AZ Sint-Blasius has been a satisfied customer of GraydonCreditsafe for several years. It may surprise you that a hospital also uses company information, but it is not that exceptional. If anything, it demonstrates a professional approach. We spoke to Evelien Boeckx, who has been the head of their purchasing department for five years now, about the added value of business information for a hospital.
“Among other things, we use the credit reports via the Accelerator platform,” says Evelien. “As a hospital, we are subject to the law on public procurement. So, we have quite a lot of purchase dossiers annually. Within certain procedures or based on certain estimates, we check the creditworthiness of the supplier. Not because it is a requirement for government contracts or for a possible subsequent audit, but mainly because we want to work with stable and reliable partners. So it is more of a rule that we hold ourselves to.”
The AZ Sint-Blasius has been relying on the services of GraydonCreditsafe for about seven years. During that time, Evelien has seen the available solutions and the online platform evolve considerably.
“Accelerator is a very accessible and user-friendly platform for me, and for my three colleagues. On it, we can find all the information we need to assess our suppliers. Beautifully and clearly presented. And we can easily download and archive the information on the date we open a file.”
Via Accelerator, we can find all the information we need to assess our suppliers
Evelien Boeckx
Head of Purchasing Department, AZ Sint-Blasius
“We do this to avoid any discussion afterwards. We want to be able to demonstrate that a supplier was financially healthy at the time we started working with them. As such, a score of A, B or C is the minimum requirement. However, suppliers with scores D or E are not always excluded. However, we then dig deeper into the credit report to find an explanation for that weaker score. We usually ask for additional guarantees. On the note, it is not uncommon that, for example, the parent company acts as guarantor.”
Long-term suppliers
Initially, the company information is always linked to the creditworthiness of customers and prospects. But the importance of reliable and creditworthy suppliers cannot be underestimated.
“It is very important for AZ Sint-Blasius to know how a supplier is doing. If they have to make a sizeable investment before they can start a project with us, then we must of course be able to estimate whether that will work or not. Some projects run over several years. So, we enter into a long-term relationship with that supplier. Therefore, we must be able to trust that continuity is assured. Imagine that they suffer a financial setback and can no longer fulfil the agreements. I cannot bear to think about the impact that could have on AZ Sint-Blasius or, even worse, on our patients. It would jeopardise our own services.”
Imagine that the supplier suffers a financial setback and can no longer fulfil its agreements.
Evelien Boeckx
Head of Purchasing Department, AZ Sint-Blasius
Besides the credit report, Evelien and her team also look at the publications in the Appendix to the Belgian National Gazette. In addition, they have the complete list of suppliers screened again annually and enriched with additional data.
“We check in the articles of association who is authorised to sign a dossier. That is also an important point that you do not want to end up arguing about afterwards.”
“And during the screening, GraydonCreditsafe enriches the list with several codes and scores. We then supplement the same list with internal data and formulas to determine whether a supplier carries a high or low risk. We also assess the supplier on a range of other elements. How is the general cooperation going? Have there been any complaints? Is the invoicing and administration correct? Have there been stock breaks? Does the quality meet expectations? And so forth. Based on the total score, we determine the follow-up and plan more or fewer evaluation interviews.”
Peace of mind
The internal processes at AZ Sint-Blasius run as desired and Evelien does not immediately see any reason to adjust them.
“Through GraydonCreditsafe we can see what we want to know at a glance, but there is also enough data to look in more detail. Our way of working ensures efficient processes. And it also gives you peace of mind when you analyse your suppliers and know that you can rely on them for the long term.”