How CONNEX Marketplace Powers Large Enterprise Growth
Manufacturers and major prime contractors across the nation are taking essential steps to strengthen their U.S. supply chains by using CONNEX Marketplace, the industry’s leading platform connecting buyers with suppliers across all sectors.
The value for large firms: Large manufacturers, prime contractors and original equipment manufacturers face complex supply chain challenges, including single-source dependencies, strict compliance requirements and large-scale domestic sourcing demands.
- CONNEX Marketplace provides robust enterprise tools and managed services to harden supply chains, reduce single-source vulnerabilities, expand supplier diversity and evaluate total economic cost of goods sold.
How it works: While enterprise buyers can use self-serve search tools independently, CONNEX Managed Services offloads the heavy lifting. Dedicated experts actively assist in discovering, prescreening and qualifying potential suppliers to accelerate time to qualified quotes while saving valuable internal resources.
- Resources: Dedicated specialists leverage a database of over 168,000 U.S. manufacturers and a nationwide partner network of more than 300 to discover, evaluate and qualify suppliers.
- Enterprise sourcing: CONNEX program specialists broadcast national RFIs, RFQs and RFPs (anonymously if needed), prescreen suppliers, gather NDAs and set up buyer–supplier interviews to deliver vetted, qualified quotes faster.
- Projects: Whether it’s a small pilot project or an enterprise-wide risk management solution, CONNEX provides the right resources and accountability to ensure each project achieves its desired outcome.
Time savings and risk mitigation: Large firms are leveraging CONNEX-managed services to solve critical initiatives like multitier risk mapping and mitigation, second-source qualification, automated compliance watches and onshoring discovery.
The big picture: CONNEX enables enterprise buyers to respond swiftly to shifting market demand and supply disruptions, increasing their resilience and strengthening American manufacturing as high costs continue to weigh on firms throughout the country.
- Though manufacturers in the U.S. are becoming more optimistic, increased raw material costs remained manufacturers’ top business challenge for the second consecutive quarter in Q3 2026, according to the NAM Manufacturers’ Outlook Survey.
Northrop Grumman’s success: Major defense contractor Northrop Grumman used CONNEX Marketplace to address critical sourcing requirements and mitigate risks to its high-value defense initiatives.
- CONNEX identified 26 matching suppliers, shortlisted 16 and discovered 11 previously unknown capable partners, ensuring a multimillion-dollar contract was no longer at risk.
- “CONNEX eliminated all the homework for us and ensured that we only met with qualified and capable suppliers, which saved us significant time,” said Northrop Grumman SCM Category Manager William Loutensock.
The last word: “CONNEX offers vital tools for U.S. manufacturers of all sizes to address supply chain, workforce, capital and innovation challenges. Utilizing CONNEX Marketplace is a key step to mitigating risk, solving supply chain hurdles and connecting with resources to grow,” said CONNEX CEO Alan Davis.
