Suppliers are considered as the most under-utilized resources in any business organization despite the fact that they are enthusiastic and willing to help the mission of the buying firm. You might not notice it, but suppliers are knowledgeable and have the ability to aid you in the completion of your company’s mission. The help that they can lend is not simply about setting up additional supplies in times of emergency, but suppliers can provide innovative ideas and solutions that can help improve you supply chain. Most supply chain managers would only call suppliers for quotations, expediting supply, and changing supply quantities on a short notice. It is unfortunate to rarely find supply managers draw up upon the knowledge of the suppliers to promote innovation and new product development in their mainstream operations. Make use of the full potential of your suppliers. Here are some important points that can help promote leadership among supply managers: Privacy of Intellectual Property Companies would tend to keep their suppliers for a long time and with this, it becomes easy to share information about each others intellectual property. Thus, it is highly encouraged to ensure that such information or knowledge won’t leak out to your competitors. You need to establish a trusting relationship with your supplier. Improving Trust between Suppliers and your Company Trust is the most important factor in the business. It is a mandatory requirement to have a peaceful and progressive business. A company can achieve trust through:
- a) Conducting Meetings between the different levels of your suppliers department, which includes the top management down to the lowest rank. In this stage, you may ask for the aid of your procurement team and marketing team.
- b) On-Time Payment is also the key in achieving a harmonious and progressive relationship with your suppliers. Avoid missing out payments because it can have an enormous impact on the trust and motivation of your supplier. If your finance folks want to pay 30 days later than the agreed date, just inform the supplier.
- c)Training, Feedback and Supplier Survey is important as you try to sort your suppliers by potential and ability. Minor investments in these areas can reap big dividends for your company! Remember to never underestimate training, feedback and supplier survey because they might just save your company.
- d) Early Supplier Involvement is important for innovation, as that helps in the new product development process when you are working with existing core technologies