**London**: CFOs across regulated sectors face escalating supplier risks, tariffs, and compliance challenges. The BDO Life Sciences CFO Outlook Survey reveals how automation and segmentation through software like Gatekeeper can optimise onboarding, monitor performance, control spending, and safeguard financial stability in 2025.
Supplier management has become increasingly complex across various industries, including financial services, life sciences, and manufacturing. The BDO Life Sciences CFO Outlook Survey for 2025 highlights critical concerns for CFOs, particularly regarding supply chain and manufacturing challenges such as potential tariffs and the implications of the Biosecure Act, which threatens the sourcing of essential materials for drug development. Additional challenges include rising costs, cybersecurity threats, stringent compliance requirements, and a lack of visibility into supplier performance and expenditure. To address these issues and enhance financial performance, implementing a robust supplier management program is essential.
A supplier management program entails a structured approach that oversees supplier relationships throughout their lifecycle, from onboarding to offboarding. This framework aims to ensure consistent and efficient supplier onboarding, maintain regulatory compliance, monitor performance against key performance indicators (KPIs), identify risks, and ultimately build collaborative supplier partnerships.
Traditional manual or spreadsheet-based methods can hinder this management process, increasing the risk of inefficiencies, financial risks, and negative impacts on profitability and shareholder value. A well-executed supplier management program not only protects the organisation’s bottom line but is particularly crucial for entities operating in regulated sectors.
To optimise financial return whilst minimising risk, there are five core pillars that form an effective supplier management program. These pillars can be significantly enhanced with the use of modern supplier management software, such as Gatekeeper.
1. Optimise and Automate Supplier Onboarding for Cost Efficiency
Ineffective supplier onboarding can lead to delays and resource wastage. By automating these processes, organisations can enhance efficiency and data accuracy. Gatekeeper provides features such as guided vendor portals for onboarding, compliance submissions, and data collection, reducing the administrative burden on procurement and compliance teams.
2. Segment Suppliers for Maximum ROI
Not all suppliers are equally important, and treating them as such can lead to inefficiencies. Segmenting the supplier base by spend, risk, and operational importance allows organisations to focus their efforts where they deliver the most significant value. This approach enables better decision-making and mitigates risks associated with supplier management.
3. Monitor Supplier Performance for Cost Control
Establishing clear KPIs for supplier performance is vital to prevent the deterioration of service quality over time. Gatekeeper’s performance management capabilities allow for thorough tracking of supplier performance across various metrics, facilitating transparent reviews and ongoing improvement.
4. Mitigate Supplier Risk Proactively for Financial Protection
The landscape of supplier risks is increasingly complex, involving cybersecurity threats, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations, and financial instability. A mature supplier management program incorporates risk identification and mitigation throughout the supplier lifecycle, protecting organisations from potential financial losses and compliance penalties.
5. Control Supplier Spend for Optimised Financial Outflow
Fragmented supplier spend data can lead to blind spots and uncontrolled costs. Gatekeeper offers comprehensive spend management tools to provide visibility into supplier expenditure, enabling organisations to optimise financial outflow and maximize ROI. Features such as visual dashboards aid in identifying spending trends and potential savings.
The case of Redwood Logistics demonstrates the impact of an effective supplier management program. Previously burdened by disjointed manual processes, the company transformed its approach by implementing Gatekeeper. By centralising supplier information through integration with NetSuite, Redwood achieved improved visibility into vendor performance and spending, enabling better negotiation strategies and enhanced supply chain optimisations. “The ROI is the visibility of the contracts and the actual spending… we can do a better job negotiating those ahead [of renewals],” remarked Gubio Henrique, Senior Vice President of Sourcing and Purchasing.
In summary, a robust supplier management program is essential for achieving financial stability, controlling costs, ensuring compliance, and mitigating risks. By focusing on the five key pillars—automation, segmentation, performance monitoring, risk management, and spend control—organisations can develop a supplier management strategy that delivers both immediate and long-term benefits. Supplier management software like Gatekeeper serves as a critical enabler in establishing these pillars, streamlining processes, and ultimately driving significant improvements in efficiency and cost savings.
Source: Noah Wire Services
