Vendor Management Software - How It Helps To Manage Vendors

There are businesses that are mostly self-sustained. And then there are businesses that rely heavily on third-party suppliers, otherwise known as vendors. For example, an events management business rely on equipment suppliers, food and beverage suppliers, chairs and tables suppliers, printers and fabricators to be able to deliver a good, seamless and flawless event.

While these types of business typically depend on a set of reliable suppliers that they regularly work with, the best practice still involves exploring other suppliers every time a requirement comes up. Otherwise, there won't be any chance of discovering better and more cost-effective suppliers at all.

For example, an events management company who has done business with the same audio-visual equipment supplier for the past 10 years was bent on using the same supplier for a big event. One day, however, a faxed flyer came in from a fairly new equipment rental company which offered lower rates. When asked for a quote, this new supplier gave rates that were half the cost that the old supplier offered. So automatically, the events management company signed up a new equipment supplier.

Unfortunately, keeping a database of vendors is a challenging task, especially in companies where there is a fast turnover rate. The danger in these companies is that people leave too soon, without getting the chance to endorse to the next person their "red book" of trusted vendors. As a result, the next person has to start from scratch to build up their own database of vendors.

This is where the importance of vendor management software comes in. So what does vendor management software do? It actually serves as a robust database of all the vendors that the company has worked with in the past, as well as those that they intend to work with in the future.

Typical vendor management software has such functions as vendor registration, a vendor approval scheme, risk management functionality, the ability to track vendor visibility and performance. All these are usually linked to a standard billing and invoicing functionality as well.

Does it sound like something that your business needs? Remember though that there are certain things that you need to keep in mind when investing in software. First, you have to make sure that the interface is user-friendly, the security features meet your standards, the report-generation functionality is flexible and robust, and the after-sales support is responsive.