Table of contents
Small and mid-size electronics manufacturers, without the clout or budget of global giants, feel disruptions more acutely. But gaining deeper visibility doesn’t require Fortune 500 resources. It takes strategy.
What Is Supply Chain Visibility?
Supply chain visibility (SCV) is the ability to see and understand how materials, components, and products move through the supply chain, from raw material to end user. The primary goal is to know who and where your suppliers, and their suppliers, are located so you can quickly respond to regional disruptions, disasters, or geopolitical events.
Suppliers are typically grouped into tiers:
- Tier 1 suppliers are the companies you source from directly. For an electronics manufacturer, this is the Original Component Manufacturer (OCM).
- Tier 2 suppliers supply your Tier 1s. In electronics, this could be the wafer fab or a subassembly provider.
- Tier 3 and beyond supply Tier 2, they might include raw material producers, smelters, or chemical companies.
Historically, most electronics manufacturers only had visibility into Tier 1 suppliers, at best. But disruptions often originate deeper in the supply chain, so strategies to uncover and monitor those hidden layers became necessary.
Flex, a global EMS provider, went so far as to create supply chain control towers to consolidate all this into a single command center. They call it the Flex Pulse platform and use it to manage over a million SKUs across 16,000 suppliers.
But of course you're not Flex. Here’s some realistic methods smaller electronics manufacturers can use to build smarter, more transparent supply chains.
1. Get Your Data House in Order
No platform or tech can help if your data is a mess. Supply chain visibility, like all supply chain automation, depends on data that’s clean, current, and standardized.
Steps to get there:
- Harmonize master data across suppliers, parts, and SKUs
- Standardize formats using EDI, APIs, or integration tools
- Validate inputs regularly with supplier audits and internal reviews
Sloppy data doesn’t just create noise, it causes missed signals, bad forecasts, and costly delays. Clean data is your visibility backbone.
2. Map Your Supply Chain
I know, that sounds awful.
But visibility starts with understanding where your components come from and where vulnerabilities lie. We can make this reasonable by limiting the scope and using some simple automation.
Start with Country of Origin (COO)
Country of Origin (COO) is a realistic, accessible visibility metric. Because it is essential for tariff classification it is widely published, but not always simple to find. This will do for Tier 1 visibility.
Coming Soon: Country of Diffusion (COD)
Country of Diffusion (COD), defined as the location where the semiconductor wafer was fabricated, is emerging as a new requirement for Original Component Manufacturers (OCMs). As of April 2025, China officially adopted COD for tariff classification, so all OCMs need to publish this now. This is effectively Tier 2 visibility for the most important sub-tier material, the wafer. COD is not widely available yet from data sources, but stay tuned.
Use Import/Export Data for Mapping
Full Tier-2 and Tier-3 mapping is completely unrealistic for most small manufacturers, but if you have a super critical sole-source component it may be worth the couple of hours it will take to map the OCMs supply chain.
Super brief steps:
- Identify the fab. Start with the COO. Ask ChatGPT where the part is fabricated, you might get lucky. If no luck, then search Product Change Notices (PCNs), the fab is usually cited somewhere. Mouser is a great source of PCNs.
- Now use import/export data to/from the fab to figure out the supply chains. The best tool is Panjiva if you have the budget, ImportGenius is 2nd best and more reasonable.
- You're primarily looking for semiconductor test, and semiconductor packaging companies.
Intel has mapped over 90% of its supply chain down to the smelter just for conflict mineral compliance. That’s not a suggestion, just another example of the emphasis sophisticated companies put on visibility.
Supply Chain Visibility Providers
You don’t need a $10 million SAP implementation to gain control. Many, but not all, cloud-based supply chain tools provide COO data.
- Z2 Data - SCV is a primary strategic focus for Z2, they probably have the best multi-tier data available for electronic components.
- Cofactr - Cofactr provides COO data and combines a software sourcing platform with e3PL. This means you have instant visibility into not just the components supply chain, but also the current inventory and on order status in one consolidated platform.
Read More: How Cofactr Crushes Supply Chain Resilience
3. Use Technology for Early Warning
When disaster strikes, a race is on to determine impacted parts and the best course of action, which usually means buying up available inventory. On average it takes companies two weeks to figure out what to do. That's a very slow pace you can easily beat.
Assuming you've mapped your supply chain, all you need is the earliest possible warning. AI algorithms digest real-time signals (news, weather, port delays, supplier news) and pinpoint disruptions in seconds. If a 9.0 earthquake strikes the Malacca Strait, do you know which countries are impacted? AI does.
You can set this up in ChatGPT. Don't know how? Just ask ChatGPT how to set it up.
Read More: Electronics Supply Chain Monitoring on Autopilot
4. Collaborate with Suppliers
You can accomplish a lot with suppliers by just asking.A great time to ask is during the design-in phase. Many suppliers, and especially sub-tier suppliers, are reluctant to share data about their supply chains. Overcoming that requires:
- Clear, mutual expectations on data sharing
- Solid non-disclosure agreements
- Trust. Treat suppliers as you would have them treat you
- Performance incentives and agreements for timely communication
Toyota learned this the hard way after the 2011 Japan earthquake. They now maintain proactive Tier-2 and Tier-3 communication protocols and map supplier dependencies regularly.
