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The official brand logo for Quidi featuring a circular emblem on the left with a stylized green letter "q" inside a gradient green-to-black ring. To the right, the brand name "quidi" is displayed in lowercase black text, positioned above the tagline "Quick Document Intelligence".

CASE STUDY - SOURCING - MANUFACTURING

How an enterprise manufacturer eliminated supplier data gaps and built a scalable risk-mitigation workflow

Industry: Manufacturing

Focus: Sourcing

Location: Northeast, US

A high-angle view of a large manufacturing and industrial facility floor featuring heavy assembly machinery, overhead structural beams, and neatly organized stacks of raw metal pipes and parts, illustrating the complex supply chain and parts procurement operations optimized by Quidi's sourcing solutions.

THE CHALLENGE

The High Cost of Restricted Data:
Navigating SAP Compliance and Scale Barriers

Sourcing decision support is only as powerful as the accessibility and integrity of the underlying data. While this global manufacturer aimed to empower buyers with superior sourcing intelligence, the deployment path was constrained by complex, real-world enterprise infrastructure. Programmatic SAP access was heavily restricted by protracted security and compliance approval timelines, threatening to stall the project’s time-to-value.  

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At the same time, this wasn’t a small dataset problem. The solution needed to work at manufacturing scale, with some discussions referencing up to ~1M PO line items and performance considerations tied directly to how the data was exported and structured. Seemingly mundane choices - like whether exports were denormalized or split into materials, vendors, and PO line items - had massive downstream implications for query performance, usability, and how quickly the product could return answers that buyers can trust. 

OPERATIONAL CONSTRAINTS AS DESIGN INPUTS

Transforming infrastructure obstacles into design parameters

Rather than allowing infrastructure barriers to delay deployment, the client transformed these enterprise constraints into core design parameters: 

Export-First
Data Flow

To bypass integration gridlock, the initial rollout successfully utilized structured SAP Excel exports deployed via an on-premises virtual machine (VM).

Performance
& Scale Optimization

To mitigate latency risks across massive data volumes, the architecture separated materials, vendors, and PO line items rather than relying on heavy, denormalized files.

Decoupled
Value Delivery

The platform was engineered to deliver immediate operational utility and ROI before direct API integration was finalized, insulating the project timeline from enterprise approval delays.

WHAT WAS BUILT

Search, comparison, and rapid validation

The final solution was mapped to the exact workflow of sourcing professionals - prioritizing intuitive search, effortless comparison, and rapid validation.  

1

High-Performance Data Foundation

  • Structured Ingestion: Leveraged organized SAP Excel exports to establish the foundational data layer.

  • Predictable Cadence: Engineered a nightly update pipeline to maintain data freshness and consistency.

  • Optimized Architecture: Structured back-end tables explicitly to handle heavy query volumes with zero performance degradation.

2

Sourcing-Specific Search & Discovery

  • Weighted Relevance Engines: Prioritized the exact signals that drive manufacturing procurement, executing precise matching across material groups and physical dimensions.

  • Intent Detection: Automated search-type classification (semantic vs. keyword) to intelligently determine whether a buyer is searching by precise spec identifiers or descriptive intent.

3

Enterprise Usability & Context

  • Human-Readable Vendor Data: Replaced dense, numeric vendor IDs with clear corporate names, streamlining daily filtering and market analysis.

  • Intelligent Alternate Sourcing: Surfaced up to 10 highly relevant, similar parts complete with active pricing, lead times, and on-time delivery metrics. To ensure trust, similarity algorithms were constrained strictly to description string matching within defined material groups.

  • Noise-Filtered Pricing Display: Introduced Interquartile Range (IQR) and percentile-based pricing models to help buyers accurately benchmark costs without overreacting to statistical anomalies or edge cases.

  • Direct Feedback Loops: Integrated inline instrumentation allowing users to instantly flag search quality, creating a closed-loop system for continuous relevance tuning.

THE IMPLEMENTATION & ADOPTION STRATEGY

Workflow-first adoption:
Systematically proving value from day one

The rollout emphasized “prove it in daily workflow” rather than “launch big and hope”. By starting with a highly targeted user cohort, the team captured rapid, high-signal operational feedback while simultaneously refining search relevance and data ingestion. This approach systematically proved the tool’s value directly within the daily procurement workflow, building grassroots user trust from day one.  

KEY STRATEGIC INSIGHTS

The rules of engagement:
Translating complex data into buyer confidence

Data Health Instrumentation is Mandatory

​​Operational trust vanishes instantly if incomplete data (such as missing historical blocks or zeroed-out lead times) goes unnoticed. System guardrails and proactive data-health visibility are non-negotiable features. 

Unified Metric Definitions Dictate Trust

Complex concepts like "late delivery" and authoritative date fields require explicit, cross-functional alignment. Without shared definitions, technically accurate calculations will still be perceived as errors by procurement teams. 

Explainability Rules Adoption

Sourcing teams will not act on recommendations they do not understand. Providing transparency into why an alternate part is being recommended bridges the gap between raw data and buyer confidence. 

Performance is a Core UX Feature

Data normalization and export structures are not hidden back-end details. They directly dictate whether a software platform feels instantaneous and indispensable, or sluggish and unusable. 

THE RESULTS

Immediate usability gains through a targeted pilot

The strategic decision to launch with a highly targeted pilot cohort (approximately 5 sourcing users) yielded an immediate, quantifiable step-change in day-to-day usability and data relevance. By prioritizing workflow-driven design over a massive, unrefined rollout, the platform achieved high-signal operational validation and built user trust from day one.  

IMMEDIATE USABILITY GAINS

Driving efficiency in daily sourcing workflows

This deployment establishes a scalable foundation designed to protect profitability and fuel frictionless growth: 

Enhanced Data
Readability

Replaced abstract, numeric vendor IDs with human-readable names for at-a-glance market analysis.

Manufacturing-Specific Accuracy

Improved search relevance by precision-matching critical procurement signals like material groups and physical dimensions.

Streamlined Alternate Evaluation

Introduced a similar-parts drill-in feature, enabling rapid component comparison with built-in price and performance context.

A FRAMEWORK FOR SCALABILITY

Sustainable data pipelines and feedback loops

To ensure long-term value, the pilot established a sustainable, closed-loop system: 

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  • Data Freshness: Implemented a predictable, nightly file update pipeline to keep data current. 

  • Real-Time Feedback: Integrated in-product “good/bad search” instrumentation to capture user feedback and continuously tune search relevance. 

See how Quidi Sourcing can transform your procurement operations

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