Managing the Supply Chain & Enhancing Supplier Relationships

These are all critical factors in ensuring a well-functioning supply chain. By choosing compliant, qualified, and verified suppliers and contractors, you can optimise the overall performance of your supply chain.

Successfully managing a business involves nurturing solid connections with stakeholders, investors, and other external parties. If you hire the wrong supplier, you can jeopardise these relationships.

So, what factors should you consider when building supplier relationships?

How can you build good supplier relationships?

To foster strong, lasting relationships with your suppliers and contractors, you need to share the same core values.

Check ESG credentials.

Modern businesses must ensure that they integrate their supply chain with ESG practices, given the increasing importance of sustainability. This means that companies need to establish criteria for selecting suppliers and contactors who align with their sustainability ethos.

By working with suppliers and contractors who are committed to responsible ESG practices, you can build stronger professional relationships. If you find service providers that meet your ESG requirements, you’re more likely to keep those relationships for a long time.

But you must create a system to verify if your suppliers and contractors are truly committed to sustainability. This is where supply chain software can be useful. With Prosure360, you have the power to set the criteria relating to ESG and sustainability. Our supply chain management system offers real-time data, so you can easily find service providers who are aligned with your business values, goals, ESG and net zero requirements.

Ensure they are SSIP verified.

Hiring suppliers and contractors who are SSIP verified indicates a clear dedication towards health and safety. This helps to raise your business’ profile, as it shows that you only work with credible and qualified suppliers. It also ensures a standardised approach, assuring internal and external stakeholders that all your service providers meet consistent core criteria.

SSIP qualified suppliers allows your organisation to demonstrate a genuine commitment to maintaining quality standards across the board. In terms of fostering better relationships, you can be safe in the knowledge that all your service providers are SSIP qualified, and therefore you can guarantee compliance and safety across your business.

Prosure360, our supply chain software, provides SSIP assessments, which we’ve now extended to include Republic of Ireland Duty Holder Categories. Only a handful of SSIP approved providers can offer this, so Prosure360 is unique because it can deliver the SSIP, specific to the IE market.

Make sure they are financially healthy.

Knowing the financial status of your suppliers and contractors is important when it comes to fostering good professional relationships. Without understanding the financial situation of your suppliers and contractors, you could enter into risky professional relationships. This could lead to financial loss, failure to meet project deadlines, and damage to your reputation.

Staying up to date on the financial performance of your service provides will protect your business and give your stakeholders peace of mind. Ultimately, this helps to build trust between your business and its suppliers, meaning you can feel confident in who you are working with and build resilient relationships.

Prosure360 allows you to easily see the financial status of your suppliers and contractors in an accessible format. Our unique supply chain management software allows you to view supplier insurances, professional memberships, services, and of course, their financial status.

Using a red flag alert system, we give the service providers a risk score of gold, silver, bronze, or amber. This allows you to see your service providers’ performance and make an educated choice about whether to work with them.

Building resilient supplier relationships is integral to the smooth operation of your supply chain. By prioritising strategic supplier relationship management and making the most of supply chain management software, organisations can minimise disruptions, optimise costs, and drive overall supply chain efficiency.

With Prosure360, you can set bespoke questions with our pre-qualified assessment, set with SSIP, giving you the knowledge needed to make an informed choice about who you work with. Our bespoke questions empower you to take full control of your supply chain and find the suppliers and contractors that are right for you.

Ready to drive efficiency and build resilient supplier relationships? Book a demo with Prosure360 today!