This project showcases my design work on MENT, a multi-enterprise platform enabling seamless collaboration and visibility across supply chain partners. The solution focuses on improving real-time communication, demand forecasting, and purchase order management to address inefficiencies in B2B procurement.
Key Contributions
1. Developed wireframes and prototypes for collaborative tools that enhance buyer-supplier interactions and PO acknowledgements.
2. Applied Design Thinking principles to deliver a user-centric solution addressing pain points like delayed acknowledgements, inaccurate specifications, and supplier reliability.
3. Designed an intuitive dashboard providing predictive analytics for warehouse inventory and streamlined purchase order tracking.
By Design Thinking Process
Empathize
Real-time supply chain intelligence starts with supply chain network integration and digitalisation
Digitalisation fuels enterprise systems with real-time, End to end-supply chain information
In the pharmaceutical and supply chain industries, managing seamless collaboration among multiple stakeholders like hospitals, distributors, contract manufacturers, and logistics providers is a complex and data-intensive process. Fragmented communication, manual workflows, and delayed information exchanges often result in inefficiencies that impact product availability and operational costs. To address these challenges, MENT was designed as a centralized, real-time information network tower to unify enterprise data, enhance visibility, and improve decision-making across supply chain partners.
Define
Problem Statement
Procurement and supply chain operations were plagued by limited visibility into demand forecasting, inconsistent purchase order acknowledgements, and delayed shipment tracking. Key stakeholders faced challenges in aligning data from various systems, leading to lost efficiency and increased costs. MENT’s mission was to create a single, integrated solution that leverages ERP systems (like SAP HANA) and partner networks to streamline these processes.
First Challenge
B2B buyers and suppliers cannot effectively view the terms of, acknowledge and commit to delivery timelines for purchase orders creating uncertain business partnerships and supply chain inefficiencies.
Buyers and suppliers face the following challenges surrounding PO deliveries
WHO
Personae and Roles
The primary users of MENT include
1. Procurement managers - Buyer
2. Customer Success Manager - Suppliers
3. Inventory Control Specialist - Distributors
4. Transportation Coordinator - Logistics providers
These users interact with MENT or their ERP or CRM systems (SAP HANA, & Oracle) to perform critical tasks such as purchasing order management, shipping notices, and inventory adjustments. MENT integrates with these platforms to provide a unified interface for managing and tracking real-time data.
Research Goals
1. Identify the key pain points and challenges experienced by procurement managers (buyers), customer success managers (suppliers), inventory control specialists (distributors), and transportation coordinators (logistics providers).
2. Understand current workflows, tools, and workarounds in use.
3. Evaluate expectations and needs for a solution like MENT.
4. Gather insights to inform feature prioritization for MENT.
Research Methods (Qualitative)
Interviews
One-on-one interviews with representatives from each group to uncover detailed workflows and pain points.
Example Questions: Procurement Managers:
1. What are your biggest challenges when waiting for purchase order acknowledgement?
2. How do you ensure accuracy in product specifications before placing an order?
3. How frequently do communication gaps lead to order errors?
Suppliers:
1. How do you ensure order accuracy and avoid processing errors?
2. What methods do you use to maintain inventory balance?
Logistics Providers:
1. How do you track and resolve transit delays?
2. How do you communicate with buyers and suppliers about delivery status?
Contextual Inquiry
Observed users in their working environment to see how they interact with existing systems and handle challenges in real-time.
Focus Groups
Created small groups of each persona to discuss shared challenges and brainstorm potential solutions.
1. Procurement Manager (Buyer)
Robert R. Bingham, 42 - Male
Role Overview:
A Procurement Manager oversees purchasing decisions for their organization, ensuring timely procurement of goods and services. They collaborate with suppliers, analyze purchasing trends, and manage procurement budgets to optimize the supply chain and reduce costs.
A Procurement Manager oversees purchasing decisions for their organization, ensuring timely procurement of goods and services. They collaborate with suppliers, analyze purchasing trends, and manage procurement budgets to optimize the supply chain and reduce costs.
Key Responsibilities:
Managing supplier relationships and negotiating contracts.
Ensuring procurement aligns with organizational goals and compliance regulations.
Monitoring inventory levels and coordinating with warehouses and logistics.
Analyzing market trends to make data-driven purchasing decisions.
Handling purchase orders, invoices, and payment approvals.
Pain Points:
Lack of visibility into supplier performance and shipment tracking.
Inefficient purchase order processing and manual data entry errors.
Managing procurement compliance and cost control.
Key Interactions in the System:
Interaction with ERP: Create and track purchase orders, manage approvals, and review procurement reports.
Interaction with Suppliers: Receive order confirmations, shipment updates, and invoices.
2. Customer Success Manager (Suppliers)
Sammy S. McKee, 37 - Male
Role Overview:
A Customer Success Manager ensures supplier-side success by managing relationships with buyers and ensuring smooth delivery of goods. They focus on customer satisfaction, timely delivery, and addressing supply chain disruptions.
