APR 04 2023 Blog Graphite

How Graphite Creates Golden Supplier Records

The best way to organize your supplier information is with accurate, live supplier records.

So, what is Graphite?

LinkedIn has become an integral part of the modern-day work environment, where professionals can expand their network and easily share their experience with potential employers or peers. With its user-friendly interface and vast user base, LinkedIn offers unparalleled opportunities to connect with others in your industry or company. Like LinkedIn, Graphite helps businesses to connect in a network architecture.

How Graphite Creates Golden Supplier Records

In the realm of data management, Graphite serves as a powerful tool for managing commercial data. At the heart of Graphite lies the golden record, which plays a critical role in ensuring the accuracy and completeness of commercial data within the ERP system. However, Graphite offers much more than just commercial data management. Its comprehensive suite of features and capabilities helps businesses effectively manage their data, streamline workflows, and improve operational efficiency. From data governance to data quality, Graphite empowers businesses to confidently make data-driven decisions.

Graphite allows procurement teams to bring their processes to the modern age by giving suppliers the ability to manage their own critical data, automatically validating supplier data, and seamlessly connecting with critical business systems (ERP and P2P tools).

How Does it Work?

Managing supplier records information can be a complex and time-consuming process. However, with the Graphite Network, the process becomes simplified and streamlined. By bringing together supplier-managed data, buyer-managed data, and third-party data, Graphite provides a centralized location for comprehensive supplier records information management.

How Graphite Creates Golden Supplier Records

Supplier-Managed Data

When suppliers are invited to join the Graphite Network, they first create a profile with all of their relevant business data.  The profile serves as a portal for suppliers to make secure updates to their banking information, tax ID, and other critical data such as diversity and sustainability. 

Once a supplier has a profile, their profile will go through a rigorous validation process in which a team of experts from Graphite verifies their information. Once validated, the supplier profile will sync with your ERP and P2P tools.

Graphite is a neutral network of networks. It seamlessly connects with other tools such as Ariba, Coupa, Oracle, SAP, Netsuite, Workday, and other systems to surface business data. Graphite doesn’t replace your systems; rather, it works as a complement to them.

Buyer-Managed Data

Buyer organizations have a wealth of data that needs to be associated with supplier profiles, beyond the information provided by suppliers. This data can include internal payment information, various risk factors, and data input by procurement teams. With the ability to store this data in a centralized location, buyers can easily determine if they have all the necessary information to onboard a new supplier. Graphite makes the process even easier by identifying any potential red flags or approvals required. By leveraging this information, buyers can make informed decisions and streamline their procurement processes.

Third-Party Data

The last major input to a complete Graphite profile is integrating with third-party data sources – creating a 360-degree view of critical supplier data from within Graphite. Integrating third-party data sources into Graphite provides buyers with a comprehensive view of supplier risk in one consolidated tool.

With the ability to visualize risk from within the Graphite profile, buyers can automatically assess a supplier’s overall risk level and identify potential areas of concern. This can include data on financial viability, regulatory compliance, and environmental sustainability, among many others. 

Supplier Records - Graphite
Third-party data tools such as Darkbeam pull into Graphite for a full view of supply chain risk.

By leveraging third-party data, buyers can gain a more holistic understanding of their suppliers, enabling them to make better-informed procurement decisions. This can lead to increased efficiency and cost savings, as well as reduced risk and improved supplier performance. Overall, the integration of third-party data sources into Graphite can significantly enhance the effectiveness of procurement processes and enable organizations to achieve their strategic goals.

How does this work with an ERP?

Despite the number and complexity of your ERP and P2P configurations, Graphite can serve as the bridge that allows you to standardize and deduplicate supplier data.

If you’re dealing with data issues in your ERP and wondering whether you should wait until your issues are resolved or until you’ve completed a migration to a new ERP system, the answer is no. Graphite can start addressing your data problems immediately, even if your ERP issues are not completely resolved. Golden supplier records are within reach with Graphite Connect.

Ready for Golden Supplier Data?

Say goodbye to the hassle and stress of managing supplier information. Request a demo today and see how easy it is to streamline your supplier information management.

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#Procurement
#Supplier Data Management
#Supplier Information Management
#Vendor Data Management
#Vendor Information Management