Sourcing Made Simple

Panjiva, a provider of intelligence platforms for global trade professionals, has created an A-to-Z directory of more than one million suppliers in 190 countries.

The directory endeavors to solve “two kinds of problems our clients face when looking for an international supplier,” says CEO Josh Green. “They want a comprehensive set of candidates without missing that diamond in the rough and, second, they want to very quickly home-in on candidates that are best at what they do.”

In addition to what Green calls “the most comprehensive set of suppliers out there,” Panjiva offers “the search tools and the depth of information that allows them to identify that very small list of companies that best fit their needs. This process of developing a short list is incredibly fast and they can be confident they didn’t miss anybody.”

The Supplier Directory goes beyond a straightforward listing of company names and locations by providing background information on each company, including its current U.S. clients and its viability. “Anybody who has served the U.S. market previously is going to be in our database,” Green says. “Our clients can focus on a single country or search by the name of a U.S. competitor — someone buying from certain companies overseas. They can also do a combined search by competitors’ sources, product or country.”

Some Panjiva clients have requested data about ‘socially responsible’ supplier companies — those that pay fair wages and respect labor regulations and environment issues — so the company has partnered with non-profits to provide that kind of information, as well.

Panjiva also has created a “watch list” of suppliers that are at risk of going out of business — defined as those that have suffered a 50 percent year-over-year decline in the product volume they ship to U.S. customers.

The right information, right now
Initially, Green thought the primary audience for the supplier database would be senior-level executives, but junior-level managers are proving to be its most enthusiastic users. “They can now find reliable candidates in just minutes instead of months,” he says.

Traditionally, “customer-facing” retail executives have had access to the sales data and marketing information they need, but the sourcing side has been underserved, Green says. “When our clients visit factories for deep research they can now focus on a few [candidate] companies that seem like a good fit, and not waste time visiting those they never should have considered.”

Panjiva offers access to the directory through annual ($10,000) or monthly ($999) subscriptions.
“Ours is a data-driven model,” Green says. “We are looking at data about suppliers’ track records. When we see that clients of a company keep going back to them, it’s a strong indicator compared with suppliers who get customers and immediately lose them. Panjiva will help our clients build short lists of supplier candidates, but that is not a substitute for on-the-ground targeted research.”