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Welcome to the Graphite Connect Blog. Check in for frequent articles that will help your team operate at the highest possible level.

Beyond Savings: The KPIs That Matter in Modern Procurement

Beyond Savings: The KPIs That Matter in Modern Procurement

Procurement

Introduction: Why the Old KPIs Are No Longer Enough For decades, procurement success has been measured by a single number: savings. And while reducing costs will always be important, it’s no longer enough to capture the full impact of procurement […]

Top 10 Vendor Management Systems for Risk, Compliance, and Collaboration

Top 10 Vendor Management Systems for Risk, Compliance, and Collaboration

Supplier Management

Vendor relationships carry more weight than ever now. You need more than contact lists and spreadsheets to manage third-party risks, monitor compliance, and maintain supplier performance. A vendor management system (VMS) gives you the structure, automation, and shared visibility to […]

10 Best Supplier Performance Management Tools for Procurement Teams

10 Best Supplier Performance Management Tools for Procurement Teams

Supplier Performance Management

Procurement teams are under constant pressure to optimize supplier relationships. Fortunately, the right supplier performance management tools can transform how your organization monitors, evaluates, and improves vendor relationships. These tools go beyond basic scorecards to offer automated monitoring, predictive analytics, […]

Top Features to Expect in the Best Vendor Risk Management Software

Top Features to Expect in the Best Vendor Risk Management Software

Supplier Performance Management

Vendor relationships create both opportunities and risks. When your suppliers handle sensitive data, deliver core services, or operate in other countries, a small problem can impact multiple teams before you know it. The best vendor risk management software helps you […]

The New Procurement Tech Stack: What You Actually Need in 2026

The New Procurement Tech Stack: What You Actually Need in 2026

Procurement

Cutting through the noise to reveal the essential tools modern procurement teams rely on. Introduction: Why Procurement Needs a New Tech Stack in 2026 Procurement has entered a new era—one defined by speed, transparency, and accountability. Yet many teams still […]

What Every MRO Procurement Professional Should Know

What Every MRO Procurement Professional Should Know

Blog

Why MRO Procurement Is More Strategic Than You Think Maintenance, Repair, and Operations (MRO) procurement doesn’t always get the spotlight. It’s often overshadowed by strategic sourcing or high-value negotiations. But here’s the reality: if MRO fails, operations stop. Whether it’s […]

5 Supplier Relationship Management Software & Tools That Transform Procurement

5 Supplier Relationship Management Software & Tools That Transform Procurement

Procurement

Every supplier adds new data, documents, and deadlines to your workflow. Without a structured system, you’re left juggling email chains, chasing missing certifications, and patching together spreadsheets. These delays add risk and waste time you can’t afford to lose. Supplier […]

How to Get Stakeholder Buy-In for Supplier System Changes

How to Get Stakeholder Buy-In for Supplier System Changes

Blog

Why Great Tools Fail Without Alignment Even the most powerful supplier management systems can underperform, or fail entirely, without stakeholder buy-in. Procurement leaders often invest heavily in technology only to find adoption stalls, workflows get disrupted, and frustration spreads. The […]

Why Procurement Digitization Fails (and How to Fix It)

Why Procurement Digitization Fails (and How to Fix It)

Blog

Introduction: The Digital Mirage Many procurement teams leap into digitization lured by the promise of speed and automation. But without the right foundation, those efforts can become mirages, shiny dashboards masking stubborn inefficiencies. Despite large investments, initiatives often fall short, […]

The Rules of the Game: A Guide to Building Fair and Transparent RFPs

The Rules of the Game: A Guide to Building Fair and Transparent RFPs

Podcast

You’ve spent weeks crafting the perfect RFP, but is the process itself fair? When a supplier invests hundreds of hours into a bid, there is a fundamental expectation of respect and transparency. Too often, however, unclear rules, biased requirements, and […]

Why Suppliers Hate Your Portal and What You Can Do About It

Why Suppliers Hate Your Portal and What You Can Do About It

Blog

See onboarding through your suppliers’ eyes, and fix what’s broken. The Problem: Supplier Portals Weren’t Built for Suppliers You may have invested in a secure, ERP-integrated onboarding portal that checks every compliance box. But if suppliers are still getting stuck, […]

How to Pre-Screen Suppliers Like a Pro (Before the Contract)

How to Pre-Screen Suppliers Like a Pro (Before the Contract)

Blog

Introduction: The Problem with “Contract-First” Thinking In many procurement teams, supplier vetting doesn’t begin until a contract is ready to be signed. At that point, the business is committed, timelines are tight, and stakeholders are impatient. Risk reviews become rushed, […]

How to Create a Vendor Risk Playbook Without Slowing Down Sourcing

How to Create a Vendor Risk Playbook Without Slowing Down Sourcing

Blog

Why early supplier vetting is the key to faster deals and lower risk. Why Risk and Speed Don’t Have to Be Enemies For many procurement teams, managing vendor risk feels like a necessary slowdown. The more diligence you apply, the […]

The Golden Record Myth: Why Clean Data Requires More Than Deduping

The Golden Record Myth: Why Clean Data Requires More Than Deduping

Blog

Why the path to truly clean supplier data demands more than merging duplicates—and what to do instead. The Illusion of the Golden Record In the world of procurement and supplier management, few concepts are as appealing—and as misleading—as the idea […]

Who Owns Supplier Data? Why Governance Is a Team Sport

Who Owns Supplier Data? Why Governance Is a Team Sport

Risk Management

The Ownership Gap Every business relies on supplier data to make decisions, manage risk, and stay compliant. But ask five departments who owns that data, and you’ll likely get five different answers. Procurement might assume IT is responsible. IT points […]

The Psychological Toll of Bad Supplier Onboarding (and How to Fix It)

The Psychological Toll of Bad Supplier Onboarding (and How to Fix It)

Broken processes don’t just create inefficiency—they wear people down. Introduction: When Broken Processes Break People Supplier onboarding is often treated as a technical workflow problem. But for the people behind the process—procurement teams, compliance reviewers, and suppliers themselves—it can feel […]

Under Pressure: A CPO's Guide to Savings

Under Pressure: A CPO's Guide to Savings

Podcast

It’s a scenario every procurement leader knows well: the proverbial 2 a.m. call from the CFO. The message is urgent: the quarter is bad, and the business needs savings, now. In that moment, procurement stands at a crossroads. Do you […]

Paint It Green: An ESG Jam Session

Paint It Green: An ESG Jam Session

Podcast

Is ESG just another corporate checkbox, or is it a strategic opportunity? In our most recent Proc & Roll episode, hosts Natasha Gurevich, Conrad Smith, and Zachary Bachir provide a practical playbook for procurement teams to make Environmental, Social, and […]

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