Procurement - Supplier Selection and Evaluation

Insights from the consulting group Mckinsey state that companies maintaining the right supplier base can achieve cost positions that are 5-10% lower with 20-50% less exposure to key risks. Additionally, a supplier advantage can lead to differentiated products and increased market share.

Two main challenges exist for procurement teams: 1) sourcing the potential supplier candidates; and 2) evaluating them by carrying out necessary compliance and due diligence checks.

Creating efficiencies in supplier selection using Intelligent Search technologies.

Intelligent search uses Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques to infer intent from the input query, going beyond keyword matching to understand the semantics of the input. Machine learning can be utilized to further improve the relevancy of the responses using information such as clicks on past search results.

To speed up supplier searches Federated Co-operatives Limited (FCL), a wholesaling, manufacturing, marketing and administrative co-operative in Western Canada, uses Tealbook’s intelligent procurement search2. Tealbook also provides recommendations based on previous searches and enriches supplier records with additional information relevant for evaluation.

In the past, FCL’s supplier had to manually send in certifications. With Tealbook, FCL gets the information automatically and in real time, creating significant efficiencies.