Know your suppliers with Google Alerts.
In supply chain management, staying informed about the status and activities of your suppliers is crucial. Google Alerts, a free tool offered by Google, can be an invaluable asset for buyers looking to monitor their suppliers effectively. This tool enables users to receive email notifications whenever new results —such as web pages, newspaper articles, or blogs — that match a user’s search term appear on the web. Here’s how buyers can use Google Alerts to keep a pulse on their suppliers
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Setting Up Google Alerts
- Visit Google Alerts: Go to google.com/alerts in your web browser. If you’re not already logged in to your Google account, you’ll need to do so.
- Enter Search Terms: Type in the name of the supplier you wish to monitor. To refine your search, use specific keywords related to potential news you’re interested in, such as “[Supplier Name] merger”, “[Supplier Name] recall”, or “[Supplier Name] sustainability”.
- Choose the Type of Results: You can select the type of content you’re interested in, such as news, blogs, or web results. For comprehensive monitoring, it’s advisable to select “Everything”.
- Set the Frequency: Decide how often you want to receive alerts. Options range from “as-it-happens” to once a day or once a week. For critical suppliers, “as-it-happens” might be the best option to stay up-to-date with any urgent news.
- Specify the Source Language and Region: If your suppliers are global, you might want to set up alerts in different languages or specify certain regions to get more relevant information.
- Choose the Delivery Address: Select where you want the alerts to be sent. This can be your email address or an RSS feed if you prefer to keep your inbox uncluttered.
- Create Alert: Once you’ve configured your settings, click “Create Alert”. You can create multiple alerts for different suppliers or topics of interest.
Benefits for Buyers
- Early Warning System: Google Alerts can serve as an early warning system for potential issues or disruptions in your supply chain. This can include financial troubles, legal issues, or significant organizational changes that could impact their ability to deliver.
- Market Insight: Stay informed about new products, technologies, or market expansions related to your suppliers. This can help in strategic planning and identifying opportunities for collaboration.
- Reputation Monitoring: Keep an eye on news related to your suppliers that could affect their reputation—and by extension, yours. This includes positive news such as awards and recognitions, as well as negative press.
- Competitive Intelligence: By monitoring suppliers, you can also gain insights into the broader industry landscape, including what competitors might be doing in terms of supplier development and management.
Best Practices
- Use Precise Keywords: The more specific your search terms, the more relevant your alerts will be. Consider using quotes around phrases to get exact matches.
- Regularly Update Alerts: As your relationship with suppliers evolves, so should your alerts. Add new suppliers, remove those no longer relevant, and adjust keywords based on changing priorities.
- Combine With Other Tools: While Google Alerts is powerful, it’s not exhaustive. Combine it with other monitoring tools and methods for a comprehensive view of your suppliers.
Google Alerts offers a simple yet effective way for buyers to monitor the status of their suppliers, providing them with timely information that can aid in decision-making and risk management. By customizing alerts to fit their specific needs, buyers can maintain a competitive edge and ensure the resilience of their supply chain.
Know Your Suppliers
One of the processes in a procurement department is Know your suppliers. Google Alerts is a free tool provided by Google that allows you to monitor news and publications related to a specific market or supplier. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to use Google Alert:
- Go to the Google Alert website: Start by going to the Google Alerts website (www.google.com/alerts) and sign in to your Google account.
- Enter your search terms: In the search bar, enter the market or supplier you want to monitor. You can enter multiple search terms by separating them with commas.
- Choose your settings: Under the search bar, you can choose the settings for your alerts. You can select the type of content you want to receive alerts for (e.g. news, blogs, web pages, etc.), the frequency of the alerts, and the email address where you want to receive the alerts.
- Review and save your alerts: After you have selected your settings, review your alerts to ensure they are accurate and relevant. Once you are satisfied, click on the “Create Alert” button to save your alerts.
- Manage your alerts: You can manage your alerts at any time by going to the Google Alert website and signing in to your account. From there, you can edit, delete, or add new alerts as needed.
Know your suppliers with a Google Alert – example
Here is an example of how to use Google Alerts to monitor the supplier Siemens Energy:
- Go to the Google Alerts website (www.google.com/alerts) and sign in to your Google account.
- In the search bar, type in “Siemens Energy” (without quotes).
- Choose the settings for your alerts. For example, you might select “News” as the type of content, “Once a day” as the frequency, and your email address where you want to receive the alerts.
- Review your alerts and click “Create Alert” to save your settings.
Now, whenever there is a news article or publication related to Siemens Energy, you will receive an email alert with a link to the article or publication. This can help you stay up-to-date on important developments related to this supplier, such as new product releases, financial reports, or other relevant news. You can also manage your alerts at any time by going to the Google Alert website and signing in to your account.
By using Google Alert to monitor news and publications related to a specific market or supplier, buyers can stay informed about important developments in the industry and make more informed procurement decisions. This tool is easy to use and can be customized to meet the specific needs and preferences of the buyer.
Learn more in the course Know your Suppliers.
If you want to learn more about the Know Your Suppliers process, visit the course. This Basic level course will provide you with an understanding of the process related to collecting information about your supply base and by that assuring the possibility to mitigate the risks occurring in the supply base.
Note: Illustration of the blogpost “Know your suppliers with a Google Alert” is created on March 2, 2024.
As an example there is a RSS feed for Siemens Energy as below:
In Google Alerts, you can choose to get your information via email or to an RSS feed. Below RSS-feed setting is to publish the 10 latest news (launched on Aug 8 at 0700).