Don’t assume your contract manufacturer has this handled. If you own the product, you own the risk.
Read More: Supplier Collaboration in HMLV Electronics Manufacturing
Summary
Improving supply chain visibility isn’t about doing everything, it’s about doing the right things.
Smaller electronics manufacturers can gain resilience by:
- Cleansing data
- Mapping suppliers
- Early warning
- Collaboration
McKinsey & Co. estimates supply chain disruptions lasting 30 days or longer occur every 3.7 years. You can't completely avoid these disruptions, but with some basic visibility in place you can avoid disrupting your business.
Want to make this easy? Schedule a free, no obligation Cofactr demo to see how we can help you automate price evaluation, component swaps, and much more.
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@graph": [
{
"@type": "Article",
"headline": "Scaling Hardware Startups with Procurement Automation",
"description": "This article explores how hardware startups can overcome procurement challenges by implementing automation. It covers core automation components like BOM matching, supplier onboarding, and automated purchase orders, as well as a step-by-step roadmap, technology stack recommendations, and pitfalls to avoid.",
"author": {
"@type": "Person",
"name": "Everett Frank",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.linkedin.com/in/everettfrank"
]
},
"publisher": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Cofactr",
"logo": {
"@type": "ImageObject",
"url": "https://cofactr.com/logo.png"
}
},
"url": "https://www.cofactr.com/blog/scaling-hardware-startups-with-procurement-automation",
"identifier": "scaling-hardware-startups-with-procurement-automation",
"datePublished": "2025-08-12T09:00:00-04:00",
"dateModified": "2025-08-12T09:00:00-04:00",
"mainEntityOfPage": {
"@type": "WebPage",
"@id": "https://www.cofactr.com/blog/scaling-hardware-startups-with-procurement-automation"
},
"image": {
"@type": "ImageObject",
"url": "https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/66a06d79a0ed258e01f0b0c6/688a88656e0ec0b5efa45148_Supply%20Chain%20Visibility-p-1600.png",
"width": 1200,
"height": 630
},
"isPartOf": {
"@type": "Blog",
"name": "Cofactr Blog",
"url": "https://www.cofactr.com/blog"
},
"about": [
{ "@type": "Thing", "name": "BOM – Bill of Materials; list of raw materials, parts, and assemblies needed for a product." },
{ "@type": "Thing", "name": "Maverick Spend – Purchases made outside of approved procurement channels." },
{ "@type": "Thing", "name": "e3PL – electronics Third-Party Logistics; a warehouse 3PL with specialized capabilities for handling electronic components." },
{ "@type": "Thing", "name": "ESD – Electrostatic Discharge; protection standards for electronics manufacturing." },
{ "@type": "Thing", "name": "S2P – Source-to-Pay; process from sourcing to invoice payment." },
{ "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cycle Time – Time from process initiation to completion." }
],
"keywords": "procurement automation, hardware startups, BOM management",
"wordCount": 1800,
"timeRequired": "PT8M",
"inLanguage": "en"
},
{
"@type": "FAQPage",
"mainEntity": [
{
"@type": "Question",
"name": "What is a Bill of Materials (BOM) and why does it matter in procurement?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "A BOM is a complete list of raw materials, parts, and assemblies required to manufacture a product. In procurement automation, BOM integration allows instant generation of purchase orders without manual data re-entry."
}
},
{
"@type": "Question",
"name": "What does “Maverick Spend” mean?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "Maverick spend refers to purchases made outside of approved procurement processes, often leading to higher costs and compliance issues. Automation can enforce purchasing policies and preferred supplier use."
}
},
{
"@type": "Question",
"name": "How does three-way invoice matching work?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "It compares the purchase order, goods receipt, and supplier invoice to ensure accuracy before payment. This reduces overpayment risk and disputes."
}
},
{
"@type": "Question",
"name": "What is a 3PL and how does it help hardware startups?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "A Third-Party Logistics (3PL) provider handles warehousing, fulfillment, and sometimes procurement logistics, enabling startups to scale without building their own logistics infrastructure."
}
},
{
"@type": "Question",
"name": "What compliance standards are relevant for electronics manufacturing?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "Common standards include ESD (Electrostatic Discharge), MSL (Moisture Sensitivity Level), ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations), and AS6081 (Counterfeit Electronic Parts Avoidance)."
}
},
{
"@type": "Question",
"name": "How soon can a hardware startup see ROI from procurement automation?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "Many startups see measurable savings in cycle time, cost, and labor within 3–6 months, especially when targeting high-volume or high-complexity categories first."
}
},
{
"@type": "Question",
"name": "What is Source-to-Pay (S2P)?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "S2P is the full process from sourcing suppliers to paying invoices. For hardware startups, S2P systems can integrate sourcing, contract management, purchasing, and payment workflows into one platform."
}
}
]
}
]
}
</script>