as veteran-owned small businesses can apply to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
Vietnam Veteran
A business that is at least 51% owned by one or more Vietnam Veterans who served between 1/1/59 and 5/7/75 and have control and operate the business. Control in this context means exercising the power to make policy decisions and operate means to be actively involved in the day-to-day management of the business.
WBENC: Women’s Business Enterprise National Council
The largest 3rd party certifier that certifies women-owned businesses and an SBA-approved certifier for the WOSB program for WOSB status only. A woman business owner (or owners) must own, operate, and control at least 51% of a US-based business to be eligible for certification and be a United States citizen or permanent legal resident. WBENC is affiliated with WEConnect International, which certifies women-owned businesses internationally, including Canada, China, Europe, and India
Woman-Owned Business Enterprise (WBE)
WBE is a company-level diversity certification that can be issued at the federal, state, or local levels, and requirements for application will vary depending on the certificate issuer. Some governments require that a portion of their contracts be set aside for minority and women-owned businesses; becoming certified as a WBE allows the organization to bid on these opportunities. Often, becoming certified also places the organization in a searchable database at the government’s site, potentially increasing the organization’s exposure.
EDWOSB
A small business concern that is at least 51 percent directly and unconditionally owned and controlled by one or more women who are citizens (born or naturalized) of the United States and who are economically disadvantaged. The EDWOSB automatically qualifies as a women-owned small business eligible for the WOSB Program. A woman is presumed economically disadvantaged if she has a personal net worth of less than $750,000, her adjusted gross yearly income averaged over the three years preceding the certification does not exceed $350,000, and the fair market value of all her assets (including her primary residence and the value of the business concern) does not exceed $6 million.
WOSB
A small business concern that is at least 51 percent directly and unconditionally owned and controlled by one or more women who are citizens (born or naturalized) of the United States
5 Things Most Buyers Carefully Consider When Choosing a Supplier
Great suppliers are essential to a successful business, which allows one to produce and deliver the best possible goods and services. However, finding the right suppliers can be tricky – after all, there are often many suppliers out there offering the same product, but not always with the same quality and consistency of service. Buyers are always looking for a reputable supplier with competitive pricing.
What is the right supplier?
The right supplier is a partner that provides the most suitable goods and services at the optimal prices in the right time frames requested by the buyer.
As a supplier, are you wondering what the most important factors are that buyers take into account when choosing a supplier? If so, you’re not alone! Here are four common things that buyers often consider when deciding to partner with a supplier:
1.Qualification Criteria:
Every business has its own requirements and standards for their suppliers. As a supplier, you should be aware of your potential customer’s standard criteria, including price, quality and delivery or service timeframes, before talking to them. Each buyer might also have special requirements such as minimum or maximum orders, payment methods, guarantees, etc.
Besides, some other less tangible criteria like efficiency, transparency, friendliness may decide whether your prospect will close the deal with your business. People always want to work with a motivated partner who can be relied on to get the job done.
Understanding all of it before submitting that bid will help you one step closer to the deal. Consider participating in buyer intelligence-gathering sessions, such as our QuickConnect Matchmaker feature – buyers use this as a way to understand the market better – you can use this as much valued one on one time with your future customer.
2.Experience in the market and current references:
Who were and are you working with? What did they say about you? Have you done any business with a partner in the same industry? Do you have any references that we can talk to? These factors are critical to determining whether your business is likely to bring the best value and lower risk to a buyer.
It’s not strange for a buyer to ask you all these questions because to them, choosing a supplier is like hiring a new recruit – they’re about to step into a long-term relationship with you. Therefore, it’s common for them to get an honest review of your past partnership, including good and bad points.
To make things a bit easier for buyers, who are always busy and looking for an easier way to get to the “shortlist,” your profile includes an SG score, a rating system that measures supplier performance, in our app. You should know your own score and take easy steps to maximize it. It makes you easier to find and may help you stand out above others.
3.Financial Security:
Buyer’s seldom want to work with a supplier who doesn’t have a strong enough cash flow to deliver what they want and when they need it. For their peace of mind and protecting a business, the vetting process is often a high priority task before considering other factors.
So how could a buyer assess your financial stability? This is a sensitive subject, especially with small or privately held companies. Diligent buyers gather and monitor critical financial information on suppliers such as suites, liens, judgments, and financial stability.
