Panjiva is a new venture whose mission is to make it easier for companies of all sizes to do business across borders. As a first step, we are helping apparel companies identify which overseas suppliers they can trust. Our approach to this task is unique: we leverage a wide variety of quality data sources to rate apparel suppliers around the globe.

There are a lot of supplier directories out there. However, those directories only contain information provided by the suppliers themselves (and, on occasion, third-party information on credit-worthiness). That information is not particularly useful in helping customers to distinguish between good and bad suppliers. Panjiva maintains a directory that supplements supplier-provided information with Panjiva Ratings. Each supplier receives a Panjiva Rating between 1 and 100. Behind this rating is a detailed profile that evaluates suppliers along dimensions that are important to our customers.

Search for a supplier that interests you either by expertise, country of origin, or name. Your search parameters will produce a list of suppliers from which to choose. From these suppliers, click on the supplier name that best fits your needs. Within the supplier profile, click on the “Purchase Profile” button and follow the instructions from there.

Visit our subscription page, or contact a Panjiva account executive.

Panjiva rates each supplier along three key dimensions: Business Basics, U.S. Track Record, and Standards Compliance. Panjiva also makes it possible for buyers to rate suppliers using the Panjiva platform.

The "Business Basics" section of the Supplier Scorecard helps you assess whether a company is legitimate and worthy of your consideration as a potential partner. Included in "business basics" is information on whether a company has registered with authorities, as well as an assessment of the trading environment in the supplier's country.

Using government and third-party data, Panjiva assesses the amount of experience a supplier has serving the U.S. market, and the loyalty that a supplier's customers have demonstrated.

The "Standards Compliance" section of the Supplier Scorecard documents whether a supplier has been certified as meeting international standards for quality management, respect for the environment, and social responsibility.

• Contact information We make all contact info available to subscribers, so that they can directly contact suppliers
• Areas of expertise Panjiva tells you which products a supplier has shipped, which materials it has used, which techniques it has employed, and whether it has produced men’s apparel, women’s apparel, or both.
• Caliber of customers Panjiva tells you which types of customers a supplier has served: premium, mass, discount, and/or niche customers.

Yes. Buyers can rate suppliers with whom they have done business. After a buyer rates a supplier, Panjiva verifies that that the two have actually done business together. After verification, the buyer's rating becomes part of the supplier's profile. As part of our verification process, the buyer's identity will be revealed to the supplier. However, the buyer's identity will not appear on the Panjiva website and will never be shared with anyone else.

Buyer feedback can only be viewed by buyers who have provided feedback on their suppliers.

Panjiva takes a supplier's ratings along each of the key dimensions, weights the ratings to account for the fact that some dimensions are more important than others, and calculates an overall Panjiva Rating.

Buyer ratings. We believe that customer satisfaction is the ultimate measure of a supplier's caliber.

Panjiva leverages several hundred data sources. For example:

• International Oeko-Tex Association
• Social Accountability International
• Worldwide Responsible Apparel Production (WRAP)
• Fifty-five ISO 9001 auditing firms
• Forty-six ISO 14001 auditing firms
• Forty-seven OHSAS 18001 auditing firms
• Two GB/T 18885 auditing firms
• United States Department of Homeland Security
• Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China
• General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China

No.

Absolutely not.

No. Buyers should use Panjiva as a starting point. Find a handful of suppliers that appear interesting and make contact. See which ones inspire you with confidence. Once you feel comfortable with a given supplier, consider starting with a small order to test and build your relationship with the supplier.

New York City and Cambridge, MA. We also have a presence in Shanghai and India.

Many millions of years ago, all of the world's continents were joined together as a single super-continent. Scientists call this super-continent "Pangaea" (pronounced Pan-JEE-ah). "Panjiva" is simply a twist on "Pangaea." The Panjiva team likes to think that it's bringing the continents—or at least the people on them—close together.

Panjiva was founded by Josh Green and Jim Psota.

• Josh Green conceived of the Panjiva solution in 2005 after seeing first-hand just how difficult it is to find good overseas suppliers. Josh is a veteran of The Boston Consulting Group and has masters degrees from Harvard's JFK School of Government and Harvard Business School, where he graduated as a Baker Scholar.
• Jim Psota is a veteran entrepreneur and is responsible for Panjiva's technical direction and product development. Jim has a masters degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and did research at Caltech and Intel Research. While acting as Panjiva's technology lead, Jim is pursuing doctoral work in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT.

Josh and Jim continue to serve as CEO and CTO of Panjiva and are pleased to lead an incredibly talented team.