Topic guide / Suppliers
Supplier Relationship Management
Supplier relationships are built between orders, not during the argument over the next price increase. The suppliers who bring you ideas are the ones who trust that you understand their business.
Relationships before paperwork
A thick contract rarely protects you as much as a supplier who wants you to succeed. Tom’s books argue that a handshake and a shared understanding often do more than a hundred-page agreement—and that lawyers and bureaucrats who believe contracts alone protect them are usually disappointed.
How to build better supplier relationships
The practices Tom describes are simple, but they take time and consistency:
- Learn the supplier’s market and constraints before you negotiate
- Invite suppliers to map your process, then map theirs
- Bring suppliers onto the floor during trials and improvements
- Share the savings story—credit builds goodwill
- Review results together on a regular schedule
When to let a supplier do what they do best
In one story, technicians at a large chemical plant were driving across the site to a central storeroom and hoarding parts because they didn’t trust the system. Storeroom management wasn’t the company’s core competency, so the team partnered with a distributor that specialized in it. The distributor created mini parts stations near the work, kept them stocked, and joined a steering committee with maintenance. Confidence in the system grew, and so did the savings.
