Supplier Enablement

Supplier Enablement - takes how long?

Should you have an expectation as to how long you will be engaged in supplier enablement?

A major new system installed as a replacement for a system going into retirement can take 12 - 18 months to bed in for a big business. Some of that time is ICT time, say 20% is connected with "technology" but the majority of time, 80%, is concerned with "changes" affecting people, organisation and processes.

It is likely, I suggest, that the resulting savings that are achieved are of similar proportions, technology contributing say 20% and "changes" 80%.

Supplier enablement is no different; the job is to work through the changes as they implicate your suppliers. If you have 400 suppliers that is a task that needs a program of work that will extend over many months as suppliers will have differing appetites for involvement. On the other hand if you have 10 suppliers (and you have significant (to them) value as a customer) you might expect to achieve that in a few weeks.

So my thought is that if people, organisation and process are the drivers of the change that deliver the big benefits then that has to be core to any supplier enablement planning.

To answer my earlier question; how long? Well, out of a conversation I heard, those that had been involved in supplier enablement for more than 1 year and who were well organised might take 15 days to on-board a supplier (on-board is a term used to describe the activation of a supplier).

For most that will be a real challenge to take a supplier from "hallo, we need you to trade electronically with us" to "and now you are" in 15 days is going some. If we were a little more relaxed and doubled that and doubled it again you would be at 60 days. So, how long is piece of string? It is between 15 and 60 days - or approximately two new moons for most.

More good stuff to help at www.impaq.co.uk

posted by FrankB @ Wednesday, May 24, 2006