With that being said, as a supplier, you should know as much about how you look to prospective clients as they know about you. Proactively manage your business’ financial “face to the world” by monitoring your financial risk profile at least once per quarter.
4.Strong service and clear communication:
Over the years, the consequence of late orders, delivery delays or taking too much time to resolve an issue has impacted dramatically not only buyer’s expenses but also their customer retention. One study found that 69% of consumers “are much less or less likely to shop with a retailer in the future if an item they purchased is not delivered within two days of the date promised.”
Therefore, clear communication and quick responses are other factors that you, a supplier, need to remember while working with any buyers. The best suppliers actively ask for buyers’ needs and strive to understand how they can do the job better.
5.Location, Location, Location:
As you might know, for a variety of reasons, the local sourcing trend has been recently increasing and is becoming a new normal, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Thomasnet.com, 72 percent of industrial/B2B buyers “always or generally” prefer to source locally.
This creates an opportunity for you to expand your market presence with prospects who may formerly have been looking elsewhere. There are a few ways to facilitate “being found” – Make sure your profile is complete and up to date, take advantage of any stage you can stand on to elevate above your peers – for example, being an Amazon Business seller is one easy way to make it convenient for buyers to buy from you. Pay close attention to postings and bid opportunities nearby – you may have a built-in advantage. Make the best use of it!
About Us:
At SupplierGATEWAY, we offer a robust platform for suppliers where you can gain access to new business opportunities and connect with customers of all sizes – from Fortune 500 companies and globally recognized companies to your local health system, manufacturer or business. Our easy-to-use app will help you stay connected to the opportunities that could make all the difference to your bottom line.
In today’s world, procurement plays a crucial role in supply chain processes. Procurement, more commonly known as “purchasing,” is no longer simply “to obtain, buy or acquire.” Tompkins Supply Chain Consortium notes in it’s report “Leading Procurement Practices: Trends of the New Procurement Organization” that the procurement trends are shifting from tactical to more strategic activities. Outdated tools like spreadsheets and emails are gradually being replaced with modern procurement tools.
With rapid advancements in digital technologies, many procurement professionals today are adapting technology to perform their duties more efficiently and gain a competitive advantage.
What is E-procurement?
E-procurement, also known as electronic procurement, is an emerging process of selling and purchasing services electronically over the Internet. Over the years, e-procurement has shown its capabilities to dramatically help businesses streamline procurement and supply chain processes.
E-procurement automates repeatable tasks to boost efficiency and improve effectiveness via continuous investment in collecting, enriching, and analyzing spend data.
As more and more procurement professionals embrace technology, it’s critical to understand the background of how e-procurement could help an organization. Here are some major benefits of e-procurement that traditional procurement doesn’t have:
Increased Productivity
Traditional procurement requires humans to get involved in every step of the process. With e-procurement and automated approval process, the whole process is less time-consuming, and the issues are spotted quickly and easily. People can save time and focus on another area of business, such as analyzing a company’s spend behaviors and patterns.
Eliminating Paperwork
It’s a nightmare to see a pile of papers in the office and also think about where to store all that paperwork. With e-procurement, you could finally ease the burden because everything is saved, well-ordered and stored electronically.
Electronic Catalog
Using e-catalogs helps businesses market their products/ services, which is convenient for both buyers and sellers. Because of price transparency, buyers can quickly check the cost and compare the other offers from different vendors within the system.
Boost in Compliance
It was hard for procurement professionals to manage suppliers’ relationships with traditional procurement and track their performance. E-procurement software helps to provide a comprehensive view of all purchasing transactions to ensure suppliers comply with contractual procedures.
By choosing our seamless and robust procurement software, you have a chance to quickly enable the automation of your supply chain processes, which helps optimize procurement costs and standardize workflows. In addition, your instant-on, best value solution will help to minimize risks, improve visibility and enhance accuracy.
List of COVID-19 Small Business Loan and Grant Programs
With an increase in hardships due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have collected different sources of available funding for small businesses to consider, including grants and emergency loans from states, cities and community organizations.
We will continue to update this list on a regular basis. Please remember to return to this page to see more federal, state and local programs in detail.
eBay’s New Seller Program is investing $100 million towards small businesses by allowing businesses that have never used their platform to sign up for their Basic Store to sell products online free for three months.
