One number. Nearly a month to find it.

The problem wasn’t missing data. It was data that didn’t agree with itself.

In this episode of The Data Edge, Stephanie Wiechers breaks down why messy supplier and invoice data quietly undermines procurement decisions, and how to build a cost baseline you can actually trust.

Because better decisions don’t start with another dashboard. They start with better data.

#TheDataEdge #Procurement #DataManagement #FacilitiesManagement #AI

Somewhere in your contract, money may be hiding—and even the person managing it might not know where to find it.

In this episode of The Data Edge, PearStop founder and managing director Stephanie Wiechers explores how poor invoice visibility can quietly reduce contract profitability across facilities management, construction and infrastructure businesses.

Stephanie introduces “Mark,” an experienced contract manager overseeing a cleaning contract across 40 sites. Although his supplier totals and monthly reports appeared correct, they failed to reveal the real problem: identical consumables being purchased from different suppliers at different prices for more than a year.

The issue was not fraud, negligence or bad management. It was simply hidden inside thousands of invoice line items that nobody had the time or tools to compare properly.

This episode explains why supplier-level reporting is often insufficient, how invoice line-item data can expose cost leakage, and why recurring inefficiencies can be more damaging than one visibly bad month.

Stephanie also shares a practical three-step invoice audit that contract managers, procurement teams and FM professionals can carry out immediately.

Discover how better spend visibility, invoice data management and supplier price comparison can help protect margins and improve contract performance.

Learn more about PearStop and access free resources through the links below.

A supplier calls ahead of a contract renewal and asks for a price increase. Before responding, the procurement team needs one simple figure: how much are we currently spending with this supplier across every site, service and contract?

It takes them almost a month to find the answer.

In this episode of The Data Edge, Stephanie Wiechers, CEO of Pearstop, explains why procurement teams across facilities management, construction and infrastructure struggle to produce reliable spend data, even when all the information technically exists.

The problem is rarely a lack of data. It is that supplier names, invoice descriptions, contracts, quotes and spreadsheets do not agree with one another.

Stephanie breaks down a practical four-step process for turning fragmented procurement information into a trusted cost baseline:

1. Clean and consolidate duplicate supplier records.

2. Build a practical procurement spend taxonomy.

3. Categorise spend from the top down.

4. Use contextual data to interpret unclear invoice lines.

You will also learn why dashboards cannot solve poor data quality, why excessive categorisation causes projects to collapse, and how organising 95% of spend confidently is often more valuable than chasing unreliable perfection.

With clean procurement data, contract renewals become faster, supplier negotiations become more informed, and hidden costs such as fuel surcharges, duplicate suppliers and inconsistent pricing become easier to identify.

Pearstop helps procurement teams transform messy invoices, quotes and spreadsheets into structured, decision-ready spend intelligence.

Subscribe to The Data Edge for practical insights on procurement data, spend analysis, supplier management and AI-powered data transformation.

#Procurement #SpendAnalysis #SupplierManagement #FacilitiesManagement #ConstructionData #ProcurementTechnology #DataQuality #CostReduction #SpendManagement #Pearstop

In this episode of The Data Edge by Pearstop, Stephanie Wiechers takes facilities management, construction and infrastructure teams inside the hidden world of procurement data. From supplier totals to invoice lines, this episode breaks down why “clean data” is rarely as clean as it looks, and how line-by-line spend visibility can help businesses protect margins, reduce waste and make smarter procurement decisions.

Using a real-world facilities example, Stephanie explains how everyday site purchases like toilet cleaner, paper products, PPE, transport costs, packaging and fuel surcharges can reveal major gaps in spend control. For CFOs, procurement leaders and operations teams, this episode shows how structured procurement data can support supplier benchmarking, contract compliance, tender preparation and better cost management across the UK, Netherlands, France and global facilities markets.

If your organisation manages multiple sites, suppliers, invoices or cost centres, this episode will help you understand what is really happening inside your procurement data and why better data quality creates better commercial decisions.

Learn more about Pearstop and how better procurement data can give your business its edge.

procurement data, facilities management, construction procurement, infrastructure data, invoice line analysis, spend visibility, supplier benchmarking, data quality, fuel surcharges, procurement software, Pearstop, The Data Edge podcast.

