There's a new buzz phrase in the air: Supplier Relationship Management
(SRM). Corporate executives know it's necessary, but there's only one
problem. Nobody yet knows how to do it. Or they think it's all about
bashing your vendors over the head until they reduce the price another
4%. Supplier Relationship Management: How to Maximize Vendor Value and
Opportunity changes all that.
Containing the best and most innovative advice from the operations and
procurement experts at consultant AT Kearney, this book shows that SRM
is at root a strategic discussion requiring cross-functional interaction
and internal alignment at the highest levels. It requires an honest
appraisal of the value that suppliers now bring to your firm, as well as
their potential value. It then requires a frank and constructive
business-to-business dialogue about how to improve the relationship.
When this happens, a company reaps myriad benefits, ranging from new
opportunity to added value to competitive advantage--and, quite likely,
to overall (and sometimes substantial) cost reductions.
This book shows the most concrete methods you can use today to:
- Identify value-adding opportunities in the supply chain
- Work closely with suppliers to maximize the benefits
- Work the "Critical Cluster" of suppliers, where the greatest
opportunity for advantage lies
- Review suppliers to encourage constant gains in quality and cost
- Turn your SRM strategy into a major competitive advantage
Supplier Relationship Management introduces and explains the Supplier
Interaction Model, a key tool that will help you get the most from your
supplier relationships. It segments the supplier universe into nine
categories, from those you want to run away from fast to those so good
and so useful to your organization that it can make sense to invest in
them directly. Numerous case studies show how to apply the principles to
your situation.
Supplier Relationship Management burns off the fog that has surrounded
the procurement process for far too long. It is the definitive guide for
business executives who want to get the maximum benefits from suppliers
and gain very real advantages over competitors.
