Benefits of Partnering

• Partnering can lead to continual improvements in such key areas as processes or products, relationships between customers and suppliers, and customer satisfaction.
• Spreads risks creates flexibility within a team  , reduces costs
• Internal partnering can improve relationships among employees and among departments within an organization.  And it enhances competitiveness.

Mandatory Requirements of Supplier Partnerships.

1. Supplier personnel should meet with buyer personnel who actually use their products so that needed improvements can be identified and made.

2. The price only approach to buyer supplier negotiations should be eliminated. The goal of the negotiation should be to achieve the optimum deal when price, features, quality, and delivery issues are all factored in.     

 3. The quality of supplier products should be guaranteed by the supplier’s quality process. The buyer should have no need to inspect the supplier’s products.

4. The supplier should fully understand and be able to practice just-in-time (JIT). Buyers should not need to maintain inventories.

5. Both partners should be able to share information electronically so that the relationship is not inhibited by paperwork. Electronic data exchange is particularly important for successful JIT.

Stages of Development in Supplier Partnerships

1. Uncertainty and Tentativeness: Neither party knows what to expect from the other.

2. Short Term Pressures: The buyer will be under pressure to cut costs. The supplier will be under pressure to increase sales volume.

3. Need for New Approaches: It will dawn on them that quality is not being served by traditional negotiating.

4. Adoption of new paradigms: Both partners will explore ways to move forward for mutual benefit and to work together to lower costs.

5. Awareness of potential: The potential for a true win-win relationship can now be seen.

6. Adoption of New Values: Trust, openness, and sharing.

7. Mature Partnering: Continuous interfacing between pertinent employees at all levels exists.

• Learning What a Quality Culture Looks Like

1. Widely shared philosophy of management

 2.  Emphasis on the human resources to the organization.

3.Ceremonies to celebrate organizational events.

4. Recognitions and rewards for successful employees.

5 .effective internal network for communicating the culture.6. Informal rules of behavior.*Strong value system. *Higher standards of performance.*Defined organizational character.

• Learning What a Quality Culture Looks Like

1.Widely shared philosophy of management

2.Emphasis on the human resources to the organization.

3.Ceremonies to celebrate organizational events.

4.Recognitions and rewards for successful employees.

5.Effective internal network for communicating the culture.

6.Informal rules of behavior.

7.Strong value system.

 8.Higher standards of performance.

9.Defined organizational character.