Looking into a supplier from afar
The supplier says all is well. What do the records say?
A buyer cannot visit a factory this quarter. Public filings, shipping notices and a partner's photos fill part of the gap.
Humiq / Worked example · Procurement teams · analysts
A fictional scenario that shows how the workspace is meant to be used. People, places and figures are made up.
The question
A small importer depends on one parts maker overseas. Deliveries slip, and the supplier's emails stay upbeat. Travel is not possible this quarter. The buyer wants a calmer picture than rumours from a trade chat.
The research question is narrow: has the plant reduced output since summer? The limits exclude anything about individual workers and anything obtained from people without their agreement.
Evidence with a paper trail
The team attaches the supplier's own public filings as a dataset, port notices about the shipping line, and photos sent by a logistics partner who agreed to their use. Every item records when the source itself was dated.
Two spreadsheets are hashed in the browser. Their text is kept locally so the assistant can read it; nothing is uploaded.
Findings that point at their sources
The assistant pulls the sentences that mention output and lead times and groups them. One theme rests on a single item, and the note says so: a reviewer may want a second source before accepting it.
The buyer writes the final findings in plain words, each with references, and marks one as unresolved instead of guessing.
A brief the finance team can trust
The exported brief lists every source with its type, date and fingerprint. The buyer anchors it, and the finance lead signs off after checking the filings. Six months later, when the contract is renegotiated, the team can show exactly what was known and when.