With the backdrop of inflation, supply chain shortages and now as I currently write this, a war being fought on European soil, supplier collaboration and supplier innovation are two topics that I think we can be sure will increase in priority.

My guest to deep dive on this topic is Maciej (Matt) Zaleski of Procurence Meercat, a software platform for industrial manufacturing companies who have recently developed a supplier innovation module for their solution.

Using software to successfully drive a transparent supplier innovation program
Against the rather bleak backdrop we're currently up against, the focus right now is to ensure that manufacturing businesses are able to become a customer of choice to their supply base. With a tight market and the need to innovate to stay ahead, avoid material shortages and optimise lead times, this is particularly good timing to be discussing this topic.

Procurence grew out of Matt being frustrated at what was already out there. He found himself as a consultant having to leave a client with Excel sheets rather than a nice software dashboard. This is ultimately what drove him to start the business.

Starting off with a procurement, quality and vendor master data solution, Procurence has since grown to become a full stack solution on the quality and New Product Introduction (NPI) side in addition to the pure procurement modules. This focus has enabled them to thrive in manufacturing industries, especially the automotive sector.

New modules have very much been based on customer feedback, and supplier innovation is no different, growing out of a request from AGCO Corporation, one of Procurence's key customers, to streamline and digitise the process.

Define "Supplier Innovation": What does it mean?
There are three key pillars that Matt typically sees from Procurence Meercat clients:


Design to cost
Quality
Sustainability

Matt explains that it's all about looking at what hides below the waterline.

Continuous Improvement often sits below the top of the iceberg but is nonetheless a very important component of supplier relationships.

Different stakeholders will drive the process depending on what the end result should be.

Ideas generation typically becomes a lot more bottom up process and as such requires a greater amount of participation from a wider number of stakeholders e.g. engineering, marketing, supply base, manufacturing.

Early involvement with suppliers is key. Otherwise, the potential is that a company misses out on ongoing feedback during a design process or project ideation if they are only contacting suppliers once the design and features are a done deal.

R&D is a more strategic function, but often don't have the manufacturing experience or the technical knowledge of the supplier's production process.

A hands off approach will result in the supplier doing as they're told. Whereas in a more collaborative environment, they will volunteer suggestions and improvements during a more consultative process.

How can software assist this process?
Channel between internal stakeholders and suppliers. There are often multiple stakeholders who need to have access to a two-way conversation between the company and its supply base.

"Crowdsourcing" of innovative solutions to specific problems around product design, production process, quality improvements, kanban etc.