In today’s data-driven world, where Google and ChatGPT dominate our information searches, identifying the right suppliers remains a complex challenge. This is where ensun.io, a German startup founded in 2019 by two brothers, Chris and Benjamin Hill, comes in with its AI-powered supplier search engine, making it more accessible and efficient for businesses to find global suppliers.
Due to its high importance, finding these new suppliers has become a significant challenge for many companies. Rapid technological advancements, changing regulations (such as the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act), and increasing sustainability efforts often require finding new suppliers. In such situations, many companies quickly turn to Google, a search engine with an endless amount of data and information. But is searching for suppliers via Google still relevant today?
Discovering suppliers with AI
In recent years, new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) have opened up new possibilities. Processes have become automated, and workloads have been reduced. However, the supplier search has often remained unaffected. There’s a clear trend towards optimizing workflows with AI—a trend that will significantly impact supplier searches. To better understand this, it’s important to recognize the limitations of conventional methods and leverage the advantages of new technologies.
AI is often hailed as the biggest game-changer of recent years. Particularly in supplier searches, employing these technologies can offer a substantial competitive advantage. The Siegen-based startup ensun impressively demonstrates this with their supplier search engine. They have developed an automated system that captures the digital footprint of over 20 million suppliers through web crawling and text-based algorithms. This data is continuously updated and made searchable through intelligent mechanisms, significantly reducing the time required to find new suppliers.
Advantages over traditional search engines
In addition to innovative search functions, ensun offers other advantages compared to traditional search engines like Google. A key benefit is the neutral evaluation free from marketing influences. Let’s be honest: who hasn’t encountered the topic of SEO in their career? Probably no one. SEO can be a crucial success factor for many companies, especially in an increasingly digital world. But this is precisely where the problem lies, posing significant difficulties in supplier searches. Too many results are inaccurate, irrelevant, or simply unfindable.
This phenomenon was one of the main motivations for the young startup from Siegen. Co-founder Christopher Hill explained: “Over the years, we’ve discovered so many great companies that are not visible through conventional search engines. This is partly because the competition for their keywords is simply too high or because there is no internal marketing expertise. However, for many companies, they would have been suitable suppliers for important issues. This is where we wanted to make a difference.”
To address this problem, the two brothers developed a system that builds and makes searchable the digital footprint of every company, independent of all marketing factors. Today, the search engine offers free access to over 20 million supplier profiles worldwide and discovers new ones daily. Benjamin Hill, also co-founder and CEO, added: “The digital world has no boundaries today. Every day, new companies, websites, and news make their way onto the Internet. Intelligent solutions are needed to keep up with the ever-growing amount of data.”
Finding suppliers from traditional industrial needs to quantum technology
The range of topics ensun covers is as vast as the amount of data available on the internet. Unlike many traditional marketplace models, the founders of this search engine do not want to set artificial boundaries. “We receive search queries that are hardly or not at all covered by well-known platforms. Sometimes topics are searched for that we would never have believed existed,” explains Christopher Hill. Although this initially sounds bizarre, it can be easily explained. While suppliers for many well-known topics were previously sought, companies today face completely new challenges—problems where one is often unsure how they can be technologically solved.
The in-house developed AI system analyzes and interprets open-ended search inputs, displaying suitable companies as a result. This means that even questions, problems, or processes can be used as inputs to find new suppliers.
The future of this company’s journey remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: those looking to innovate in supplier search must engage with topics like artificial intelligence. The team at ensun aims to be part of the solution, fostering exciting supplier relationships in the future.
Read the orginal article: https://www.eu-startups.com/2024/07/germany-based-ensun-io-makes-ai-based-supplier-sourcing-accessible-to-everyone-sponsored/
