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Cloudia Oy - Sourcing tool

Empathize

Cloudia Oy aimed to create a digital sourcing service aids in the planning, management, guidance and follow-up of tendering. It simplifies and speeds up the process, decreasing the possibility of human errors. Our service guides the user in the different phase of the tendering process, from a call for tender to monitoring the whole process. Intelligent processes guide the user in drawing up a new call for tender, making it faster and easier. The service also makes sure the organization’s own procurement process is followed.

Objective of Supplier mangment

  • Streamlined Collaboration: Enhance teamwork with tender-based user rights, allowing for editing and reading rights to be given to multiple users.

  • Enhanced Productivity: Delegate tasks and assign responsibilities within your team, leading to streamlined workflows and improved efficiency.

  • Effortless access to past tender materials: Access and download materials from past tenders, including tender documents and attachments. Save frequently used documents for easy reuse on new tenders

Problem

  • Segment Your Supply Base

  • Measure and Improve Supplier Performance

  • Become a Better Customer

  • Collaborate with Suppliers

  • Improve Supplier Quality

  • Maintain a Diverse Supply Base

Research

To design the supplier management tool, I employed quantitative user research through various methodologies to gather diverse and actionable insights. These included:

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  • Interviews: Conducted detailed one-on-one sessions to understand user needs and pain points.

  • Contextual Inquiry: Observed users during tests for related products to identify overlaps in requirements.

  • Customer Feedback Data: Analyzed historical feedback from existing systems to uncover recurring themes.

  • Yearly Surveys: Incorporated insights from surveys conducted with customers.

  • Focus Groups: Engaged with representatives from Tieto Every, Helsinki Municipality, and other stakeholders to validate ideas and uncover nuanced requirements.​

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This robust research process enabled the creation of initial user requirements tailored to address the key needs of the supplier management domain.

Requirements elicited from User study 
Key Features and Benefits:

  • Supply Market Evaluation:

  • Analyze and assess potential suppliers to meet organizational needs.

  • Strategy Development and Execution:

  • Create and implement sourcing strategies aligned with business goals.

  • Negotiation of Contract Terms:

  • Collaborate with suppliers to finalize pricing, delivery, and service agreements.

  • Contractual Agreement Development:

  • Draft and finalize detailed contracts that govern the buyer-supplier relationship.

  • Guided Tendering Process:

  • Offers intuitive guidance through all phases, from drafting a call for tender to real-time monitoring and completion of the process.

  • Ensures compliance with the organization’s procurement practices.

  • Enhanced Speed and Simplicity:

  • Intelligent tools expedite the creation of calls for tender, making the process faster and easier.

  • Automated comparison of tenders reduces routine tasks and human errors.

  • Real-Time Tracking and Insights:

  • Enables real-time tracking of tendering lifecycles, offering transparency and control.

  • Collects and stores sourcing data for future analysis and decision-making.

  • Improved Business Intelligence:

  • Provides actionable insights by analyzing procurement data, giving organizations a competitive edge.

  • Facilitates better strategic planning with easily accessible historical sourcing information.

  • Error Reduction and Cost Efficiency:

  • Automated checks and comparisons decrease the likelihood of errors.

  • Reduces manual workload, improving overall cost-effectiveness.

Prototype

Identified Use Cases for the Supplier Management Tool

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  1. Supplier Onboarding

    • Streamline the onboarding process, including document verification, compliance checks, and account setup.

  2. Performance Tracking

    • Monitor supplier KPIs such as delivery timelines, quality metrics, and adherence to SLAs.

  3. Supplier Risk Assessment

    • Assess and manage risks by analyzing supplier financial stability, historical performance, and compliance issues.

  4. Contract Management

    • Centralize contract storage, track renewals, and manage amendments effectively.

  5. Procurement Workflow Integration

    • Integrate supplier management seamlessly into procurement workflows to enable efficient purchase order and invoice handling.

  6. Communication and Collaboration

    • Enable real-time communication with suppliers through a secure, centralized platform for sharing updates, queries, and documentation.

  7. Audit and Reporting

    • Provide detailed audit trails and generate reports on supplier performance, compliance, and relationship health.

  8. Feedback and Evaluation

    • Collect and analyze feedback from internal users and external suppliers to foster continuous improvement.

Design

Categories Screens
Sourcing - Info page V2 basic information - closed
Sourcing - Info page V2 basic information - active
Sourcing - Search for sourcing events (1)
Sourcing - Home page V2 no data
Sourcing - Home page V2
Sourcing - Search page v2

Category Page flow

Test

Test Objectives

  • Ensure the onboarding process is streamlined and functions as expected.

  • Validate the system's ability to track and display supplier performance metrics.

  • Verify the tool's ability to identify and display supplier risks.

  • Test the contract storage and tracking functionality.

  • Ensure real-time communication is functional and user-friendly.

  • Validate feedback collection and evaluation features.

My User Test Process

  • Create test scripts

  • Define test tasks

  • Create data for test tasks

  • Create documentation templates

  • Run sample tests with co-workers

  • Refine test tasks and data

  • Recruit participants/invite letter

  • Run real test with defined parameters.

  • Record results

  • Analyse Results

  • Make recommendation 

  • Identify Design imptovements​

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