Deadline: December 11, 2020, at midnight ET.
Fort Worth’s Business Resiliency Microloan Program is a collaboration between the City of Fort Worth and PeopleFund, which is prepared to provide at least $850,000 to eligible businesses in Fort Worth impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.
MainVest, a crowdfunding platform, announced its new Main Street Initiative: a $2,000, zero-interest, 120-day loan for restaurants and other brick and mortars affected by the shutdown.
Skills Development Fund: COVID-19 Initiative by the Texas Workforce Commission pays for training for employees or new hires through partnerships with the public community and technical colleges. There is a total of $10 million available in grant funds for applicants that can address the training needs of business partners, and the program staff work alongside eligible businesses and training providers to support the program.
Stand for Small Website is a coalition of major companies and service providers who are offering discounted services or products to help small businesses impacted by COVID-19.
New York Forward Loan Fund (NYFLF) is a new economic recovery loan program aimed at supporting New York State small businesses, nonprofits and small residential landlords as they reopen after the COVID-19 outbreak and NYS on PAUSE.
Women/ Minority
NMSDC In This Together Rebuilding Fund provides grants for structural repairs, inventory recovery, and other operational improvements needed due to the economic downturn caused by COVID-19 and/or damage and vandalism from recent social unrest.
Eligibility: NMSDC certified minority businesses.
Deadline: December 15, 2020
Hello Alice X GEN X Pitbull Hispanic Business for All Grant is providing emergency $10,000 grants to businesses impacted by COVID-19. All applicants will receive access to resources and ongoing support from the Hello Alice community. Application support is also offered in Spanish – El soporte de aplicaciones también se ofrece en español.
Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) is partnering with Verizon to offer grants up to $10,000 to help small businesses, especially entrepreneurs of color, women-owned businesses and other enterprises in historically-underserved communities.
Opportunity Fund, the nation’s leading nonprofit small business lender owned by women, immigrants, and people of color, is collaborating with investors and nonprofits to put together a coronavirus relief fund that will provide grants and low-interest rate loans.
TruFund Relief Fund is launching a $5 million relief fund to support disadvantaged minority and women-owned businesses. The fund aims to help at least 3,000 disadvantaged firms with loans, grants, resiliency training and one-to-one business advisory services. Eligible businesses must have been started prior to August 2019 and located in Alabama, Louisiana, New York, Northern New Jersey and Texas, with a demonstrated economic injury from COVID-19. TruFund is also accepting donations to the fund to help small businesses.
Supplier Diversity Program: Definition and Debunking Common Myths
Supplier Diversity is a proactive business strategy that ensures access to a diverse range of suppliers in the procurement of goods and services. To qualify as a diverse supplier, a company must be at least 51% owned and operated by an individual or group that is part of a historically underrepresented or underserved group. There are approximately 18 supplier diversity classifications in the U.S.
According to The National Minority Supplier Diversity Council (NMSDC), certified Minority Business Enterprise (MBEs) generate $400 billion in economic output that supports and creates 2.2 million jobs and $49 billion in annual revenue for local, state, and federal tax authorities.
Though these numbers are on the rise, there is still some confusion about supplier diversity in general, which has caused some organizations to hesitate about their plans to implement a program. This article will list some of the common myths that lead to misconceptions regarding supplier diversity programs.
Myth 1: Diverse Suppliers Tend To Be Not Responsive and Have A Bad Reputation.
One of the significant advantages you get when working with diverse suppliers (who are often, but not always, small) is their agility. Though a large supplier may give you a very broad range of products and services, smaller suppliers may specialize in just a few. These products or services are their “bread and butter,” motivating them to be quicker in response to customer requests.
The key takeaway here is, a diverse supplier has more incentive to focus on your goals as a buyer – their reputation depends on it – whereas a larger supplier may be more focused on its bottom line.
Myth 2: Diversity Is About Lowering Your Standards
It’s a big misconception that you have to lower your standards and expectations to work with diverse suppliers. Hackett’s 2017 Supplier Diversity Study found that nearly all diverse suppliers meet or exceed expectations, and top corporate performers in supplier diversity experience no loss in efficiency. This misconception generally has its roots in unconscious bias, old habits or just misinformation. For strategic buyers, the goal is to find the best value supplier for their requirements, no matter their demographic characteristics.
