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Marc Bates

Why Canopy's Vendor Master Record feature works so well

In the first of a series on the individual features of the Canopy supplier management platform, we look at the Vendor Master Record.


Canopy's Vendor Master Record for supplier management
Canopy's Vendor Master Record is a strategic solution for managing all your supplier information.

In a complex world, decision makers at every level within a business need a lot of information. Not only must the data flow smoothly between business functions and sites, but it has to be there in the first place. Too often, data doesn't work effectively for anyone, making everyday business processes inefficient and costly. And that's what the Canopy supplier management platform is here to address. We'll be publishing an occasional series of blogs focusing on Canopy's individual features. In this first one, we're taking a closer look at profile management and the Vendor Master Record feature.


Solving practical problems in proactive supply chain management

In many businesses, systems only share information on a reactive basis. This means that each time operators need to answer even simple questions, they must go looking for the answer. Ideally, operators should be able to answer simple questions at a glance. Take an international business that needs to know which supplier can provide HVAC maintenance in Frankfurt. Are they preferred? Have terms already been agreed? What are their contact details?


Many businesses have no centralised repository of data. What certifications does a supplier have? Do they have enough insurance for this job? How have they performed on other recent jobs? How satisfied are peers with the supplier’s performance? If a procurement team needs a copy of a document (be that an insurance certificate, accreditation, or proof of membership), they might often need to go back to the supplier. And then unless it's managed properly, information may not respond to local market dynamics.


Canopy's Vendor Master Record keeps all the data you need in one place

Canopy's Vendor Master Record feature is an efficient and strategic solution for managing all your supplier information. It allows for the proactive sharing of information across a business. The Vendor Master Record acts as the 'shop window' to the supplier, providing contact and contract information together with details about capabilities and compliance. It removes time-consuming manual processes to input, update, and maintain supplier data by your finance, procurement, and compliance teams.


Canopy acts as an easy-to-use supplier document repository. All documents required for supplier onboarding and ongoing supplier relationship management are stored and maintained in the supplier's profile. Stakeholders can manage contracts, insurances, licences, permits and regulatory certificates at a glance. The system flags out-of-date compliance documents automatically, prompting the supplier to provide an up-to-date version. It even enables stakeholders to deselect that vendor temporarily, until they have returned to compliance.


Answering key questions and facilitating decision-making

Canopy's supplier profiles provide complete visibility of who your suppliers are. The Vendor Master Record shows you what they do, their risk, compliance, performance, spend, ESG and EDI credentials, and how to engage them. By assessing suppliers across multiple data points, users can answer all the critical questions as to preferred status, terms and pricing agreed, and their precise location. If it's relevant for your dashboard, Canopy can even record and tell you the volume of carbon emissions that the supplier produced in the last reporting period.


Canopy aggregates all relevant information into a single trusted vendor master record through APIs and data exchange capabilities. This exchange of data with third-party sources and your other business systems means all your supplier information can be stored, accessed, and queried from one place. In an era of big data, it's also worth mentioning that the platform allows data to be instantly accessible, to deliver quicker and better-quality results across the business. And of course, all records are totally secure, protected by our SOC1/ISAE3402 audited controls.


Preferred suppliers at a local level

By deploying a RAG system, traffic light indicators make it easy to determine which suppliers your buyers should choose to work with. This means it's in the supplier's best interest to keep their information up-to-date and accurate. And of course, this has practical consequences. Canopy's rules-based architecture distinguishes between local market dynamics, such as language, legislation, and local practices. This allows for the sharing of site-specific information and the hyper-localisation of rules. This ensures the management of your supply chain is tailored to site-specific demands and delivers consistent real-time governance across all regions and sites.


In the next blog in this series, we'll look at making the onboarding of new suppliers more effective. In the meantime, to find out more about the Vendor Master Record feature in the Canopy supplier management platform, contact one of the team today.


Post by Nick Verkroost

Nick is an experienced business leader and the COO for Canopy (OCG Software), the rules-based Supplier Management platform. Nick's focus is on commercial and operational excellence and ensuring our clients maximise the opportunities that Canopy offers.

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