New Supplier Management Software Tool

New supplier management software tool 

8 April 2024.

The importance of supplier management

According to the old pearl of wisdom...'No man is an island', and the same can be applied to organizations. None are entirely self-sufficient. They all rely to some degree on other people or other organizations to supply them with materials, products or services. Therefore, good relationships with suppliers, and adequate controls over those relationships can be crucial to a management system. It's no surprise that the topic of supplier management appears in many ISO management system standards. For example:

• ISO 9001 Quality management standard clause 8.4 Control of externally provided processes, products, and services.
• ISO 45001 OH&S management standard clause 8.1.4 Procurement.
• The topic also appears in a whole raft of ISO 27001 Information Security Annex A controls A5.19 Information Security in Supplier Relationships, A5.20 Addressing information security within supplier agreements, A5.21 Managing information security in the ICT supply chain, A5.22 Monitoring, review and change management of supplier services, and A5.23 Information security for use of cloud services.

Enhanced Supplier module in Qudos³ IMS software

One of the more recent additions to Qudos³ IMS software is its Suppliers module - used for listing preferred suppliers, their products / services offered, their contact details, and evaluating them. It therefore provides great support for the management of any suppliers or other external providers utilised by your organization.

Now, a new feature has been added to the Supplier Record. This enables one or more Actions to be raised directly from the record. The Supplier’s name is automatically copied across to the Action, and its How Raised field will automatically display as being from a Supplier Record. A permanent 2-way link is created from the Supplier Record to the Action and vice versa.

This new feature offers the possibility to greatly enhance your supplier management in different ways:

• Any tasks in the supplier relationship that need to be managed (such as renewals of contracts, leases, agreements, insurance etc.) can be done more effectively. We all need memory joggers to help us to with those tasks that only occur now and then. Now, all those tasks can easily be set as Actions with automated reminders when they become due.
• Any performance issues or concerns relating to the supplier can be quickly displayed in their record. That can greatly support the process of re-evaluating key suppliers over time.

Contact us for further details about this significant new feature or Qudos³ IMS software in general.