Supply-Works - Unlocking the power of network effects for supplier intelligence and visibility in the medical devices sector

**背景**：中小企业特别容易受到供应链中断的影响。供应商管理占用了整个团队相当多的时间和精力，并对业务的连续性和生存能力构成了重大风险。中小企业面临着进一步的挑战，因为在供应商关系(价值较低的订单)中缺乏杠杆，与规模更大、地位更好的客户竞争供应商优先级。中小企业迫切需要供应链变得更具弹性和响应性。Senti-Tech是一家医疗器械开发商/制造商，创造了一种可穿戴的智能服装，以促进对长期呼吸道疾病患者的护理。我们有许多供应商在下订单后甚至在预付发票后提高了交货估计；并不都是供应链危机造成的。我们受到了质量问题的打击，这些问题让我们倒退了几个月。我们一直担心供应商没有回复我们。在最糟糕的情况下，关键零部件的延迟超过六个月。识别高质量供应商是一件难事：在你下订单之前，很难知道供应商的表现如何(即使供应商是由值得信赖的顾问推荐的)。**创新**：幸运的是，我们能够投资于我们的供应链，致力于供应商管理的员工和帮助供应商合规的内部工具的组合帮助我们应对了这些挑战。然而，我们意识到还有一种更好的方法。这将使任何中小企业能够以一小部分成本获得更大组织的采购范围。**我们的创新**Supply-Works是支撑中小企业网络的软件。我们在整个网络中共享值得信赖的供应商情报，帮助每一家中小企业减少供应商尽职调查的时间和精力，并获得从延迟交货到损坏部件的活跃供应商情报数据流。我们专有的信任评分将使中小企业知道哪些供应商可能在没有质量或交货事件的情况下完成他们的订单。**结果**：供应工厂有可能对整个制造业供应链产生重大影响。我们将帮助中小企业对供应商做出更明智的选择，特别是加强供应链中的阻力和反应能力。我们预计这将对利物浦城地区和其他地区产生许多积极影响。

**Background**: SMEs are particularly vulnerable to supply chain disruption. Supplier management takes up considerable time and energy for the whole team and presents signi?cant risks to business continuity and viability. SMEs face further challenges through a lack of leverage in supplier relationships (lower-valued orders), competing against larger, better-established customers for supplier priority. SMEs urgently need supply chains to become more resilient and responsive.Senti-Tech is a medical device developer/manufacturer, creating a wearable smart garment to advance the care of people with long-term respiratory illnesses. We have had numerous suppliers increase delivery estimates after placing orders and even after up-front invoicing; not all attributable to the supply chain crisis. We've been hit by quality issues that set us back by months. We've had the anxiety of suppliers not replying to us. In the worst case, critical components were delayed by over six months.Identification of high-quality suppliers is a lottery: until you place an order, it is extraordinarily difficult to know how well the supplier will perform (even when suppliers are recommended by trusted advisors).**Innovation**: We've fortunately been able to invest in our supply chain, and a combination of staff dedicated to supplier management and internal tools to help with supplier compliance have helped us to manage these challenges. However, we realised that there is a better way. One which would allow any SME to attain the procurement reach of a far larger organisation at a fraction of the cost.**Our innovation**, Supply-Works, is software that underpins a network of SMEs. We share trusted supplier intelligence across this network, helping each of those SMEs to reduce time and effort on supplier due-diligence and get access to an active stream of supplier intelligence data, from late deliveries to broken parts. Our proprietary Trust Score will enable SMEs to know which suppliers are likely to complete their orders without quality or delivery incidents.**Outcomes**: Supply-Works has the potential to signi?cantly impact across the manufacturing supply chain. We'll help SMEs make more informed choices about their suppliers and, in particular, strengthen resistance and responsiveness in their supply chains.We anticipate that this will have many positive effects for the Liverpool City Region and beyond.