Does this supplier already have a record?

Duplicate supplier records: two names, a split purchase history

One department orders from a supplier recorded under its full name, and another created a record with the short name. Both carry the same VAT number and different addresses. Purchases land in two records, so in negotiations the company sees half of its spend, and a volume-based discount is lost.

The comparison shows both names, the identifier and the addresses, and the orders assigned to each record. A shared VAT number is a reason to look at the pair, and you still need to confirm that it was entered correctly and what the different addresses mean: one may be the head office, the other a warehouse. Once the redundant entry is confirmed, the next person who types the short name at registration will see the existing record and will not create a third.

Merging records with an order history needs a decision on what happens to the older entry's documents. The automation prepares the pair with the reasons and does not merge records by itself.

What duplicate supplier detection costs and when it pays back

The count covers the work around each case: searching, reading, writing and handing over. What remains is the time to check the result, 30% of today's work in the scenario. Before the quote we measure both times on 20 to 100 cases the team has already handled, in a free test that takes 5 working days.

A bigger gain than the minutes at registration is a full picture of purchases from one supplier. When spend is split across two records, the company negotiates a discount on half the volume and does not see how much it really buys. We count that effect separately, on one year of data.

First check the controls in your current system

Purchasing systems often check similar names and tax identifiers when a supplier is created and offer a function to merge duplicates. If these features already help find the right record, it is enough to improve how registration works, for example by requiring the VAT number before the name. An automation makes sense when duplicates already have an order history in several systems and sorting them out means pulling data together from different places. When collecting a new supplier's documents takes the most time, the agent for supplier documents fits better.

Where to start

The first scope covers the records of one purchasing group. On known pairs we check whether the comparison speeds up the decision. We build this kind of system as part of our AI automations. For the free process review, a description of one case from the last few weeks and the tools it went through is enough. You do not need to send confidential documents, and you receive a written plan within 2 working days.