In Prewave, Tier-N refers to the deeper layers of a company's supply chain beyond direct suppliers (Tier-1). It represents indirect suppliers that may impact the business, even if they are not directly connected to the company.
Understanding Tier-N
Tier-1 vs. Tier-N
Tier-1 Suppliers: Direct suppliers that a company has a contractual relationship with
Tier-N Suppliers: Indirect suppliers further down the supply chain (Tier-2, Tier-3, and beyond). These can be raw material providers, sub-contractors, or component manufacturers
You have the possibility within the Feed tab to separate the view between Tier-1 and Tier-N alerts by selecting one of the tabs available.
Tier-N Alerts
More complex to process because they require mapping large, interconnected supplier networks.
Alerts at this level assess risks affecting lower-tier suppliers that could have a cascading impact on the company's supply chain.
Example: A fire at a semiconductor factory (Tier-3 supplier) might not directly affect a company but could cause delays for Tier-2 and Tier-1 suppliers, eventually disrupting production.
Here is an example of a Tier-N alert:
In this example you can see that the target affected is a Tier-3+ supplier but may potentially affect the Tier-1 supplier.
Why Tier-N Monitoring Matters
Identifies hidden risks deep in the supply chain.
Prepares companies for disruptions before they affect direct suppliers.
Enhances supply chain resilience by providing early warnings on potential upstream issues.
How to set-up Tier-N mapping
You can activate Tier-N mapping within the Network Tab on a collection. The collection has to be added to “My collections” in order to set a check mark at “Enable Tier-N Suppliers” at the right hand side.
After enabling the Tier-N Suppliers feature, some new information will populate in the right column below the delivery settings.
You can then customize the settings and personalize it for your needs. With enabling the Tier-N Supplier functionality, you will also have further filter options at the filter on the left hand side. Here you can then add different tier levels you want to see in the tree view.
A collection that has Tier-N Suppliers enabled, will have a little matrix symbol added to its name.
In case you want to look at a specific supplier, you can also go to their target profile and navigate to the supplier tab.
Here you have the possibility to filter based on different tiers, HS codes and shipments for example.