The SPI Vendor is a solution designed to automate and streamline the electronic exchange of supplier and product data between retailers and suppliers, addressing various inefficiencies in traditional communication methods. Its suite of modules includes vendor management and item management, enabling enhanced collaboration, reduced manual processes, and increased visibility throughout the supply chain. Case studies demonstrate significant reductions in vendor onboarding time and improved operational efficiencies, resulting in cost savings and improved accountability.

1. What is
SPI Vendor?
MATTHEW ROBINSON

2. 1. SPI Vendor Solution
2. Benefits
3. Modules
4. Case Study
AGENDA
5. Questions?

3. [VARIOUS DATA SOURCES]
SUPPLIERSRETAILER
• Inefficiencies
• Margin reductions
• Trust deficits
• Compliance issues
• Stock outs
• Business risks
For non-EDI standard communications:
Business is Messy

4. TRADEFLOW OPTIMIZATION
SPI Vendor automates the paperless,
electronic exchange of supplier, product and
pricing data between retailers and suppliers
SPI Solution: SPI Vendor Supplier
Collaboration Suite
Available modules:
• Vendor Management
• Agreement Management
• Allowance Management
• AP Inquiry
• Item Management
• Dynamic Discounting
• Content Management
• Web Invoicing

5. SPI Vendor Features
• Build and distribute electronic invoices based on real-time data
• Manage different types of agreements by vendor category
• Single repository of vendor promotion data, available to be integrated with any ERP
• Configure discount terms with vendors, manage early payment options and review
payment history
• Invoicing module provides role-specific data including payment status, trial balances and
charge-backs
• Item Management module allows you and your vendors to collaboratively manage a
master list of items

6. Industry Pain Points
Drivers Impact
 Hard copy Agreements/Allowances
 Communication via Fax/Email
 No clear channels to obtain approvals
 Rekeying of hand written information
 Manual three way matching
 Multiple data storage locations
 Manual retrieval of data
 Allowances not being fully monetized
 Missing/Incorrect/Duplicate Deals
 Transactional Disputes & Tension
 Delays & Lack of Visibility
 Erroneous Payments, Auditing costs
 Hard to access historic information
 No reporting capability
 Poor quality of data in the system
 Low productivity & High admin cost
 Missed allowance calculations

7. SPI Vendor – Benefits
Automates Existing Manual
Processes
New Level of Accountability
and Visibility
Integrates Various
Technology Platforms
Enhances Efficiencies Revenue Growth/Margin
Improvements
SLA Based Alerts

8. SPI Vendor – Modules
ITEM PORTAL
Eliminates manual item updates and allows
electronic updates of Vendor’s item
attributes and product hierarchies. Item:
1) Attributes
2) Product Hierarchies
3) Cost/Retail
4) Cluster/Locations
VENDOR ONBOARDING
Automated, customizable vendor creation
and management workflow processes
reduce complications of new partner
onboarding. Users can store and access
vendor agreements in a central repository,
enabling key stakeholders to view the most
up-to-date documents without the risk of
losing information.
AP INQUIRY
Collaborating and Communicating AP data
with suppliers is now easier than before.
Users can view a full range of role-specific
data including payment status, trial balances,
remittance advices and charge backs.
TRADE FUND/REBATE
MANAGEMENT
Seamless integration with ERP
systems for downstream promotion
management and financial accounting,
enabling users to develop and
maintain Purchase and POS
allowances.
TRADE FUND/PROMOTIONAL EVENT
ENGINE
• Bill back By $ Amount
• Scan Allowance on Units Sold
TRADE FUND/REBATE CALCULATION
ENGINE
Calculates daily, weekly, monthly, etc
charge back reports with calculation detail.
Handles a variety of rebate/allowance
calculations, but not limited to:
• Volume Rebate Performance
• Actual Defective Units > Allowance
• New Store or Warehouse
• Price Protection / Markdown
• Incomplete Fill Rate Impact

9. Web Based
Underlying Workflow
Vendor Workflow – Onboarding
Business Rule Engine

10. Agreement Management

11. AP Inquiry
AP Inquiry
Payment Status
Balances
Discrepancy
Receipt Inquiry
Queries
A/P Inquiries from
Suppliers
Supplier
Supplier
Supplier
Supplier
SPI Vendor
AP Inquiry
Search for payment information
based on:
1) Supplier id
2) PO number
3) PO date range
4) Invoice number
5) Invoice date range
6) Payment status
7) Payment advice information
8) Debit notes
Financial
Sys.
Discrepancy