Myth 3: A supplier cannot be minority-owned, woman-owned, or diverse unless they are certified.
This is perhaps one of the most significant challenges that new programs face, trying to figure out what the standard is for who is or isn’t diverse. There’s a simple way to break this down – the characteristics of the company make them diverse – i.e., if the company is 51% owned and operated by an individual or group that is part of a historically underrepresented or underserved group. This classifies the company as diverse.
But what if you want to be sure about the 51% ownership? That’s where certification comes in. Some organizations specialize in validating the 51% ownership and control standard. To be certified as a diverse supplier, a company must go through a certification process with a regulatory agency or organization. Here are some of the most popular agencies:
P.S.: It’s not uncommon for a diverse supplier to be certified by more than one agency.
As with all grand schemes, there’s an “in-between” called self-certification. In many cases, including when working with the federal government as a small business or small disadvantaged business, woman-owned small business and other categories, it is possible to self-certify as a diverse supplier. This hasn’t always been the case – hence some of the confusion.
Suffice it to say, some organizations accept self-certification, which is an affidavit or attestation by the supplier about the 51% ownership (this option is already built into the SupplierGATEWAY platform), while others require certification by a third party. What works best for your organization depends on how the information will be used (some use certification, self-certification and classification selectively for different reasons)
By choosing SupplierGATEWAY Supplier Diversity Management Software solutions, you will have the tools to improve your Corporate Social Responsibility and Inclusion initiatives rapidly. With our automated and integrated Tier-1 and Tier-2 Diversity & Local Spend Reporting analytics, you can easily track the impact of spend decisions on a local, state and national scale. We’re excited to tell you more! Contact us today.
The New Normal: The Perfect Time to Start Your Sustainability Program
The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the digitalization trend. It has forcefully pushed companies over the technology line and is predicted to transform the way business works forever.
The coronavirus crisis has dramatically affected the supply chain and disrupted procurement systems globally. For the time being and perhaps permanently, traditional face-to-face procurement behavior is difficult or impossible. In that sense, we have little choice but to adjust quickly and adapt to the new normal.
Let’s look at the “opportunity” side of the coin (if there can be, in a pandemic), this life-changing event is an opportunity to embrace sustainability in your business. Simply described, the practice of sustainability is a business approach intended to create long-term value by minimizing adverse effects in the ecological, social and economic environment. If there were ever a time to appreciate the impact of “adverse effects”, it would be now.
While the notion of actually operationalizing sustainability as a business practice may seem daunting at first, it is not as hard as one might think. Here are a few simple-but-effective ways to practice sustainability immediately.
Work From Home
The fact that many of us are working from home has had positive environmental benefits. If your staff currently work remotely, congratulations! Your business is already reducing carbon footprint in traffic and pollution.
Transition To Electronic Procurement
The traditional approach to competitive procurement processes has been disrupted during this difficult time. While many are already pivoted to e-procurement, recent and ongoing events have made new converts in a very short time. E-procurement streamlines the entire process, from procurement to payment, which increases the chances that your company is acquiring goods and services under the best value terms. Thanks to advances in technology, the challenge of achieving “green procurement” is much more “doable”. More importantly, you can do it at your own pace.
Reduce Waste By Simplifying Supply Chain Processes
The supply chain is a complex system and involves risk if businesses don’t know how to monitor their operations accurately. According to APQC, the top priorities among supply chain organizations are improving service quality, focusing on performance management, and investing in data analytics.
With Artificial Intelligence (AI), supply chain processes can be automated and augmented. Implementing AI in your procurement system will increase your supply chain transparency and save your company time and money.
“Businesses estimate they spend on average of around 55 hours per week doing manual, paper-based processes and checks; 39 hours chasing invoice exceptions, discrepancies and errors and 23 hours responding to supplier inquiries.” (mhlnews.com 2017)
Conclusion:
COVID-19 has significantly impacted the global supply chain. Many organizations have struggled to find and locate alternative suppliers to continue their business. At SupplierGATEWAY, we offer all-in-one solutions for supplier management that are competitively priced to fit businesses of all sizes. Even small and medium-sized businesses can utilize our robust apps to speed up timeframes, reduce overheads and open up the marketplace. Contact us today for more information!
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