Recent discussions among Dassault Systèmes customers regarding supplier collaboration have made it clear that we need to take a fresh look at this topic. Dassault Systèmes offers a robust solution for customers that require simple to complex data sharing & reconciliation of changes due to our long history in the supply chain game. With the introduction of the Cloud and the less traditional views it brings, we have noted that there is a growing interest in working more closely with the supplier in smaller and smaller companies. Instead of sending data to & from a supplier, companies would rather work alongside their suppliers. This paradigm shift is basically an extension of how users work with suppliers such as McMASTER-CARR, a standard part supplier.

It is important to note here that a “Supplier” today may be:
- Resource such as a contract designer engineer, for example an FEA analyst
- A firm designing components within the context of an OEM design, for example a brake caliper within a landing gear assembly
- A firm designing RFL driven sub-systems within the context of an OEM design, for example the landing gear assembly of the OEM’s aircraft
- Others?

Subsequently we need to better understand how both OnPremise and OnCloud customers would like to work in these venues. In the case of a resource, such as a contract analyst/engineer/designer, they should be allowed to operate directly on the OEM Platform utilizing specific apps assigned to them and licensed for the period of the project or contract. The OEM user associated to the management of the Supplier would be able to quickly assign them specific access rights for a set of data on the OEM Platform. I believe a dedicated app for Supplier Management may make the most sense for this activity which would be associated to an Administrative type role within the system.  These are the concepts we are currently exploring in R&D.

How do you work with your suppliers? Would it benefit to have them shoulder to shoulder with controlled access as opposed to pushing data back and forth and reconciling it? Are there specific scenarios where this type of model would work best for you? Can you comment on them here?

These are a few of the questions we would like to here your thoughts on as we move into a new and closer relationship with the supply chain.