Besides having the largest purchasing network in the perishables supply chain industry, iTradeNetwork’s biggest advantage is our wide-reaching platform of solutions. Our Order Management Solution may be our most well-known, but our Spend Data Management solution is just as robust. Comprised of three individual tools—Spend, Contracts, and Inventory—this solution collects, standardizes, and cleanses invoice data with appropriate account security. Let’s break down its parts.

 

Spend

Our Spend tool reviews and analyzes purchases so that our clients can make better procurement and operational decisions. It gives manufacturers and operators of all sizes the power they need to unlock savings by streamlining their spend and rebate programs. Furthermore, it can proactively identify business problems at partner, product, or store/unit levels so that our clients can optimize their own supply chains with accurate data. As a single data source for all purchasing, operations, and finance data, Spend is an ideal solution for operators and manufacturers to systematically monitor claims for timeliness and completeness as well as improve cash flow management with accurate claims processing.

 

Contracts

From a high level, Contracts is a repository for all contracting information, made up of three parts: Trading Partner Information Manager (TPIM), Product Information Manager (PIM), and Contract Management System (CMS). TPIM retains all of the details on Suppliers, Distributors and Distribution Centers (DCs), Re-Di’s, and more. PIM, on the other hand, retains specifics and relevant attributes on all of the products in our clients’ supply chains. Lastly, CMS uses product and trading partner information to build out and to retain the lane-specific pricing for specific time periods. Data entered into CMS is used to publish monthly Landed Cost Report for the Distribution Centers, which is then used to provide “expected pricing” to complete Contract Price Verification. Overall, Contracts provides supply teams with the tools to effectively manage and communicate contract pricing within the supply chain, along with providing a method to communicate monthly pricing to Distribution network and the ability to manage pricing at specific Plant-to-DC lanes.

 

Inventory

Inventory provides daily reporting and forecasting of DC items on-hand & Purchase Order data—both outstanding and historical data. This data is collected directly from DCs and mapped by iTradeNetwork. The DC-level data provides on-hand quantities and status on all outstanding Purchase Orders the DC has with suppliers, allowing our clients to make better-informed business decisions and to measure over- and under-supply from both normal menu items and special, limited-time offers (LTO). Inventory further provides for aggregated forecasting & reporting, quantity on-hand, current sales, and previous week’s sales, which all give our clients the ability to forecast and manage core & LTO products to the timeline of the promotion in addition to the reduction of stock issues.

 

All together, the Spend Data Management solution allows operators and manufacturers to collect and use accurate data gleaned from steps in the supply chain that other companies usually have zero or little insight into. With this solution, our clients have experienced benefits like reducing food costs by up to 5%, increasing the value delivered to franchisees, and maximizing rebate collections. The ability to provide purchasing, operations, and finance with a single data source is unparalleled, and it’s what makes Spend Data Management one of the most valuable tools on the market for both operators and manufacturers alike.

 

Check out more about our Spend Data Management solution by clicking below:

Spend Data Management Solution