A Perfect Match
CPO Agenda
Over the past few years, sourcing professionals have increasingly recognised the benefits of developing supplier relationship management (SRM) capabilities within their organisations. While supply base management initiatives such as spend consolidation and low-cost country sourcing have delivered unquestionable purchase price reductions, SRM takes sourcing to the next level by addressing wider business needs such as revenue increases, risk mitigation and total cost reduction.
The challenge that SRM poses to sourcing, however, is not whether to do it, but how to do it. In efforts to undertake SRM, more and more organisations are abandoning the “one-size-fits-all” supplier relationship and beginning to establish differentiated relationships ranging from strategic to collaborative to transactional. Such segmentation enables valuable time and resources to be devoted to the key strategic and collaborative suppliers that have the ability to make the most significant contribution to the business. But the question of what exactly to do with these key suppliers remains open.
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