The Manson Vendor Portal (MVP)—Manson’s newest application—will provide a safe, secure, and paperless process for vendors to provide and update their important business information to Manson.
The MVP, which is scheduled to launch in the first quarter of 2023, will eliminate the old process of manual aggregation of vendor information and will collect data under a secure digital system. “The old process was a postcard that we would send out in the mail for vendors to fill out and then they would mail it back,” says Paula Shoudy-Roberts, Manson insurance administrator. “Currently, we direct companies to the Manson website to a PDF Vendor Information Form for them to fill out, but the MVP will prove to be more accessible, accurate, and secure,” Paula says.
Path to MVP
Since 2019, Paula has played a critical role in the planning and development of the portal working with third-party developers including frequent software collaborator Dash Point. The ideation of the MVP was Manson’s response to the fast-paced processes of the internet and the need to provide a user-friendly system for current and future subcontractors. “In the beginning, the objective was to define what information was needed and if the MVP would be useful for vendors,” Paula says. “We thought about what processes would make it easier for current and potential subcontractors to give us the full information needed and what the old system failed to provide.”
As a general contractor, it is important for Manson to pre-qualify subcontractors, suppliers, and service providers for contracting opportunities, and when necessary, to verify those vendors as small or disadvantaged businesses—which is an ongoing and active challenge that all general contractors now face. With this, subcontractors are required to send confidential information to be reviewed by Manson’s Small Business Liaison Officer (SBLO) and several internal groups that include the Estimating, Safety, and Finance departments. “Either the SBLO or an Office Manager would take the information and create a profile for the subcontractor,” Paula says. “The profile includes things like general information and qualifications to help Manson verify if the subcontractor is a small business and if they are capable of completing the work.”
The current method of recording vendor information has its share of challenges as the data requires manual extraction of information from paper or PDF forms by each department. The management of dozens of vendor inquiries often calls for the SBLO, Project teams, Estimating and Accounting to utilize interdepartmental collaboration to pull the information together for review and storage. “To handle the overflow of inquiries, the Accounting Department would keep the bulk of the vendor information post cards and help input the information to our current business management systems,” Paula says. “The implementation of the MVP will fast track these important steps.”
Getting Started with MVP
Should subcontractors, vendors, and suppliers—large or small—wish to work with Manson, companies will be able to access the MVP once it launches by visiting the Manson website. For businesses unfamiliar with Manson’s work, the portal also provides several graphics that emphasize the company’s marine construction and dredging work across North America.
Create Your Profile
Upon landing on the MVP page, businesses will be asked to create a user profile and provide important pre-qualification information for Manson to verify small business status, safety statistics and business legitimacy. Users will find that inputting and managing their business information is safe and secure while navigating the MVP.
Interactive Features
Of the several unique features provided by the MVP, users will have the ability to send messages to the MVP Administrator to ask questions about pending documents, status updates, etc. This communication system eliminates the typical snail mail response and provides fast, reliable user support.
With the MVP, each company’s main account user will be allowed to invite others to manage information and make changes to their account. This unique feature allows seamless interaction within the MVP, giving teams the ability to track several pieces of important information. The new system is expected in early 2023, so keep an eye on Manson’s web page and our social media for updates on the launch.
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