Systems, Modules or Components? New Light on Purchasing

Capturing the full potential from suppliers has always been a challenge. To pull it off, successful companies have devised ways to effectively integrate the right suppliers into their business processes. In so doing, they have created powerful supplier relationships that simultaneously encourage cooperation and competition. The results of these best-practice relationships are demonstrable. But how are such relationships achieved? This article, a follow-up to ‘Balanced Purchasing’, describes the ability to define clearly what the authors term a supplier’s “scope boundaries.”

Editor’s Note: Part 2 of series
Part 1: “Balanced Purchasing”
Part 3: “Setting Supplier Cost Targets: Getting Beyond the Basics”