Getting the Most Out of Strategic Sourcing & Supplier Management

I continue to be amazed that companies will make the investment in strategic sourcing, and supplier relationship management, but don’t put the icing on the cake that they’ve been baking. What am I talking about? Supplier Recognition! There is significant, tangible value in recognizing your exceptional suppliers. It’s a logical and powerful final step in an integrated strategic sourcing and supplier management process.

Why don’t more companies do supplier recognition? One reason is that doing it well takes a lot of planning, and a lot of analysis (of performance data). In fact, it requires that you have supplier metrics in place.

I raise this topic annually at this time of the year for a simple reason – if you want to have a supplier recognition event in the April – June timeframe of 2012 (recognizing superior performance in calendar year 2011), you should be starting NOW.

Supplier recognition – done well - can be a valuable part of an overall transformation plan for your supply management activities, and can generate a compelling return on investment.

For a refresher on this subject, read the two-part post from last year:

https://www.scmr.com/article/supplier_recognition_start_now/

https://www.scmr.com/article/supplier_recognition_part_2/

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