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WESTCHESTER, Ill., June 26, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- CVM, a supplier.io company, a leading provider of supplier diversity technology, data and services, today announced at the WBENC 2019 National Conference in Baltimore, MD, the results of two supplier diversity surveys it conducted in January, 2019.  The reports, which are an analysis of the survey results, are broken into two versions.  One, a study of buyer trends and the second, an examination of supplier sentiment.  Both are available to download at https://hubs.ly/H0js_8W0 .

This is the third year that CVM has undertaken this industry project which has produced groundbreaking reports.  The reports give insight into what supplier diversity professionals experience with their own programs, as well as how diverse suppliers navigate the supplier diversity environment.  Results this year cover the views of 134 supply chain buying professionals and 337 small and diverse suppliers and provide a keen overview of the state of the supplier diversity program market.

Among the key findings the reports provide:

• While over 41% of supplier diversity programs have been in existence for more than 10 years, considerable work is needed to improve the impact of these programs and their management. For instance,
• A combined 66% of respondents self-rated their programs as either highly effective or somewhat effective. This is down from last year's high of 72% on a comparable basis.
• Nearly 43% of programs don't currently measure the ROI of their programs and only 33% track the overall economic impact of their programs. These results show a decrease in management oversight and focus vs. prior year.
• Additionally, only 64% of programs report regularly to executive management on a semi-annual or quarterly basis and 11% don't provide an update to executive management at all, leaving a gap between mission, execution and impact.
• The percentage of respondents that track Tier 2 spending (spend that goes to subcontractors for the prime supplier) dipped from 68% to 59%.
• On a positive note, more programs are adding supplier development elements to their diversity programs (up 20% from prior year) and reductions in staffing in support of supplier diversity programs have leveled off and may be on the increase in certain size buying organizations.
• Additionally, over 76% of supplier diversity respondents indicated that over half of diverse suppliers meet expected quality parameters.
• Among suppliers, more received bid opportunities from participating in supplier registration portals than they did the prior year, yet the top three methods of earning new business continues to come from business event networking, RFPs and registration sites.

"Both corporate buyers and small and diverse suppliers have fantastic opportunities moving into 2020 and beyond to add digital technology and improved analytics to their diversity effort.  Our findings indicate that investment and focus on supplier diversity programs needs to increase as supply chain management technology and tools across the industry continue to improve and these programs need to be addressed as well.  Small and diverse suppliers can help corporate supply chains manage capacity fluctuation and improve flexibility and timeliness, and our data show that this can be achieved without sacrificing quality or service.  While traditionally, supplier diversity programs were seen as a necessity to meet government requirements and to build goodwill, they can be transformed, using services such as those provided by CVM and supplier.io, to provide better management control and analytics and become a valuable component of supply chain strategies and operation," shared Neeraj Shah, CEO of CVM, a supplier.io company.  Supplier.io acquired CVM this past May and is rapidly investing to make CVM a technology leader in the supplier diversity space.

For additional information about these reports or CVM's service, visit the company's website at www.cvmsolutions.com.

About CVM, a supplier.io company

CVM, a supplier.io company, is the leading provider of solutions that enable companies to manage, optimize, and scale their supplier diversity programs.  Working as a trusted advisor to the Supplier Diversity community, our mission is to support every program by providing innovative and superior end-to-end Supplier Diversity solutions. Equipped with unparalleled data intelligence, superior technology and expert guidance, our customers can establish and advance their supplier diversity initiatives effectively and strategically.  For more information, visit www.cvmsolutions.com.

SOURCE CVM, a supplier.io company