The Case for Industrial Digital Data Sharing and How to Decrease Risk by Linking Transparency, Compliance and Accountability

Companies are only as proactive, effective and organised as their employees & the tools available to them. Having worked in the industry for almost a decade and having worked with many companies globally of all sizes, including the biggest, I noticed that all share the exact same problems and suboptimal processes. The largest being that the existing software doesn’t integrate producers into their industrial buyers, automate processes or cover the final steps of the supply chain - which is why we built Timber Exchange.

 

It is fully understandable that industrial companies deeply protect confidential information such as client lists, prices, contracts and much else. However, this comes at the expense of suboptimal risk management, process efficiency, and performance analysis, which, in turn, directly decreases accountability and compliance internally and with partners. It is well-studied that the most competitive companies possess not only the most flexible and efficient supply chains, but also forward-thinking companies that are connected, operate and produce better results.

 

For industrial parties conducting business, both parties will, throughout the deal life-cycle, share deal-critical information that will be organised, processed and analysed. The current way of cooperation, information sharing and collaboration requires double-entry, manual processes and multiple tools that can lead to errors on multiple sides.

 

That is why securely sharing data & increasing transparency with approved trade partners and colleagues provide the opportunity to not only reduce the risk of errors, save time, and improve employee and customer satisfaction, but also provide long-term financial, strategic and competitive benefits for both producers and industrial-buyers.

 

Because transparency when integrated with processes and validation can ensure compliance with contracts, terms, instructions, regulations and much else. Which, when combined with measuring progress and compliance allows not only for the automation of processes but most importantly, the reduction of constant human assistance.