Learn ways to define and execute greater strategic-level guidance for purchase orders and better materials management by understanding your customers; supply chain alliance partners, distributors and your competitors.
As discussed in my previous article, “AVL segmentation part of CPO strategy for competitive supply chain management”, a large portion of your material spend is likely allocated to core suppliers who provide you with mainstream products in the markets you source.
Items or components you procure; whether for electronics product manufacturing and production or internal or commercial usage, or resale, reflect your company’s market positioning and your [perceived] solutions for customers to some extent.
Core suppliers, whom collectively get the majority of your spend, are also key players in the marketplace, as are you.
Consider this: chances are you and your core suppliers have some degree of common vision in the target market. To achieve success and sustainable development from the competitive marketplace, you should be working with your core suppliers strategically.
There is an old Chinese saying: knowing both your counterpart, and yourself, makes victorious. Some readers may also recall this statement from Sun Tzu’s, The Art of War: “If you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle.”
Relationship, relationship, relationship
A good place to start this process is the relationship between you and your core suppliers. Use caution as the terrain could prove to be complex and sensitive, even political, as many readers may already know.
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