How to maintain a good working relationship with customers or suppliers

In the 1960s, experts developed the internal relationship between storage and transportation, with the result of the study being distribution management. The term "supply chain management" has been seriously studied since the early 1980's, with many researchers providing a framework and model for it.

Supply chain management is one of the most effective approaches to reducing production costs and also provides time to wait. It is a set of techniques that are used for the efficient integration of suppliers, manufacturers, warehouses and stores, so that the volume of goods is produced and transported to the right place and time to minimize the total costs of the system to meet certain requirements.

Principles of an effective customer-supplier relationship:

Timely involvement of suppliers

Suppliers should be consulted early in the design of a new product or process and they should also be invited to contribute their expertise at this stage. This early involvement will allow them to prepare for a new product or process requirements and which could lead to a shorter product design time to production.

Mutual trust

Manufacturers and suppliers must honor each other's trust and treat each other as equal partners in the business arrangement for a better relationship with suppliers and customers.

Quality initiatives

Quality standards can be set from the beginning and any supply issues can be remedied in this way for a better relationship with customers or suppliers.

Consistent quality planning is essential to promote continuous improvement, defect prevention and process optimization. It is required at all stages of product and process development.

Supplier audit

A visit to the production site can be made to assess the supplier's operating system and quality. This should then be followed by detailed self-assessments to determine the supplier's effectiveness in key functional areas such as procurement, engineering, production and quality.

Where it is possible and appropriate, these self-assessments will be carried out by cross-functional teams. The purpose of a cross-functional team is to better substantiate the efficiency of the supplier's business, production, materials management, customer service and quality systems.

Crisis management

An appropriate channel of communication between the supplier and the customer should be established to facilitate crisis management. The provider should have business continuity plans in place to deal with: fires, chemical spills, natural disasters, terrorist threats, medical emergencies, pandemics and human resource crises.

Communication

Effective, two-way communication is at the heart of any strong business relationship. If you don't talk to your suppliers, you can't learn enough about them to build mutual beneficial arrangements.

Respect

Mutual appreciation and a desire to take into account the needs and opinions of the other party free the ground for suppliers and customers to work in ways that maximize the interests of both parties.

Opening

Sharing information and transparency about intentions and objectives again increases the likelihood of reaching agreements from both parties.

Flexibility

Very rarely will two organizations reach the perfect agreement immediately. Strong relationships require time and the desire of both parties to listen, to adapt and to accept innovation as a means of improvement.

Goal setting and approval for suppliers

To get the most out of your vendor relationship, set key performance metrics (KPIs) that are relevant to your organization. Periodically review indicators with suppliers and adjust targets as needed.