Purchasing and Suppliers · Business Improvement
How to Build Better Supplier Relationships
Supplier relationships are built between orders. Five practical steps from Tom’s purchasing and supply-chain experience.
The problem
Many supplier relationships only get attention at renewal time or during the argument over the next price increase. In between, nobody is building the trust that makes a supplier bring you ideas, priority service, or warning of a problem before it becomes yours.
Look closely at how you work together
Start by mapping the relationship as it really is. How do orders flow? Where do delays and rework appear? What does the supplier not know about how you use their product? Dr. Tom DePaoli’s mutual process mapping makes this concrete. Each side studies the other’s operation and presents what it found, so misunderstandings surface early.
Make one change
Pick one improvement and work on it together. Bring the supplier onto the floor during a trial, as Tom’s team did when operators and suppliers adjusted cheaper packaging materials side by side. Or let a specialist supplier take over work outside your core competency. At one chemical plant, a distributor replaced a distrusted central storeroom with stocked parts stations near the work.
Check the result
Review results with the supplier on a regular schedule, and share the credit when something works. A shared understanding and a handshake often protect you better than a thicker contract.
Read the supplier relationship management guide and explore Common Sense Purchasing — New Edition.
