In today's competitive manufacturing landscape, strong supplier relationships remain vital for ensuring quality, reliability, and innovation. At the heart of these relationships is trust, which is often developed through effective communication. Traditionally, manufacturers have relied on emails and phone calls to maintain these connections. To reduce risk and increase supply chain stability, these manufacturers need to adopt more efficient tools and technologies.
Here are some tips on building better supplier relationships and how Sustainment’s supplier relationship management (SRM) software can facilitate this process.
1. Develop Trust Through Effective Communication
At the cornerstone of nearly every healthy relationship, you’ll find a sense of trust. Manufacturers and suppliers require clear, consistent, and open lines of communication to help build trust. SRM software offers a centralized way of ensuring all communication is secure and effectively managed. By moving away from scattered emails and phone calls to a more integrated approach, you can significantly enhance the quality of your interactions with your suppliers.
2. Set Clear Expectations with Measurable Standards
Setting clear expectations and measurable standards is crucial for managing supplier performance. When both parties understand and agree on the standards, it often leads to more productive outcomes. Supplier scorecards are an excellent tool for tracking key metrics such as on-time delivery (OTD) and on-budget statistics. These scorecards provide regular performance insights, allowing manufacturers to give constructive feedback and address issues promptly, thereby strengthening the relationship.
3. Adopt Systems That Allow for Flexibility and Agility
In manufacturing, the ability to pivot and adapt quickly when supply chain disruptions occur is essential. This flexibility not only helps in maintaining continuity but also shows suppliers that you are committed to finding solutions together. SRM software can enhance your agility by providing real-time data and insights, enabling you to make informed decisions swiftly. This level of responsiveness is key to maintaining strong supplier relationships that drive positive outcomes, especially in times of uncertainty.
Centralized Communication Platform
One of the standout features of our software is its centralized communication platform. This platform allows for secure and effective communication, ensuring that all interactions with suppliers are recorded and accessible in one place, rather than a private inbox. The benefits of having a single source of truth for all supplier communication cannot be overstated. It reduces the risk of miscommunication, ensures that everyone is on the same page, and makes it easier to track the history of interactions.
Performance Tracking and Actionable Feedback
Our cloud-based software includes performance tracking tools through the use of supplier scorecards. These scorecards track key metrics, such as on-time and on-budget statistics, providing a clear picture of supplier performance. These insightful metrics help manufacturers identify areas for improvement and recognize exemplary performance. This feedback allows for continuous improvement and strengthens relationships as suppliers understand their performance is being actively monitored and valued.
Secure File Sharing
In the digital age, the secure exchange of confidential files and documents is essential. We provide secure file-sharing capabilities in a CMMC-complaint space for all supplier messaging to ensure that important documents are exchanged safely and efficiently. Our file sharing offering comes at no added charge, and is both FedRAMP and ITAR-compliant. This feature not only protects sensitive information, but also builds confidence and reliability in your interactions with your supplier base.
Transparency and Visibility
Transparency is another critical factor in building trust. Our platform offers comprehensive supplier composition statistics, location analysis, and certification management, which enhances transparency and provides greater visibility into your supply chain operations. By having access to detailed information about your suppliers, you can make more informed decisions and build with confidence to help grow your business faster.
Consider the example of Exum Instruments, a mid-sized manufacturer who faced challenges in finding and managing local suppliers effectively. By implementing our software, they centralized their communication, developed deeper supplier relationships, and started new ones to accomplish a variety of work. The result was a significant improvement in their supplier relationships, leading to better work being done.
“We needed a solution to help us find manufacturing partners for many part types. Sustainment not only helps us locate local shops that could do the work, but also allows us a platform to further connect to, communicate with, and manage these relationships." - Kim Nishimoto, Purchasing Agent
Contact us for a demo and get a personalized plan for how we can help you improve your supplier relationships and drive mutual growth and success.
Start for free with unlimited supplier management, up to 3 active projects and 5 users, then upgrade from $245/month.
