Running an effective supply chain for your organization can be a daunting process if there is a lot you depend on to be provided by several suppliers. The efficiency of your manufacturing activities, assembling procedure, and overall product cycle depends on your relationship with your suppliers. If you’re looking for ways to establish a strong connection with your suppliers while focusing on keeping your production activities at the top, 6 golden tips will help you. Read on to know more about it.
Pick the best suppliers for you
While receiving quotations and pitches from suppliers, make sure that your requirements are clear from the get-go. It’s a supply chain management best practice to choose suppliers that follow the established standards for optimal safety, quality, and consistency. Note that the best supplier may not be the best for you in terms of logistics, payment cycles, order frequency, and quantity. Make sure that the supplier you choose is on the same page as you before you sign a contract; perhaps setting the terms and conditions in your tenders will help narrow down your choices better.
Assign multiple suppliers for every product
It’s imprudent for any business to rely on only one supplier for each product. Disasters, delays, or errors can occur unexpectedly and hinder the delivery turnaround. When you assign more than one supplier for every product, you can safeguard your process against delays by preparing for the worst-case scenario.
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Negotiate your pricing
Suppliers who know what to anticipate in terms of future business trends don’t need to be on the lookout for new jobs constantly. That being said, you can negotiate with the suppliers to receive preferential treatment when it comes to delivery and top-priority supply for your materials.
Communicate regularly
Surprising your suppliers with sudden orders and cancellations is not an ideal situation, which can be prevented by keeping in constant touch through a communication gateway. You can hold regular supplier meetings to go through the upcoming jobs, requirements, forecasting, and expectations to all stay on the same page.
Build mutual trust
Suppliers ask for a stable and constant workflow so they do not have to worry about their future, and you as a client want the best quality products delivered timely. Building mutual trust by paying the suppliers on time, placing timely orders instead of rushing them at the last minute and other such practices will keep the trust factor going between both parties.
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Contemplate giving ongoing orders to suppliers
Create a minimum stock alert so that you can place ongoing orders before running out of material. This gives the suppliers the buffer time they need to produce and deliver the components you need on time. Additionally, your processes will run on time rather than suffering from materials stocking out. Investing in supply chain tech can help a lot.
We hope you got to learn a few principle aspects of how a supply chain can be solidified to create a robust system. The above-mentioned tips for managing a supply chain effectively can not be used for other business activities as well, making it universally applicable.