This episode talks about another very relevant and difficult hurdle in the world of procurement and data - secret costs and hidden billings. Listen to the Data Edge every Thursday to stay informed on the latest data updates and more!

Back to the Data Edge - a podcast for those interested in understanding the Data and AI world. In today's episode we talk about waste management, data and the world of procurement with an interesting and unexpected anecdote that will grip our listeners. Tune in for an educative and insightful conversation between Stephanie, CEO at Pearstop and Mike from SLS!

The conversation delves into the challenges of reading and utilizing spend data, highlighting the importance of data structuring and classification for effective analysis. It emphasizes the shift in data classification and the benefits of structured data for procurement and finance teams.

Whether you're a procurement manager, finance lead, or operations director dealing with messy invoice data, unstructured spend, or poor visibility across suppliers and categories — this episode covers why spend data classification is the foundation of any serious spend analytics programme.

Takeaways

• Spend data analysis requires structured and classified data for effective utilization.
• The shift in data classification has enabled scalable and accurate data processing.
• Clean, classified spend data gives procurement and finance teams the visibility to negotiate better, cut waste, and make faster decisions.

Chapters

• 00:00 Introduction to Spend Data Analysis
• 09:33 Data Structuring and Classification
• 15:41 Conclusion and Call to Action

Keywords: spend data analysis, procurement data classification, spend analytics, UNSPSC classification, invoice data, procurement visibility, spend management, facilities management procurement, construction procurement, finance data quality

The conversation explores the use of data in facilities management and the challenges of collecting, managing, and utilizing data effectively. It delves into the role of AI in data analysis and decision-making, as well as the importance of clean and structured data for creating measurable value. The conversation also highlights the need to empower people through technology and attract the younger generation to the facilities management industry.

Takeaways

• Data collection and management are crucial for effective decision-making and creating measurable value.
• Empowering people through technology and attracting the younger generation to the facilities management industry are key focus areas.

Chapters

• 00:00 The Role of Data in Facilities Management
• 11:31 Types of Data and Business Impact
• 17:04 Empowering People and Attracting the Younger Generation

In conversation with SPIE Netherlands about how they improved the quality of their asset data. Our guest is the amazing Martijn van Balkom – passionate, smart, and guaranteed to teach you something new today!

This episode provides insights into the challenges and opportunities surrounding asset data management. It highlights the importance of data quality, the impact of AI technology, and the role of asset data in advising and optimising maintenance strategies.

Unlocking Data Quality in Manufacturing and Procurement with Jonas Hauswurz"In this episode, Stephanie Wiechers chats with Jonas Hauswurz, founder of Neomir, about the real issues behind data quality problems in manufacturing and procurement. Discover practical use cases, how to identify critical data leaks, and the importance of focusing on operational teams rather than just executives.Key

Topics:

• The distinction between data problems and data quality issues
• How Neomir's software detects bad data at scale and automates resolutions
• The significance of rules in data validation, e.g., ensuring cars always have four wheels
• Practical applications in manufacturing, procurement, and asset management
• The challenge of tying data quality to measurable ROI and cost savings
• The different approaches to data quality: identification vs. pre-filling and machine learning
• Why operational teams often detect data issues before management does
• Strategies for engaging ground-level staff to improve data quality

Timestamps:

00:00 - The difference between data issues and data quality flaws

00:25 - Why data quality is often misunderstood in organizations

00:55 - How Neomir's software identifies and automates fixing bad data

01:20 - Practical examples in manufacturing and asset management

03:12 - Creating rules for data validation with AI assistance

04:29 - Common data errors in manufacturing, such as bill of materials inaccuracies

05:15 - Propagation of data checks through entire supply chains

07:28 - The role of data quality in cost savings and strategic decision-making

08:23 - Indirect effects of data quality on financial performance

09:58 - Approaches to measuring ROI for data quality initiatives

11:03 - Advantages of transparency and rough ROI estimates over precise calculations

13:23 - Engaging operational teams for better data insights

15:45 - How management often underestimates data issues until front-line staff reveal them

16:24 - The importance of targeting conversations at data specialists and operational staff

18:05 - Closing thoughts and how to connect with Jonas for manufacturing and procurement data challenges

Resources & Links:

• Stephanie Wiechers - LinkedIn
• Jonas Hauswurz - LinkedIn