Manage Your Vendor Relationships With Computer Tracking Systems

Computer tracking systems can introduce all sorts of efficiencies into your everyday business operations. Vendor management is no exception. What is vendor management, exactly? Gartner defines it as “a discipline that enables organizations to control costs, drive service excellence and mitigate risks to gain increased value from their vendors throughout the deal life cycle.” Through deeper insight and better monitoring, organizations are positioned to “optimally develop, manage and control vendor contracts, relationships and performance for the efficient delivery of contracted products and services. This can help clients meet business objectives, minimize potential business disruption, avoid deal and delivery failure, and ensure more sustainable multisourcing, while driving the most value from their vendors.”

Vendor Management Application: Manufacturing Industry

Computer tracking systems can integrate with vendor management to deliver this function to organizations in nearly any industry, including manufacturing. To succeed, manufacturers must rely on third parties and suppliers. That requires them to do their homework. Before they sign on the bottom line of any contract, manufacturing companies must do their due diligence. They have to determine whether any third party they’re considering may be out of compliance or otherwise present undue risk.

Asset Panda’s vendor management configuration enables clients to customize their systems according to their specific needs. Many manufacturing companies already use Asset Panda for their computer tracking systems, managing their IT and other fixed assets and saving significant time and money in the process. With the vendor management configuration, they’re also able to centralize vendor management processes to keep track of vendor ratings, certifications, and reliability.

Benefits for Both Sides

Better vendor management delivers benefits for both sides of the transaction. In a November 2019 piece for The Balance Small Business (“8 Tips for Vendor Management Success”), writer James Bucki described some of those benefits, including:

• Shared information and priorities, which in turn can help vendors better serve their clients’ needs;
• An organized system for obtaining and reviewing competitive bids;
• The ability to take a long-term perspective with vendor management versus constantly changing vendors to save a few dollars (a shortsighted perspective). Long-term vendor relationships facilitate “trust, preferential treatment and access to insider or expert knowledge.” Bucki adds that you might consider inviting trusted vendors to strategic planning meetings and asking them to contribute their expertise to the discussion.
• Long-term vendor partnerships are also more likely to lead to successful negotiations. Both sides should be willing to give a bit for the sake of that long-term relationship. Better quality, Bucki reminds readers, often comes at a higher price, but it’s worth it.

The best computer tracking systems take a streamlined approach to vendor management integration, so it’s easy for users to get up to speed quickly without extensive training or hardware. Asset Panda’s integration incorporates that very philosophy. Manufacturing companies, along with clients in every industry, can even manage communication with vendors through the user-friendly platform. Because Asset Panda syncs with the cloud, clients have anytime access to real-time information. Our free mobile app serves up that data on your smartphone or tablet, or you can use the web app if you prefer. Manage your vendor contracts, price points, vendor tiers and more through this comprehensive yet intuitive system. And, of course, you’ll eliminate frustration and save time and money from Asset Panda’s best in class approach to fixed asset tracking.