A Customer Success Manager ensures supplier-side success by managing relationships with buyers and ensuring smooth delivery of goods. They focus on customer satisfaction, timely delivery, and addressing supply chain disruptions.
Key Responsibilities:
Acting as the main point of contact between suppliers and buyers.
Ensuring timely product delivery and handling customer feedback.
Collaborating with internal teams to resolve product quality issues.
Maintaining long-term relationships with key accounts to drive retention.
Pain Points:
Inaccurate demand forecasts lead to supply chain inefficiencies.
Delayed payments and incomplete documentation from buyers.
Lack of automated tools for tracking deliveries and returns.
Key Interactions in the System:
Interaction with ERP: Acknowledge and fulfil purchase orders, update shipment statuses, generate invoices, and view payment status.
Interaction with Buyers: Share pricing, manage order confirmations, and resolve queries.
3. Distributors
Felix J. Causey, 34 - Male
Role Overview:
Distributors are intermediaries who manage the distribution of products from suppliers to retailers or directly to customers. Their primary role is to ensure product availability at the right time and place.
Distributors are intermediaries who manage the distribution of products from suppliers to retailers or directly to customers. Their primary role is to ensure product availability at the right time and place.
Key Responsibilities:
Warehousing and inventory management.
Receiving and fulfilling purchase orders from wholesalers or retailers.
Managing shipping logistics and product returns.
Pain Points:
Balancing supply and demand due to fluctuating market conditions.
High operational costs due to inefficient inventory management.
Tracking product movement and preventing stockouts or overstocking.
Key Interactions in the System:
Interaction with ERP: Process inventory updates, manage shipping notifications, handle returns, and monitor product transfers.
Interaction with Buyers: Share order statuses, credit/debit adjustments, and invoicing details.
What
Primary User Intents
Buyer Challenges
1. Delayed acknowledgement of purchase orders.
2. Ensuring accuracy of product specifications.
3. Dealing with unreliable suppliers.
4. Managing relationships with multiple vendors.
Challenges for Suppliers
1. Ensuring order accuracy and timely processing.
2. Managing inventory levels efficiently.
3. Maintaining clear communication with buyers.
4. Complying with terms such as deadlines and quality standards.
Challenges for Inventory Control Specialists (Distributors)
1. Keeping track of stock movement to prevent overstocking or stockouts.
2. Coordinating with buyers, suppliers, and logistics providers for seamless distribution.
3. Handling discrepancies in stock levels or orders.
Challenges for Transportation Coordinators (Logistics Providers)
1. Ensuring timely delivery while managing unforeseen delays (e.g., weather, traffic, documentation issues).
2. Handling damages or losses during transit.
3. Maintaining clear communication with buyers and suppliers regarding shipment tracking.
4. Ensuring compliance with regulatory or safety standards for transport.
Research Deliverables
What’s Our Scope?
IDEATE
Solution Statement
Creating efficient communication channels that allow for collaboration and transparency in MENT will allow buyers and suppliers to improve demand forecasting and accuracy, foster trusting and healthy business relationships, improve delivery reliability, and reduce supply chain inefficiencies
Summary Table Process Permissions Based on Roles Purchase Orders
Application Administrator: This user configures the application and assigns other users to their roles within it, as well as access all aspects of the application.
Member - Expanded Access: This user can browse, read, export, and write data throughout the Company database of Master Data.
Member - Standard Access: This user can browse and edit data within the application’s company database.
Member - Read-only Access: This user can browse and read data within the application’s Company database.
Design Approach
Our design process followed the principles of Design Thinking, focusing on empathizing with users through interviews, defining their key pain points, and ideating innovative solutions for real-time data visibility. We developed wireframes and an intuitive dashboard to support demand forecasting and improve collaboration across stakeholders
HOW
User Journeys
Buyer User Flow Add PO
Supplier User Flow- Acknowledge PO
Buyer Received PO User Flow
Buyer and Supplier use case
prototype
WHY
DESIGN SYSTEM CHECK & DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
Considering Current Patterns with:
1. Reusable patterns from an existing design system
2. Existing Patterns & Components Used
3. Existing Patterns & Components Used For View and Edit
4. Existing Patterns & Components Used For Panels & Dashboard
Prototype for MVP
Search Page: View All Purchase Orders
Details Page View/Edit page
Usability Testing (Prototype Feedback)
Presented prototypes to users and observed how they interact with features like dashboards, notifications, search pages and details pages.
Solution’s Impact
By implementing MENT, businesses gained a real-time view of procurement cycles, reduced manual errors, and improved demand forecasting accuracy by 30%. One search table will give status updates in one place, and filters focus on data. The unified Search page simplified data management, enabling better collaboration and faster decision-making across the supply chain.
Thank you for being so patient