Involving suppliers early (ISE) is the process of assessing the reaction of potential suppliers to an identified need. ISE can reveal the prevailing attitudes and solutions in the market as a whole and contribute to a more effective requirement that is well aligned with the market, improving the likelihood that the desired outcome will be achieved, and can also elicit alternative approaches and innovative solutions.
ISE provides supplier perspectives at the earliest stage of the purchasing process. While it ordinarily is directed at groups of suppliers to get a variety of inputs, individual suppliers can also be targeted for input. This process is for information gathering exclusively; it is not used for supplier selection or proposal evaluation, and there are no commitments made on either side.
