What makes a good supplier manager

Contract Managers should avoid hiding behind emails. And remember, communication is a two-way street. Both parties need to clearly understand their own role, the role of their counterpart and how the two fit together to leverage value and achieve mutually beneficial outcomes.

There is a widely held view that a good contract relationship is one where the contract can be used as a door stop! Service takers, contract managers and shareholders alike need to have confidence that the supplier is delivering what they are being paid to.

Trust is hard to gain and easy to lose. Gaining a reputation for behaving ethically and honestly will go a long way to developing trust and trust will go a long way to developing relationships. Every contract manager wants to know that they are receiving the service they need and to the standard they expect. Performance review should be more than just an exercise in measurement it should be an exercise in continual improvement.

Work with your supplier to ensure that risks are identified at all levels of operations. Know when the time is right to seek third party advice — be that from a lawyer, a subject matter expert or a consultant. Nobody responds to a manager who is heavy handed, unreasonable or unfair.

Be consistent in how you manage your supplier. In this blog, we have taken a look at one of the crucial aspects of business functioning — supplier management. The way economies are becoming more global, involving suppliers in your business processes has become inevitable.

An effective supplier management process not only allows you to derive maximum value for your business requirements; it also gives you a competitive edge. It enables you to achieve cost savings throough improved goods and services quality that determine the bottom line. If is time to put your suppliers in the front seat and drive your organizational performance. Supplier Lifecycle Management brings the suppliers to a more dynamic and central role in the entire process.

Being at the heart of procurement, suppliers need to be actively involved in the value-creation of supply chains. Your email address will not be published.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. By submitting this data, I acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy of Zycus and consent to the processing of my personal data in accordance with the terms of the Privacy Policy. What is Supplier Management? Why do we Need Supplier Management? When it comes to establishing why businesses necessitate supplier management, there are two main pillars we need to recognize: To evaluate if the suppliers are performing as per the organizational requirements To identify areas of improvement while engaging with suppliers throughout their lifecycle These two factors primarily highlight why we need supplier management — to ensure we are deriving the maximum value from the suppliers for the relevant requirement s , given the resources invested in the suppliers.

Achieving Cost Savings and Quality Control Having strong supplier management practices will enable organizations to identify cost savings opportunities in the supply chain and scrutinize the quality of supplier output. Tracking Compliance to Relevant Parameters Every supplier has to fulfill specific set parameters to ensure they are fulfilling the requirements of the organization.

Evaluating Supplier Performance This is possibly one of the essential benefits of having supplier management. Leveraging Supplier Relationship Management It might not seem so, but the relationships you build with your suppliers can be very beneficial for your organization.

Assessing and Mitigating Supplier Risk Identifying and mitigating supplier risk is another unequivocally critical benefit of having efficient supplier management for your organization. Building a Supplier Management Process Now that we have identified the need and benefits of supplier management, it is necessary to establish a supplier management process. The 5-step Supplier Management Process Identifying the set of business goals and objectives Before you get on-board with your supplier management process, it is important to identify the set of business goals and objectives for which suppliers are required.

Identifying relevant selection criteria for choosing suppliers Once you know the objectives and requirements that necessitate supplier engagement, you need to define the selection criteria for choosing suppliers that will provide maximum value for the requirement. Evaluating and selecting suppliers The next step is to evaluate all relevant suppliers based on the selection criteria you have identified. Negotiating and Contracting with the selected supplier s Now that you have chosen the relevant suppliers, you need to execute the contracting process to get them onboard finally.

Strategies to Improve Supplier Management Apart from a well-structured process for managing suppliers, here are the best practices to fortify your supplier management. Collaborate with your Suppliers for effective Supplier Relationship Management Ensure that you have accurately communicated your business objectives and goals to your suppliers.

Evaluate Supplier Risks and Identify Mitigation Measures This is one of the most crucial strategies you need to employ for a well-run supplier management process. In a Nutshell In this blog, we have taken a look at one of the crucial aspects of business functioning — supplier management. Do you agree? Leave your thoughts below in our comments section.

Tagged: supplier management supplier management benefits supplier management best practices supplier management process. By choosing to work only with the best suppliers that meet popular social compliance standards , you can verify that:. And disregarding ethics entirely could lead to problems down the road for your business. Aside from ethical compliance, importers need to ensure their supplier complies with laws in both their manufacturing country and their target market.

Failing to ensure regulatory compliance can otherwise lead to legal consequences for you and your business. But you may be subject to other laws if you import certain products.

Clear evidence of regulatory compliance through accreditations can be one of the most important characteristics of a good supplier. Do you think your quality standards and requirements will remain static throughout your entire relationship with a supplier?

Probably not. Importers often adjust AQLs and quality requirements based on known quality issues, customer requirements and history with the supplier. The best suppliers proactively update their records and information to seamlessly implement changes. Important information for your supplier to keep organized and continually updated includes:. Maintaining clear and updated quality records is one of the key tenets of ISO certification. But the best suppliers are well organized and proactively update and document new requirements internally.

This last quality is probably the hardest to find among overseas suppliers. At the very least, a quality-conscious supplier should have an established quality management system QMS that complies with ISO You can verify this through a factory audit when verifying production capabilities.

But suppliers oriented towards continuous improvement will go above and beyond ISO certification to reduce waste and improve efficiency in their operations. They implement a number of lean manufacturing, mistake proofing and process control techniques. But conducting a process audit can help you identify root causes for product quality issues and then work with your supplier to fix them.

Finding a supplier can be one of the toughest, most stressful parts of sourcing a product. But what are the best qualities to look for? Communication, willingness to work with you, profile statistics, price and quality of the supplier are all important boxes that need to be checked before you pick a supplier. Considering these ten characteristics of a good supplier will help you determine whether a particular supplier is best for your supply chain, your customers and your business.

Download our eBook below to learn how to evaluate and negotiate with potential suppliers to limit product defects in your shipments! Stay updated on the latest in product inspection, auditing, and corporate responsibility weekly from the. Follow us on WeChat. New business inquiries: sales asiaqualityfocus. Looking for Suppliers? These 10 traits will help you sort good suppliers from bad suppliers and help you determine if using a particular supplier is best for your supply chain, customers and business.

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