12. Promotion Allowance
• Audit Trail
• Ability to add
internal
comments
• Upload items
• Shows status
• Owner

13.  Need for a Common portal for all vendors for accessing Agreement Management, Accounts
Payables Inquiry and Content Management applications that incorporated all current information
 The vendor portal was designed to be an on-line, real-time and highly scalable solution
 Used a web-based architecture offering functionally rich graphic user interface
 The data from all the applications could be combined and delivered
 The portal can be easily integrated with the rest of the applications
BUSINESS PROBLEM
SOLUTION HIGHLIGHTS
BENEFITS TO THE CLIENT
 Lead time to on-board new vendors has been
reduced by 75%
 Provided single web access point on the internet
 Manage special allowance agreements
 Vendors could self service to see their Accounts
Payable reducing required resources
 Vendor creation process was automated
starting from approvals
SPI Vendor – Case Study
$5 Billion Apparel Retailer

14. SPI Vendor – Case Study
 Seamless Integration with Retek RMS and Pracbiz for Real time Information along with Single sign-on facility.
 The retailer was the first to pioneer the TradeFlow solution. It has received industry wide positive response for
suppliers and retailers
BUSINESS PROBLEM
SOLUTION HIGHLIGHTS
BENEFITS TO THE CLIENT
 Source the information related to Retailer
and Vendor at one place and to manage it
effectively
 Manual processing of contracts between customer and their suppliers– high processing time
 Poor tracking/visibility
 Inability to track customer address/contact changes
 Ad hoc communication techniques
 Enhanced Operational Execution Process, better tracking and
visibility for the management towards trade flow activities
 Vendor Creation went from 12 – 20 days to 3-8
Largest Healthcare and
Beauty Chain in Asia

15. Our customer is a leading health, beauty and personal care retailer in the Asia Pacific region.
Its product range includes cosmetics, toiletries, snacks and beverages, fashion and medicines.
Business Problem Benefits to the Client
• Legacy and paper based approach to review, approve Vendor
information and creation of the Vendor
• Conflicts and disagreements between Retailer and Vendors
due to lack of historical information, scattered data and
human errors
• Extra effort in controlling and monitoring the communication
channel between Buyers and Vendors to identify agreement
issues
• Discussion points/data captured by the Buyers resided in
their emails and was challenging for the new members to
retrieve the agreements that were made between the
Vendors and Buyers
• Source the information related to Retailer and Vendor at
one place and to manage it effectively
• Seamless Integration with Retek RMS and Pracbiz for Real
time Information along with Single sign-on facility
• Enhanced Operational Execution Process, better tracking
and visibility for the management towards trade flow
activities
• Improved efficiency in vendor on boarding activities:
Activity Before SPI
Vendor
After SPI Vendor
Vendor Creation 12-30 Days 3-8 Days

16. CASE STUDY
 Vendors’ lack of visibility to invoice payment status, history and trial balance
 Manual processes required to sustain the superior service Neiman Marcus aspired to maintain
 Visibility internally within Neiman Marcus regarding workflow behind the scenes
 SPI and Neiman Marcus automated the supplier collaboration process using SPI Vendor’s A/P
Inquiry Module, and Dynamic Discounting Module.
 Ability for vendor to better track cash-flow by offering the ability to download check details into
Excel.
BUSINESS PROBLEM
SOLUTION HIGHLIGHTS
BENEFITS TO THE CLIENT
 Decreased headcount due to increased
efficiencies
 Annual Labor Savings: $300,000
 Vendors can report on brands individually or
combined in a roll-up report
 Central repository of Accounts Payable
documents including invoices
NEIMAN MARCUS
SPI Vendor – Case Study
$5 Billion Apparel Retailer

17. Key Features
Transforms Retailer/Vendor
Collaboration
Automates Existing Manual
Processes
New Level of Accountability
and Visibility
Integrates Various
Technology Platforms
Enhances Business/Supply
Chain Agility
Revenue Growth/Margin
Improvements
SLA Based Alerts
SPI Vendor delivers as a secure vendor portal so that you and your vendors can
collaborate faster and more closely than ever before.
The layered architecture of the SPI Vendor platform allows it to be integrated with
the retailer's existing IT landscape with ease.
The robust architecture and redundant infrastructure make it a highly available and
scalable platform.
Allows business teams to define service levels for each transaction. They can also
define escalation paths and alert notifications in situations where these service
levels are breached to draw management attention when required.
Through improved operational efficiencies across the supply chain, retailers can
reap benefits via on-time receivables, payment initiatives and accounts payable
strategies.
The ability to turn on and off audit trails at individual field level provides the
degree of transparency and visibility each is required.
Businesses are built on value chains that extend from online to in-store and all the
way back to the manufacturer. Create faster decision making as a result of real-time
information and sharing with stakeholders.

18. Questions?

19. Contact Me
•Matthew Robinson
Email: Matthew.Robinson@spi.com
Phone: 479-531-9128