Meercat® Supplier Management

Meercat is based on years of hands-on experiencein designing and implementing supplier evaluation systems and best practices from the industry and academia. Our software covers the complete Supplier Lifecycle - from registration, through on-boarding, classification, performance and risk management, development and finally phase-out. Out software has has been specifically designed to meet the needs of both medium and large enterprises.

Features of the system

  • Supplier self-registration
    Suppliers can register on-line and, once they pass the initial audit, can be added to the approved supplier pool.
  • Audit planning
    Sophisticated system to help schedule assessments and track audit progress.
  • Supplier Audits and Self-Assessments
    Meercat supports unlimited number of different surveys that can be filled-out during on-site audits, split between departments for desk-audits or completed as on-line self-assessments to help you keep the cost down.
  • Drill-down reports
    You can see the state of your network at a glance and then quickly drill down to issues that cause the most problems.
  • Development tasks
    Each audit results in individual improvement measures whose progress can be continuously monitored.
  • Supplier database
    Comprehensive supplier database that can be manually or automatically synchronised with ERP systems. Master data can be updated by the suppliers and approved by the corresponding category managers.
  • Document and contract repository
    You can attach supplier contracts and other documents such as certificates and business continuity plans.
  • ERP integration
    Meercat can be implemented as a stand-alone tool, but it also allows integration with existing ERP systems.

Supplier Database

Meercat helps you keep all key supplier information in one place and makes it accessible to all purchasing professionals when they need it most..

All in one place
  • Supplier master data, supplier evaluation results, damages and KPIs (e.g. on time delivery, spend, etc.) all in a single, integrated supplier profile
  • Keep supplier contracts, certificates, photos and documents in one place
Master data management
  • Suppliers can update their master data, to be approved by the internal account manager / category manager
  • Synchronisation with external ERP systems through WebService interfaces.
Supplier profile
  • Business structure (subsidiaries, etc.)
  • Scope of supply
  • Approval status per commodity
  • Classification and project assignments
  • Core competences & technologies
  • Legal info, top management, employees
  • Financial data
  • Countries of operation
  • Supplier contacts (key account mgr., quality, HSE, R&D, logistics, etc.)
  • Documents, certificates, incl. Reminders

Contract and certificate database

How long does it take you to find the framework agreement signed with your key suppliers? Do you know when it's time to renegotiate your suppliers? Are the certificates provided by suppliers still valid? Our contract and document database will keep all the necessary information clearly structured and just a mouse-click away.

Contracts & certificates
  • Upload contracts, certificates, photos and other supplier-relevant documents
  • Indicate due dates, assignment to appropriate business units
  • Live preview without the need to download the files
  • Limit supplier access to the complete document collection or on a per-document level
  • Suppliers may upload documents on their own, but have limited modification rights afterwards
  • Automatic email reminders about upcoming deadlines
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Employees can ...
  • See an overview of framework contract and NDA, incl. deadlines.
  • View all contracts and certificates
  • Mark documents as visible/invisible to the supplier
  • Set automatic email reminders per document
  • Upload / modify documents
Suppliers can ...
  • Upload the necessary contracts and certificates
  • See the documents you allow them to see
  • Receive automatic notifications to upload newer versions of documents

Plan and perform assessments
Supplier evaluation process firmly in control

Meercat has been designed to comprehensively support quality / audit managers. Thanks to pre-planning process, automatic reminders and a neat calendar view, co-ordination of assessments becomes a child's play.

  • Assessment types to fit your needs
    Meercat supports on-site audits, desk evaluations, self-assessments and opinion polls. You can mix an match different types the way it suits you.
  • Planning of assessments
    Assessments (including self-assessments) can be planned in advance, both individually and in bulk using a simple Excel™ template.
  • Assessments calendar
    View your planned and performed assessments in an Outlook-style calendar.
  • It’s complicated? No problem
    Evaluate complete suppliers or individual business unit(s). Meercat also supports project-based organisations.
  • Assessment notifications and reminders
    All stakeholders receive automatic notifications about the assessments. In addition, reminders can be set-up to plan follow-up assessments at a given time in the future.
  • Review process
    Supervisors and assigned users can review and confirm audits and add development measures. Rejections are clearly commented and automatically returned to the responsible person.
  • Multi-language support
    Both the user interface and surveys can be translated. Comes bundled with English, German and Polish versions.

Reports and Dashboards

Meercat offers a host of management-ready reports designed based on years of experience in supply chain evaluation. You can easily drill-down from region level down to individual suppliers. In addition to the out-of-the-box reports, the powerful Dashboard module allows you to create any report you wish.

Zoom right in ...
  • You don't have to waste time to create your own reports - Meercat contains a selection of reports based on industry best practices.
  • Pre-defined reports are automatically available for all new surveys.
  • You can zoom-in from a network perspective, through individual business units and projects and ending with individual suppliers.
... or create your own reports
  • The KPI Dashboard module allows you to create and publish an unlimited number of reports specifically tailored to your needs.
  • Full control over the contents and layout, ability to mix results from different surveys in one comprehensive report.
Out-of-the-box reports
  • History and score benchmark per supplier
  • Score drill-down Global > Region > Business Unit > Supplier > Assessment
  • Supply chain score per tier
  • Risk materiality matrix
  • Task completion report
  • Score histograms

Develop Suppliers

Assessment and monitoring of performance and supplier should not be an aim in itself - it is merely the first step on a road towards lowering the risk and increasing performance. Meercat supports both supplier communication and supplier development through improvement measures.

Develop suppliers
  • Workflow based supplier improvement tasks: from internal idea, through supplier acceptance, implementation and approval / rejection
  • Advanced monitoring of the implementation, combined with a flexible notification system
  • Suppliers have direct access, can add comments and attach evidence
Talk to suppliers
  • Extended comments in audits and tasks allow you to document key conversations with the supplier
  • Send notifications to selected groups of supplier contacts
Suppliers see ...
  • Own performance (OTD, etc.), incl. benchmarks with others
  • Assessment & audit results
  • Schedule of upcoming assessments
  • List of tasks to be performed
  • Key contacts from your company
  • Overview of supplier damages