Vendor Onboarding in 2023: Three Predictions

While cultivating a diverse and inclusive (D&I) supplier base has been an initiative for many organizations for years, it was  2020 when the moral imperative of actively supporting diversity was prioritized to the top of the list. Of course, wanting to do it, doing it, and tracking it are three different beasts.

“This has moved from conversation into action for many organizations,” said Titus Martin, Director of Diversity, E&I Cooperative Services. “In 2023, to deliver on the promise of KPIs, we predict a rising demand to capture DEI and ESG information during the vendor onboarding process. Attempting to collect after the fact, when work has already been completed, will no longer be acceptable to business leaders.”

Our Director of Customer Success, Cyndi Fields, concurs. “Over the past 18 months, we’ve seen our customers responding to increasing demands to support HUB and diverse businesses.  It’s not enough to continue to have a policy in place. The importance of reporting and measuring the impact of supplier diversity have made it to the c-suite level.”

Sean Neal, Business Development Executive for Digital Transformation & Technology at Withum, believes ESG belongs next to all compliance processes related to onboarding vendors. “Sustainability is not a buzzword, it’s a business imperative. Improving documented compliance in this area will lead to maximizing  production and manufacturing value for an organization.” He continued, “Vendor management is the process of controlling costs and risk to an organization. ESG matters to both.”

Vendor management is the process of controlling costs and risk to an organization. ESG matters to both.

Sean Neal, Business Development Executive for Digital Transformation & Technology at Withum,

Tying the collection of any and all compliance documents to the vendor onboarding process makes sense, and automating this collection process also will ensure one repository can be the source of truth for your vendor data- including DEI vendors, but not stopping there. Collecting Certificates of Insurance, conflict of interest, BAA agreements… in 2023 all of these should be collected before a vendor number is issued. “When you consolidate, especially with a cloud-based platform,” said Rahul Chaudhari from TCS, “you will create clearer lines of communication and have an easier time managing your vendor relationship.”

But Chaudhari didn’t stop there.  He argues there is only one way to get this right: “Automation ensures compliance processes are addressed. Financial, payments, diversity, child labor, audit — all of this must be considered from the very beginning of the vendor/customer relationship. The overhead costs of non-compliance are simply too steep.”

Vendor compliance. Perhaps not the most electric of subjects at first glance. However, our crystal ball tells us that 2023 will see organizations of all sizes and in all industries focusing intently upon who they are doing business with. The output of a compliant vendor file touches risk, finance, supply chain, procurement, ESG, even HR. The inputs, however, can be tricky.

Which is my cliffhanger to get you ready for prediction #3- coming soon!

Read Part 1: The Final Manual Hold Out in P2P Will Finally Demand to Be Automated

Read Part 3: Vendor Master Data Management Will Matter to the Entire Organization