Parcel - March/April 2009 - (Page 18) BEST PRACTICes with Nita Smith Integrating Diverse Suppliers: The CDW Way According to a report from the U.S. Small Business Administration, small, diverse businesses, such as women- and minority-owned businesses, account for more than 10.6 million of the businesses worldwide and are among the fastest growing segments of the US economy. As a result, large enterprises are starting to make the connection that offering products and services that appeal to a diverse customer base can boost their competitive advantage. CDW Corporation began to recognize and review the need for increased spend with diverse suppliers in late 2006. CDW representatives felt it was important to take a hard look at our own processes and how diverse spend impacted our contracting and purchasing opportunities as well as our customers’ needs. To better meet these needs, CDW launched a Supplier Diversity program in May 2007. In just two years, CDW’s Supplier Diversity program has grown to include partnerships with 65 minority-owned, 101 womenowned and 39 veteran-owned businesses, and additional classifications such as small, disadvantaged and disabled. With a combination of new and existing suppliers, CDW’s minority/ women-owned spend for 2008 totaled $229.6 million versus $158.3 million in 2007. Total spend with all small, diverse businesses has increased from four percent of total purchases to six percent, or $472.1 million, in 2008 as well. When engaging with a new diverse supplier, it is imperative to validate as many factors as possible. An example of this occurred most recently in our distribution chain. A minority, women-owned distributor from California had approached CDW just as our Supplier Diversity program was launching to ask for an opportunity to meet with the product procurement team. After a review of capabilities, product lines and experience, it was determined CDW would allow them to bid on upcoming business. The vendor provided quarterly pricing as requested and even took measures to implement packaging and transportation changes that would make them just as, or more, competitive than legacy suppliers. This example is a true testament that diverse suppliers not only bring quality and expertise but are focused on meeting cost savings goals of the organization. Without the initial introduction, they may have not had the opportunity to bid, and CDW wouldn’t have been able to maintain service levels and costs. For any company looking to create a supplier diversity program, remember that the program itself should do more than measure spend; it needs to create opportunities for these diverse suppliers, and it is the organization’s responsibility to work with your primary contacts to open those doors. In doing so, you may see cost savings and/or better service levels. n Integrating Supplier Diversity Diversity and inclusion have rapidly become important elements that both corporate and government customers look for in a solution provider. By creating a formal Supplier Diversity program, we are making every effort to reflect the diversity of the marketplace and to understand each customer’s needs and buying requirements. Well-armed with data, process and benefits supporting a Supplier Diversity program, we began to integrate Supplier Diversity into the supply chain process. Since CDW does not manufacture any products and our purchasing process is not centralized, we looked at: • what products/services are being purchased and from whom; • what criteria of those purchases was most important and why; • where and when do we use such products and/or services; • how do we improve the process to create opportunities for diverse suppliers With the success of CDW’s Supplier Diversity program, however, we found that there were a number of factors to consider when choosing and integrating a diverse supplier such as: • experience (years in business, awards, certifications); • capabilities (resources, technology, account support, location); • whether or not they were an existing customer of CDW; • pricing; • diversity status; • whether or not they were an existing supplier of CDW NITA smITh is the Supplier Diversity Manager of CDW. If you have any questions you’d like addressed in an upcoming Best Practices column, please send them to amanda.c@rbpub.com, and we will forward them to CDW for possible inclusion in a future column. 18 MARCH 2009 | www.PARCELindustry.com http://www.PARCELindustry.com
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