It is always a pleasure to join our GRID onboarding sessions for new customers that partner with Suuchi. The process is fascinating to watch and see the progress and improvements as our customers begin to leverage the system day over day. As VP of Product, I believe the feedback we receive during these sessions is paramount to build a successful product.
One major highlight in this process is the “aha moment” that typically happens when reviewing the Project Information Management (PIM) and Communication & Collaboration products. These products act as the foundation for the majority of our customers.
As the initial configurations and sessions are complete, we usually receive a question along the lines of: “Wait, can I also introduce this other flow in the Suuchi GRID?”. The customer then configures the new process flow, and they quickly realize the value that the GRID brings across the entire value chain.
When I witness that moment in each onboarding, it reinforces that we drive impact and make the value chain more manageable.
One key attribute I would like to highlight is that our product suite lives on a single platform. This unity allows businesses to eliminate blind spots and improve every workflow to ensure they are always operating at the highest efficiency.
Let’s start with the PIM and Communication & Collaboration products. In a traditional workflow, each process is completed within their siloed departments leveraging any existing tracking tools, which are at the base level Excel and, in the best case, a PLM or project management suite. The departments will then make decisions and track communication via email or other messaging services (text, WhatsApp, etc.), limiting traceability and accountability at every stage.
What is missing in this approach is the ability to track down root causes of decisions and approvals and the ability for high-level executives to quickly map the lifecycle of a specific product for a more robust data analysis.
This is where the GRID becomes a one-stop solution. A customer can effectively track and manage all of their products from ideation to creation and even through to final sale to communicate and, more importantly, create an immutable record of all decisions made throughout the process. Every stage is tracked at a granular level, all content and any revisions are stored, and all relevant communication is included. Now, a digital supply chain manager, a buyer, a decision-maker will have access to the most up-to-date content and have access to every decision made to date.
These two products within the platform allow traceability and a single source of truth for higher accountability levels. For example, suppose an organization hires a new staff member. In that case, they no longer need to spend time asking current and worst-case former staff why specific decisions were made. More importantly, with revision history, they will not waste valuable resources attempting to make changes that did not meet cost or design variables. Since the PIM and Communication & Collaboration are the foundation of any supply chain, digitizing these critical functions are the building blocks to a completely digital value chain strategy.
