IBM and Chainyard have announced a network for suppliers to share company records with different buyers, aiming to cut repeated registration work. IBM introduced Trust Your Supplier on August 5, 2019, and Chainyard confirmed the announcement on August 7. The system is designed to pass supplier information between procurement networks without making vendors enter it again. Access remains limited to existing participants, with broader commercial availability planned for later in the third quarter, according to IBM. [S1][S2]

IBM lists identity checks, ISO certifications, bank account information, tax certifications and insurance certificates among the records buyers need to track. Trust Your Supplier creates a digital passport for supplier identity and lets a supplier share information with permissioned buyers. IBM names Dun & Bradstreet, EcoVadis and RapidRatings as outside verification or audit providers on the network. These are the companies’ descriptions of the system, not evidence that every supplier record has been checked or that errors cannot occur. [S1]

The connection to purchasing systems matters as much as the shared profile. According to IBM, Trust Your Supplier can relay the supplier data needed to exchange purchase orders and invoices. IBM says its own Supply Chain Business Network can connect through open programming interfaces. The practical implication is that reducing duplicate entry depends on those connections: creating a supplier passport and having a buyer’s procurement system use its information are separate steps. [S1]

IBM plans to start with 4,000 of its North American suppliers over the following few months, out of more than 18,500 suppliers worldwide. Its procurement operation projects a 70–80% reduction in the time needed to onboard new suppliers and a potential 50% reduction in administrative costs within IBM. These figures are forecasts for IBM’s business, not measured savings for the network or a smaller vendor. The initial group of 4,000 is also an onboarding plan, not a count of suppliers already using the service. [S1]

Founding participants include Anheuser-Busch InBev, Cisco, GlaxoSmithKline, Lenovo, Nokia, Schneider Electric and Vodafone alongside IBM. For a supplier’s administration team, that makes one question worth asking before estimating the benefit: which of its customers can receive the shared records through their purchasing systems? IBM’s projected internal savings do not answer how much work that particular supplier can stop repeating. [S1]

Source documents

  1. IBM: Leading companies collaborate on Trust Your Supplierhttps://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/leading-tech-telecom-pharma-beverage-and-manufacturing-companies-collaborate-with-ibm-and-chainyard-to-simplify-supply-chain-management-using-a-new-blockchain-network-300895958.html
  2. Chainyard and IBM Launch Trust Your Supplier Networkhttps://chainyard.com/insights/chainyard-and-ibm-launch-trust-your-supplier-network/