Verify your supplier list.
Start with a pilot on the suppliers you are onboarding now.
SSV/00 · Supplier onboarding
Check the plant is there before you onboard the supplier.
Supplier Site Verification looks at the declared address in recent imagery and measures the footprint, yard and buildings, so the declared area gets a first check before the audit.
The desk check
- Registry
- Screening
- Financials
- A look on a web map
With Supplier Site Verification
- GSD
- VHR ≤0.5 m
- Cadence
- Annual, per supplier
- Platform
- VHR satellite / aerial
- Spectral
- RGB
SSV/01 · The job today
Where the desk check runs out
The questionnaire comes back with a plant address and a floor area. You run the registry, the screening and the financials, and the address gets a look on a web map if the queue allows. Then the supplier goes into the file with those numbers as given. Nothing in the desk check tells you whether the building is there, or whether it is anywhere near the size the form says. The audit would show you, but it comes later and goes first to the biggest suppliers.
SSV/02 · Comparison
The onboarding check, step by step
| Step | The desk check | With Supplier Site Verification |
|---|---|---|
| 01Is anything at the address? | You paste the declared address into a web map and look at what comes up. The picture can be years old, and a street frontage tells you little about the plant behind it. | You get a dated image of the declared location from very-high-resolution imagery, with the sheet saying whether a plant stands there. |
| 02Does the area match the form? | The floor area on the questionnaire goes into the supplier file as written. | The sheet puts your declared area next to the measured footprint, so a gap shows before the first order. |
| 03What is on the site? | You guess from the map how many buildings there are and how much of the site is yard. | The sheet gives a building count and the yard area, measured from above. |
| Still yoursWhat each building is used for. Imagery cannot tell you that. | ||
| 04Which suppliers get an audit first? | The audit plan follows category and spend, and the rest wait their turn. | A flag marks the suppliers whose declared and measured area diverge, so those can move up the audit list. |
| 05The yearly review | The file is looked at again at recertification, usually on the supplier's own paperwork. | Each supplier gets a fresh sheet once a year, so the review has a new look at the site. |
| 06The supplier decision | You weigh financials, screening, references and the audit. | The sheet is one more input, with no verdict attached. |
| Still yoursWhether to onboard, the audit itself, and any conversation with the supplier about a flag. | ||
SSV/03 · What you get
What comes back for each supplier
- D-1
Verification sheet
One page per supplier
States whether a plant is at the declared address and lists the measured footprint, yard area and building count next to what the supplier declared. It serves the first three rows of the comparison and attaches to the supplier file.
Rows 01–03 - D-2
Portfolio run
Your supplier list
The same sheet for each supplier on your list, once a year. Send the list when you have onboarding in progress or a review coming up.
Row 05 - D-3
Flag
A note on the sheet
A line on the sheet when the measured footprint sits well outside the declared range. It feeds the audit plan. It is not a finding.
Row 04
SSV/04 · How it works
How it works
Before onboarding
Send the supplier name, the declared address and the declared area, for each supplier you are about to onboard or want to recheck.
Imagery pass
We pull recent very-high-resolution satellite or aerial imagery of the declared location.
Measure and confirm
The imagery is checked for a plant at the address, and its footprint, yard and buildings are measured.
Sheet to the file
You get the verification sheet per supplier, with any flag noted, to attach to the supplier file.
At the yearly review
The same suppliers are checked again, so each review has a current sheet to put against the last one.
SSV/05 · Limits
Limits
- L-01It sees the site, not the work
- Footprint, yard and building count are what imagery shows. What is made inside, how much of it, and whether the plant is compliant are outside what this can see.
- L-02Footprint is not floor area
- From above, a building shows its footprint. A multi-storey plant can have a floor area well above its footprint, and imagery cannot count the floors. A declared area that is larger than the footprint is a reason to ask, not a mismatch by itself.
- L-03Resolution floor
- At 0.5 m or finer, a pixel is about 20 inches across. Buildings and yards show clearly. Small outbuildings, thin sheds and detail inside the yard may not.
- L-04Clouds and the imagery date
- Optical imagery needs a clear pass, so a cloudy stretch can delay a sheet. The image is as recent as the last clear pass, and the sheet carries its date.
- L-05Annual, not continuous
- Each supplier is checked once a year, more often on request. A change at the plant between checks will not show until the next one.
- L-06A flag is not a verdict
- A flag means declared and measured area diverge. It needs a human follow-up. It never means fraud or non-compliance.
SSV/06 · Who it's for
Who it's for
Switch if
- You are a supplier risk analyst or manager in procurement checking a named supplier before onboarding
- Your questionnaire already asks for a plant address and an area
- You want to rank which suppliers an audit should reach first
Stick with the desk check and the audit if
- You need to know what a plant produces, how much, or whether it is compliant
- You need a supplier visited in person, for the contract or for a standard
- You want continuous monitoring of a supplier site
SSV/07 · FAQ
Questions before a pilot
Q1Does this replace a supplier audit?
No. It is a quick check that comes before one and helps decide who is visited first. The audit stays yours.
Q2Does a flag mean the supplier is lying?
No. It means declared and measured area sit well apart. It can come from a multi-storey building, a mix-up of site area and floor area, or a typo on the form. Someone has to ask.
Q3Does it tell us what is made inside the building?
No. Footprint, yard area and building count only.
Q4What if the supplier has several buildings on one site?
The sheet gives the building count and the total footprint. What each building is used for is not inferred.
Q5How do we check it against what we know?
Pick suppliers you have already visited or audited, send the declared addresses and areas without your notes, and put the sheets next to what the audit found.
Q6How current is the check?
Once a year per supplier, more often on request. Each sheet carries the date of the imagery behind it.
Q7What do you need from us?
The supplier name, the declared address and the declared area. Anything else you hold on the supplier stays with you.
Q8How is it priced?
Pricing is covered in the pilot conversation.