Canopy enables you to store all information relating to your suppliers. It does this by compiling a single master record for each supplier, known as the Supplier Profile. The information you can store will include both important supplier information, such as contact details, banking information and insurance certificates, alongside internal classification and ERP settings to ensure the supplier is appropriately managed by your teams and downstream systems.
In this article you will learn:
What information can be stored in Canopy
Where the information comes from
Where the information is stored
What information can be stored in Canopy
Information held in Canopy falls into 4 main buckets:
- Trading information, which includes all the data points required in order for you to successfully trade with the supplier, such as core company information, contact details, banking & tax information, contractual information, compliance information (e.g. insurances, ISO certification) and any responses to due diligence questions that may have been asked.
- Supplier information, providing a thorough description of who the supplier is, what they are authorised to do for you, where they operate, ESG and Diversity information, and anything else you deem necessary.
- Operational information, which are internal data points that you rely on to manage your supply chain, such as how the supplier is classified, levels of spend, preferred supplier status, performance assessments, scorecards, and the settings required to correctly instruct ERP.
- System-generated information, which are fields generated automatically through your use of the system, such as the supplier status, risk determination, compliance indication, and an audit history, providing an understanding of the supplier's lifecycle journey and relationship status.
By default, Canopy comes with a comprehensive Supplier Profile covering all the critical information an organisation needs to collect to effectively manage their supply chain. However, every business is different and will have their own unique requirements, which is why the Data Framework that underpins Canopy is highly configurable. Your specific Data Framework will have been configured by your Administrator. Please contact them for more information.
Click here for more information about the Supplier Profile.
Where the information comes from
Canopy is able to collect information from both internal and external sources to build a complete picture of each supplier.
The information held in Canopy comes from 4 main sources:
- You and your colleagues
An important source of information is the data held in the heads of all the people who work with your suppliers. These may be your buyers who are requesting a new supplier, and need to divulge what they want the supplier to do, or a senior relationship owner, who knows which of the various supplier contacts to best communicate with. Manual entry by you and your colleagues helps to build your story of why you work with the suppliers you work with. - Your suppliers
In many cases, the best way to ensure the accuracy of your supplier data is to go straight to the source. It matters to the supplier that the information they provide you is accurate. There are also business imperatives to collect the necessary sensitive and confidential information when performing due diligence, which can only come from the supplier themselves, such as Health & Safety records or bank details. Suppliers are a key source of information, and push the burden of data collection away from your internal teams. - Data uploads
Canopy incorporates the ability for you to bulk upload data into the system. This is particularly useful when you first get started, to 'seed' the system with an initial list of suppliers to invite. File uploads also allow for a manual method of communicating between different business systems (e.g. ERP) in the event that integration via API is not desirable. - APIs & data feeds
Canopy can integrate with a range of third party applications and data sources to enrich your Supplier Profiles. These may be external data sources, such as company registers (e.g. Companies House), credit agencies (e.g. Dun & Bradstreet, CreditSafe), and third party risk management (TPRM) platforms (e.g. Avetta, Safe Contractor). Canopy also integrates with your internal business systems, such as ERP, to exchange information and provide consistency in supplier status and availability.
If you are looking to integrate a new data source into Canopy, please contact your Administrator.
Where the information is stored
All the supplier data held in Canopy is stored in the Supplier Profile. There are various tabs that run horizontally along the top of the Supplier Profile. The full database of data is stored in the Supplier Data tab. Here, you can see every data point split into different thematic tabs, which run down the left hand side.
Data stored in Canopy is maintained with the utmost security measures. It is hosted on Amazon Web Services and subject to a routine backup procedure, complemented by a robust Disaster Recovery process that undergoes regular testing. Access to the Canopy system is meticulously regulated and overseen by your designated Administrator. Additionally, many customers opt to implement Single Sign-On (SSO) to enhance user access control.
This makes the Canopy system an incredibly safe place for you and your suppliers to exchange highly sensitive information, without the risk of information sitting in email attachments or on hard drives