How to become a Merck supplier (and what its supplier diversity program actually asks for)

Merck buys from a lot of small businesses. The company reports spending more than 10% of its purchasing budget with minority-, women-, veteran-, LGBTQ+-, disability-owned and small business enterprises. For a Fortune 100 pharmaceutical company with a global supply chain, 10% of the spend is real money, and it's the reason a diverse business owner should take the registration seriously rather than treating it as a long shot.

The catch is that registering is the easy part. Getting a buyer to call you is the hard part. This guide covers both: how to actually get into Merck's system, what its economic inclusion program looks for, and the steps that turn a database entry into a conversation.

What Merck calls it now

If you're searching for "Merck supplier diversity program," you'll land on pages branded as economic inclusion and small business development. That wording is deliberate. Like a number of large corporations through 2025, Merck has leaned into "economic inclusion" language rather than "supplier diversity" or "DEI" branding. The substance has stayed put: Merck still tracks spend with diverse-owned firms, still partners with the national certification councils, and still runs development programs for diverse suppliers. The name on the door changed more than the program behind it. If a recruiter or buyer references "economic inclusion," that's the same team.

What Merck buys

Before you register, check that you actually fit a category Merck purchases. Merck organizes its spend into broad areas, and the list is wider than people assume for a drug company:

• Research and development: laboratory supplies and equipment, discovery and preclinical services, clinical trial services, imaging, medical equipment
• Direct manufacturing: large- and small-molecule ingredients, active pharmaceutical ingredients, primary packaging components
• Technology: cloud, IT hardware and services, software, telecommunications
• Marketing: advertising, market research and data analytics, marketing operations, media and communications
• Corporate services: HR, legal support, financial services, professional advisory, business process outsourcing
• Site services: facility management, environmental and waste management, maintenance, office supplies
• Energy and logistics: transportation, warehousing and distribution, renewable energy
• Capital, travel and operations: engineering and construction, automation, fleet, meetings and events

You don't need to make pills to sell to Merck. A staffing firm, a data analytics shop, a logistics provider, or a facilities contractor all fit somewhere in that list. Find your category first; it tells you which buyer you're trying to reach.

How registration actually works

Merck runs supplier registration through a dedicated portal at msd.quantumsds.com (Merck operates as MSD outside the US and Canada, which is why you'll see "msd" in the URLs). The registration itself is a profile-builder: you enter your business details, upload files that show your capabilities, and confirm you meet Merck's proof-of-certification requirements if you're registering as a diverse supplier.

A few things to get right:

1. Build the profile completely. Buyers search this database during market research. A half-filled entry with no capability statement and no NAICS-relevant keywords is invisible. Spell out exactly what you do and which Merck spend category you map to.
2. Have your certification proof ready to upload. If you're claiming diverse-supplier status, Merck wants the certificate, not your word for it. More on which certifications below.
3. Expect a confirmation email, then quiet. Merck confirms registration by email and says it will contact you if there's a question or a matching opportunity. That's standard. Registration does not get you a contract.

Read Merck's own disclaimer carefully, because it sets expectations honestly. Registering in the supplier database does not certify you as an approved or qualified Merck supplier, does not guarantee a contract, does not obligate Merck to send you a request for quotation, and does not by itself put you in the running to bid. It puts your name where a buyer can find it. The rest is on you.

Suppliers who do win work transact through the SAP Business Network, with sourcing run in Ariba. Once you're awarded a first purchase order, Merck issues a Trading Relationship Request to set up your account. Supplier help for that side lives at suppliers.msd.com. You don't touch any of that until there's actual business; don't get ahead of yourself.

Which certifications carry weight

Merck doesn't publish a line-item list of accepted certifications, but it works with the national third-party councils, and those are the credentials that let you register as a diverse supplier with proof a corporate buyer will accept. If you're pursuing Merck specifically, the certifications that matter are the same five that anchor most Fortune 500 programs:

• NMSDC (National Minority Supplier Development Council) for minority-owned businesses, MBE
• WBENC (Women's Business Enterprise National Council) for women-owned businesses, WBE
• NGLCC (National LGBT Chamber of Commerce) for LGBTQ+-owned businesses, LGBTBE
• NaVOBA / NVBDC for veteran- and service-disabled-veteran-owned businesses
• Disability:IN for disability-owned businesses, DOBE

A self-attested status won't clear Merck's proof requirement. A third-party certification will, and it's also what gets you into the council events and matchmaker sessions where Merck buyers actually show up. If you're not certified yet, that's the prerequisite to fix first. Our corporate program directory maps which corporations recognize which certifications, so you can see where a given credential opens the most doors before you spend the time and fee on it.

The programs that get you past the database

This is where Merck is more interesting than a typical registration portal. The company runs development programs aimed specifically at diverse suppliers, and these are the on-ramps that turn a cold profile into a relationship:

• The Economic Inclusion Virtual Lab runs monthly sessions where small business owners connect with Merck supply chain professionals, prime suppliers, and advocacy organizations. This is the lowest-friction way to put a face to your business in front of someone inside Merck's supply chain.
• The Merck Drexel Advanced Leadership Program for Diverse Suppliers, run with Drexel University, is a more selective development program for diverse business owners and executives, focused on networks, business acumen, and leadership.
• A second-tier (Tier 2) program routes diverse spend through Merck's prime suppliers. If you can't win a direct Merck contract yet, becoming a subcontractor to one of Merck's existing primes counts toward Merck's diversity numbers and is often an easier first door.

The Tier 2 path deserves a second look if you're small. Landing a direct contract with a Fortune 100 buyer is hard when you have no past performance with them. Subcontracting to a company that already sells to Merck is a faster way in, and it's exactly what the second-tier program is built to encourage.

A realistic on-ramp

Here's the order that works:

1. Get a third-party certification that matches your ownership (NMSDC, WBENC, NGLCC, NaVOBA/NVBDC, or Disability:IN). Without it, you can't register as a diverse supplier with proof Merck will accept.
2. Register at msd.quantumsds.com with a complete profile, capability documents, and your certification uploaded.
3. Show up to an Economic Inclusion Virtual Lab session. Get on a Merck supply chain professional's radar.
4. Work the certification council events. Merck attends NMSDC, WBENC, and similar matchmaker programming. That's where buyers and suppliers actually meet.
5. Chase Tier 2 first if you're small. Find Merck's prime suppliers in your category and pitch them on subcontracting.

None of this is fast. Corporate supplier diversity runs on relationships and proof of capability, not on submitting a form. But the spend is real, the programs are real, and Merck has built more on-ramps than most large buyers offer.

Don't stop at Merck

Merck is one buyer. The same certification, the same capability statement, and the same registration discipline work across dozens of Fortune 500 programs, so the smart move is to register everywhere your credential is recognized, not just here. Our corporate program directory lists those programs and the certifications each one accepts. If you want the broader playbook for getting into these programs, start with how to get into corporate supplier diversity programs. And if you'd rather have your business and documents captured once and your certifications filed for you, CertifyAll handles the paperwork so you arrive at Merck's portal already certified. Listing your business in our supplier directory puts you in front of corporate buyers searching for diverse suppliers, Merck's included.