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Segmenting the Supply Base for Lean

In a rush of enthusiasm about a lean supply chain, some firms expect that their suppliers will embrace lean with equal passion. Passion for lean can be contagious, but getting suppliers to adopt lean requires much more work than lean inoculation or indoctrination. Before rushing off and sending out an announcement that suppliers should [...]

Customer-supplier relationships: dancing with elephants

 When my company was a small supplier to Boeing, I was of course happy to have landed them as a customer. Our relationship was excellent and added value to both parties. Boeing took a chance with my company, an emerging technology business. And the initial bureaucracy that we had to go through to become a supplier [...]

When Your Supplier Is Bigger Than You Are

Many companies are concerned about suppliers who are larger than they are. How do you get a 500-pound gorilla to cooperate with you? Can you actually use the term “manage” in relation to a big supplier company? Actually, can you ever really manage even small suppliers? Not really. You can try to manage and [...]