The Payoff Of Working With Certified Suppliers

Cisco acknowledged that there were initial barriers to the flow of information and the ease of supply operations between them and their business partners who produced products for Cisco’s consumers. They initiated a Supply Chain Management Initiative to improve their operations by automating the supply chain and improving information flow between Cisco and its partners.

Toyota faced a challenge related to the poor visibility and low quality of a supplier for the Suprima model. The Japanese brand, being related to a top quality product and a Just in Time manufacturing scheme could not afford to have stock out problems nor not meeting consumers’ demand for quality.

The topic selected is (Strategic Procurement & Supply Chain Management). For this study, we have selected Toyota Motor Corporations as our company of choice. Toyota is without doubt the best in the world, with its many philosophies and principles on how to make the best out of the least; JIT, lean production and elimination of waste and the desire for continuous improvement are just a few ways how Toyota has become the best in the auto industry. Toyota as a name, a company, and as a brand has become synonymous with Quality.

Blanchard  (2009), “successful supplier relationships require two-way information, recommendations, metrics and incentives. Riordan Manufacturing must understand the cost and value of their entire supply chain. Without a detailed understanding of all costs, from raw materials through the end product or service, and the value provided by its supplier in the process, a supplier cannot be evaluated. Therefore, there are several things Riordan Manufacturing can do to improve their relationship with it suppliers. They can incorporate appropriate service levels and metrics into agreement, share critical information as early as possible, plan for major contingencies, expect and reward honesty and finally, make relationship meetings meaningful” (10 Strategies for Managing Suppliers).

Supply Chain Management (SCM) aims at integrating all corporate activities to improve relationships at all levels (internal operations, supplier networks, and distribution channel) to meet the competitive edge and satisfy the customer. In order to build an effective and complete business process that supports SCM, information among all business partners need to be shared. Information sharing through the Internet reduces the gap for business-to-business (B2B) commerce by enabling seamless integration with enterprise processes among partner corporations.

Benavides, L., De Eskinazis, V., & Swan, D. (2012, June 22). Six Steps to successful supply chain collaboration. Supply Chain Quarterly. Retrieved August 30, 2016, from http://www.supplychainquarterly.com/topics/Strategy/20120622-six-steps-to-successful-supply-chain-collarboration

The concept of supply chain is tightly linked to the concept of collaboration. A supply chain by nature involves the interaction of two or more firms, sharing resources, risks and capabilities and jointly working to achieve higher business performance. Therefore, companies involved in a supply chain structure must ensure collaboration among their partners by applying the following interventions :

A supply chain is a series of integrated processes within and across a company that produce a product or service to meet the demands of a consumer (Krajewski, et. al., 2013). Every company has a specific supply chain design and this design is implemented to meet the company’s competitive priorities. Supply chain management refers to the coordination of the company’s processes with those of customers and suppliers to match the flow of services, materials, and information with customer demand. In today’s global market companies are choosing to outsource many of their processes in order to save time and money. While outsourcing and decentralizing many supply processes may seem to be more cost effective,

This helped the company to have a competitive advantage for the suppliers opportunity cost. Suppliers were paid incentives for improving the process. Continuous contact with the suppliers helped the company to have control for quality and also the computer aided layouts were dispersed. If the supplier used ideas to reduce cost then profit was being shared with them. This encouraged the suppliers to bring more innovation the process and thus Toyota had a competitive advantage over its suppliers if compared to its

The article discussed is written by Lisa Arnseth: “Sharing Value with Suppliers,” Inside Supply Management Vol. 23, No. 4. The article begins by talking about the economic downtown was hard on everyone and when things started looking up in 2009, that some suppliers could still not recover. Suppliers were forced to make cutbacks which made it very difficult for them to stay in business. Some of the larger manufacturers decided to help their suppliers by sharing their financial expertise, capital, and their lean manufacturing knowledge to help pull them out of the rut. In today’s world, a shared value approach is beginning to take course. The article begins discussing Toyota, Hyundai Motor Company and Samsung. These companies are looked at

Communication is the most important aspect of conducting business. Toyota must improve their means of communication and it must start at the beginning of the customer/supplier relationship. The Process Flow chart will identify the communication process between Toyota and supplier is further updated to show improved processes. Expectations should be established to ensure that suppliers are providing the quality products that represent the Toyota brand. Currently, Toyota has sacrificed quality and safety to meet the demands of the customers. Toyota must take into consideration the market they enter and the major players that exist to provide the support necessary. Toyota uses the Annual Purchasing Policy process to communicate their expectations to suppliers. “The purpose of supplier expectations is to highlight key priority activities and emphasize broader, more philosophical issues universal to all suppliers (ToyotaSupplier.com, 2012).” In addition, “individual expectations, on the other hand, are developed uniquely for each supplier and include specific targets in the key areas of quality, delivery, value improvement and minority sourcing (ToyotaSupplier.com,

Toyota and Honda succeeded in constructing effective supplier relationships because of the methods they used for it. In article they were the following:

The operationally oriented supply chain mangers enjoy the idea of savings as a result of routine procedures over the life of the relationship. When buyers and suppliers begin a relationship and starting to work together there interactions often are fraught with inefficiencies and expensive company legacy’s, adding to the cost of doing business. In the second year of working together procedures typically become more streamlined, issues in IT are solved through and interpersonal relationships between the organisations become more

One factor that adds to the success of Toyota’s supply chain is their relationship with their suppliers and how they do business with those suppliers. Toyota does not simply give their supply contracts to the highest bidder; instead they work incredibly closely with their suppliers so that they can get the highest quality products possible. Toyota uses long-term, just-in-time contracts with all of their suppliers (Winfield & Hay, 1997). Toyota does not engage in any kind of mutual contracts, such as buy-back or revenue-sharing; however, they do take multiple steps to ensure a mutual benefit when they pair up with a supplier. Toyota invests in their suppliers to help them develop products (Liker & Choi, 2004). They also ensure that they share information with their suppliers in a structured fashion. They believe that targeted information leads to results and they ensure that specific communication is relayed to their suppliers at set times and in set ways (Liker & Choi, 2004). Perhaps the most unique aspect of Toyota’s relationships with their suppliers is that they embark on joint improvement ventures together. They set up study groups with suppliers to help both parties learn how to improve operations and send executives and engineers to the supply plants to help them improve processes (Liker & Choi, 2004). These kinds of benefits are described in the contracts Toyota keeps with their suppliers (Toyota Supplier, 2011). The close relationships that

Toyota is committed in developing its supplier base, which more closely reflects the diversity of its customers and the diversity of its team members who build Toyota vehicles. Having a diverse supplier base enables it to contribute to the economic well being of all its segments. Also, it recognize that partnering with suppliers who provide a diversity of ideas in addition to delivering manufacturing support, goods and services that creates a significant competitive advantage for Toyota.