Supplier Relationship Management

Ultimately, a manufacturer’s suppliers are their most valuable asset...however, the ways in which supplier relationships are managed have evolved over the years.

As a result of further outsourcing of non-core competencies, organisations are starting to realize that they have become more reliant on suppliers in terms of innovative power, security of supply, corporate social responsibility, and on-going cost savings.

Raytheon is on a mission to be the Customer of Choice and earn preferential treatment from its suppliers, and to get there, the defense contractor is looking to a Supplier Advisory Council for advice, ideas, and innovation.

Many companies today still employ various point solutions from niche AP and P2P software providers to execute the financial supply chain. In doing so, companies over-complicate the very process they seek to simplify. Point solutions reside in a silo, preventing the flow of data across departments such as sourcing, logistics, treasury and finance.

Procurement leaders face new pressures in 2013 as companies focus on profitable growth and balance local agility with global scale in their value chains, according to new Procurement Key Issues Research from The Hackett Group.