Spreadsheets and email still govern supplier registration as fraud exposure mounts

HICX oversees two million suppliers across clients including Johnson & Johnson and Mondelez. On Tuesday, the supplier management platform launched a tool designed to fix what its CEO calls the moment where enterprises “drop the ball and get off on the wrong foot.”

The problem isn’t exotic. Supplier data still arrives through emails and spreadsheets at many large enterprises. No centralised process. No validation. No governance until weeks into the relationship—by which point compliance risks have already taken root.

That’s the gap HICX Supplier Registration targets.

The new solution lets procurement and compliance teams capture supplier information through a standardised process from day one, replacing what Dafydd Llewellyn, HICX’s chief executive, describes as fragmented systems that create “longer onboarding cycles, increased fraud exposure, compliance risk and an ongoing burden of manual correction.”

“We’re enabling enterprises to introduce governance at the front door,” Llewellyn said. “Creating trusted supplier data starts at the moment of registration, yet this is where many organisations drop the ball and get off on the wrong foot.”

The timing matters. EU supply chain due diligence obligations are tightening. Geopolitical disruption continues reshaping global procurement. And according to PwC’s Global Compliance Survey 2025, 82% of organisations plan to invest in technology to automate compliance activities.

Yet 63% identify data fragmentation as the primary barrier preventing that investment from delivering results.

There’s the tension. Enterprises know they need better compliance infrastructure. They’re prepared to spend. But fragmented supplier data—often the result of inconsistent registration processes—undermines the entire effort before it starts.

HICX’s answer: a supplier-facing registration experience that validates data in real time, embeds compliance checks from the outset, and operates without requiring full integration into existing ERP systems. The platform is designed for global enterprises managing thousands of suppliers across highly regulated sectors including process manufacturing, oil and gas, and consumer goods.

Jeremy Reeves, senior vice president of product at HICX, was blunt about the stakes. “In today’s global economy, enterprises managing thousands of suppliers across the globe cannot afford to treat registration as an administrative formality,” he said. “HICX Supplier Registration makes governance the default, not the exception and it does so without the implementation burden organisations have come to expect.”

The distinction HICX emphasises: it doesn’t replace existing systems. Instead, the platform operates independently across an enterprise’s current infrastructure—procurement suites, ERPs, point risk solutions—strengthening how they work together rather than demanding a wholesale replacement.

That approach reflects a broader reality taking hold in enterprise software. Organisations don’t want another massive implementation project. They want tools that deliver governance without the 18-month integration timeline.

The PwC survey data reveals the prize for those who solve the data fragmentation problem: faster decision-making and greater confidence in compliance posture. But the majority haven’t reached that point yet. Poor data quality at the registration stage creates a cascading effect—errors compound, compliance gaps widen, and operational efficiency suffers under the weight of manual corrections.

HICX Supplier Registration marks the first phase of a broader platform expansion. Additional solutions are scheduled for release in Q2 and Q3 2026, extending governance across what the company describes as “the full supplier lifecycle.”

The current release complements existing supplier performance management capabilities already within HICX’s platform, creating what the company positions as an integrated approach from initial registration through ongoing oversight.

For enterprises in highly regulated industries, the proposition is straightforward: establish trusted, compliant supplier records from the first interaction, rather than attempting to fix data quality issues months into a relationship.

“Supplier Registration enables high-quality supplier data capture quickly, reducing operational burden, and laying the foundation for better supplier management,” Llewellyn added.

The solution arrives as regulatory pressure intensifies across global supply chains. Emerging EU obligations around supply chain due diligence require enterprises to demonstrate not just compliance, but provable, auditable supplier data. That’s difficult when foundational records were captured through unstructured channels.

HICX positions itself against two categories of incumbent solutions: procurement suites that bundle registration as one feature among many, and ERP systems where supplier data management competes with broader enterprise resource planning functions. The company’s pitch centres on purpose-built functionality for supplier governance without the complexity of full ERP deployment.

Whether that positioning resonates will depend partly on how enterprises weigh implementation burden against integration depth. HICX’s client roster—Baker Hughes and EDF Energy alongside Johnson & Johnson and Mondelez—suggests traction in sectors where supplier risk carries significant operational and regulatory consequences.

The platform currently manages relationships with over two million suppliers across its enterprise client base. That scale creates network effects around data validation and compliance benchmarking, though HICX hasn’t disclosed specific metrics on fraud prevention or compliance violation reduction.

What’s clear from the PwC survey findings: the gap between compliance ambition and execution remains wide. Technology investment is climbing, but fragmented data architecture undermines ROI. Registration represents the earliest opportunity to close that gap.

For procurement leaders, the calculation is relatively simple. Fix data quality at the front door, or spend the next 12 months correcting records that should never have entered the system in their current state.

HICX is betting that enterprises will increasingly choose the former. The Q2 and Q3 2026 roadmap suggests the company sees supplier registration as the entry point to a more comprehensive governance platform, not a standalone product.

By then, regulatory requirements will likely be tighter still. And the enterprises still relying on spreadsheets for supplier onboarding will face even steeper compliance exposure.