I was invited (thanks to John Caltagirone – Director of the SVC) to the 2nd Annual Chicago Supply Chain Summit at Loyola University’s Quinlan School of Business which was sponsored by their Supply and Value Chain Center (“SVC”). Unfortunately I was only able to attend…
Since three letter acronyms are de rigueur in the consulting world, I thought I’d start with them. TRV is totally made up but it stands for Total Relationship Value. RAR is real and I’ll discuss that later. In this age of Big Data, it should come as no surprise to anyone that retailers have been keeping tabs on what you return. It turns out that close to 10% of total sales are returned (about $264 Bn) so it is a big problem.
It’s actually sitting right under our nose . . . . . . but we manage to snub our nose at this function time and time again. It’s Purchasing – not Strategic Sourcing, not Category Management, not Global Sourcing, not the forever –exalted Supply Chain (and it’s ever changing scope /definition) but simply Purchasing! And I say Purchasing with all the professional respect this group deserves BUT seldom receives.
Your Supply Chain can be a competitive weapon? ABSOLUTELY!!! However, the fundamental principles that guide the creation and management of supplier relationships must change! If your organization continues to look at your supply chain as nothing but a supply base from which you must extract…
Tapping into a higher value dimension requires adopting a new mindset, utilizing new skills, and executing new habits. The Mpower Group’s value approach is to shift the supplier relationship to where there are enough rewards from success to thoroughly share the spoils.
While Covey’s seven habits are meritorious, not following them inhibits greatness. In that spirit we present Seven Habits of Highly Dangerous Suppliers.
Today we’re going to let our readers in on a little secret. Actually, it’s a big secret. It is one of the most powerful strategies that you can deploy in a sourcing engagement. And based on our research, it’s one that is almost never used.