A great supplier and a good reputation are some of the secret ingredients to a business’ success. These two factors are usually looked at separately, but with today’s more discerning customers, that should not be the case.
Your supplier’s practices can make or break your business. Cost should not be the most important consideration in supply chain decisions anymore. There is a clamour for ethical practices in the workplace from both the government and the consumers. So if your business is caught not meeting these ethical standards then it could spell big trouble not only for your brand imagery but also legally.
What makes a great supplier:
Value for money
There should be a balance between cost and quality. The cheapest supplier may look favourable at first, but the amount of extra costs you incur from returns, damages, and faulty mechanisms will add up quick. With low-quality products, you can easily lose customer loyalty and propagate negative word-of-mouth that can have a virus-like effect and kill your business.
Reliability & Credibility
You need suppliers that can deliver efficiently without bypassing legalities. Your suppliers must have all the necessary documentation and proofs of working under legal conditions. Many “underground” suppliers can provide quality products but use abusive ways to lower their cost. If your business is associated with such corrupt suppliers, it could lead to major customer backlash and government penalties.
Transparency
In our globalised economy, it is common to work with people and companies from different parts of the world. Due to this physical distance, it is of utmost importance to have an on-going transparent relationship with your suppliers. You have to know your suppliers and their supply chain to ensure this.
If your suppliers are hesitant with following such transparent practices, then that is a warning sign. Modern slavery, unfortunately exists especially in overseas supplier facilities. Avoid these unethical suppliers with reliable AI solutions through connected data analytics. Make sense of inconsistent and fragmented information, and have a visualised risks by category, supplier and country with Robobai’s Anti Slavery Module.
To further ensure that you are working with the suppliers that best fit your needs, utilise the proven AI of RobobAI. With specialised solutions for contract compliance and contract life cycle management you can build better relationships with the right suppliers and cut-off ties with the unfavourable ones.
Secure your business through better supplier management with RobobAI.