As the COVID-19 pandemic wears on, its impact is felt in every region, in every industry, and in every aspect of life. With inflation the highest it’s been in the last 13 years, and the holiday season rapidly approaching, supply and demand uncertainties are top of mind. 

COVID’s Impact on the Supply Chain 

Over the last 30 years, supply chains worldwide adopted ‘just-in-time’ manufacturing processes to optimize and streamline operational procedures. For decades, firms operated with just the right amount of inventory on hand, ordered parts as needed, and relied on the synchronization of all entities in the supply chain as a means of decreasing business expenses and lowering consumer cost. While this intricate network functioned efficiently in times of plenty, pandemic induced disruptions have destabilized the matrix. 

Nearly every aspect of the global supply chain has been impacted — increased costs, delayed deliveries, and economic turbulence have become the ‘new normal’ for all involved; whether they be manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, or even consumers. In an effort to combat the situation, enterprises have turned to the modernization of logistical networks and the rapid onboarding of new business partners. 

Regional Recalibration  

Firms are transitioning away from the global supply chain and moving towards region focused solutions. Addressing the logistical challenges associated with developing a series of regional supply chains, that source materials and manufacture goods in geographical areas close to their end customers, will reduce the costs associated with: the transit of materials and goods, the risk of freight bottlenecks, and the length of lead times. 

Astute firms understand the need to move quickly. 

The viability of region focused solutions are incumbent on onboarding the right mix of local producers, vendors, warehouses, and transportation companies. The simple reality is that there are not an infinite number of regional partnering opportunities and time is of the essence. 

Assessing Risk

Nonetheless, enterprises would be wise to avoid rushing past requisite risk assessment processes when onboarding regional business partners. In addition to anti-fraud, safety, and regulatory verifications; determining whether an entity has an established infrastructure that can handle demand, at a competitive price point, must be considered. Revenue, sales, age, number of employees, volume capacity, etc — such information is vital when assessing risk.   

Further, the importance of vetting business partners does not end after establishing the relationship — best business practices demand systematic, ongoing, and dynamic due diligence evaluations throughout the lifecycle of the business relationship.

Automation Benefits

Clearly, the speed in which enterprises can assess risk via know-your-business (KYB) verification processes is of the utmost importance. Enterprises that rely on manual due diligence may miss out on partnership opportunities to competitors, especially those that employ automated processes. 

The situation demands automated risk management powered by external data. The challenge that many face, however, is the time consuming and cost prohibitive nature in which this data is acquired. 

Demyst’s Solution

This is no longer the case — enterprises are able to test real data from multiple sources within minutes thanks to the 1,000s of global data partners available on the Demyst platform.

Demyst’s KYB Workflow Automation solution consists of pre-configured APIs that solve common business problems like checking an entity's registration status, identifying firmographic information, examining an entity's court history, along with thousands of other risk management attributes. For those seeking a personalized solution, OpenCorporates, Sayari Labs, CreditSafe, NominoData, Info Group, and Acuris are a few key players in the space and are an excellent starting point. 

Sign up for a free Demyst account and discover the benefits of integrating data from multiple sources through a single API.