Overview #
Approving a vendor is only the start. Certificates expire, insurance lapses and problems come up. This guide sets up a simple routine in Vendor Management so you catch issues before they affect your operations.
Before You Start #
- The Vendor Management add-on on a Basic, Pro or Premium plan.
- Vendors already in your workflows, with their documents uploaded.
Steps #
Step 1: Give every document an expiry date #
When a document is uploaded, set its expiry date. Expiry Alerts and the dashboard depend on it.
Step 2: Check Expiry Alerts every week #
Go to Expiry Alerts to see documents that have expired or expire within the next 30 days. With one click, send the vendor an in-app notification asking for an updated document.
Step 3: Review updated documents #
Give each new document a status on the Document Review page. On Pro and Premium, Document Intelligence summarizes each one; add an instruction such as “Note whether the certificate expires within 90 days” to your AI preferences.
Learn more: Document Intelligence
Step 4: Log incidents as they happen #
Go to Incidents and log the issue with its type (late delivery, quality, missing items, documentation or other) and severity. Assign an owner, move it from New to In Progress to Resolved, and record the resolution.
Step 5: Keep risk ratings up to date #
When a vendor has repeated incidents or missing documents, review its risk rating (Low, Medium or High). On Pro and Premium, Network Atlas uses these ratings, documents and incidents in its risk scores.
Learn more: Network Atlas
Step 6: Review the dashboard each month #
The Vendor Management dashboard shows vendors by stage and risk, incidents by severity and type, upcoming expiries and each assignee’s workload.
Step 7: Re-evaluate on a schedule #
Run a re-evaluation for key vendors once a year, or after a serious incident, using a workflow set up for re-evaluations.
Learn more: How to Evaluate Your Vendors
Tips #
- Make one person responsible for Expiry Alerts each week.
- Record the resolution of every incident; the history helps your next evaluation.
- Use Internal Notes for your team and Discussion & Feedback for anything the vendor should see.
What’s Next #
- Stress-Test Your Supply Chain: see how vendor risk affects your network.
Need help? Contact us at helprequest@scopematch.com.