Avoid the Pitfalls in Supplier Development

Avoid the Pitfalls in Supplier Development Robert B. Handfietd • Daniel R. Krause > Thomas V. Scannell • Robert M. Monczka Firms gain competitive advantage by improving tbe performance of suppliers and by sidestepping the snares common to such efforts.

Robert Handtield is the Bank of America University Distinguished Professor of Supply Chain Maoagemeot, College of Maoageoient, North Carolina State Uoiversity. Daniel Krause is assistaot professor, Department of Boslness Administration, Utah State Universitv. Thomas Scannell is assistant professor, Depadment of Management, Western

As inanutactLiring firm.s outsource more parts and seiTices to tbcLis on their own core ctjmpetcncies, they increasingly expect their suppliers to deliver innovative and quality products on time and at a competitive cost. When a supplier is incapable of meeting these needs, a buyer has three alternatives: (1) bring the outsourced item in-house and produce it internally, (2) change to a more capable supplier, or (3) help improve the existing supplier's capabilities.

Michigan University. Rohert Monczka is Professor Emeritjs. Michigan State University, and research professor, Arizona State University.

Sloan ManagemenI fleview Winter 2DD0

All three .strategies can work. The choice often depends on price, volume, or the strategic nature of the procured item. For low-value-added, nonstrategic commodi-

ties, the cost of changing to a new supplier is low, and switching may be the best option. At the other extreme, when an uncierperforniing supplier provides an innovative product or process technology (that may be of sustainable long-term advantage to the buyer), the btiyer may wish to protect this potential advantage and bring the work in-house by acc^uiring the supplier. In those cases that lie between these two extremes — and even at times including these extremes — the best optif)n may be "supplier development." We define supplier development as any activity that a buyer undertakes to improve a supplier's performance and/or capabili-

> Krause • Scannell • MDficzka

ties to meet the buyer's short-term or long-term supply needs. Buying firms use a variety of activities to improve supplier performance, including assessing suppliers' operations, providing incentives to improve performance, instigating competition among suppliers, and working directly with sLippliers, either throtigh training or other activities.'

38

It is best to view supplier development as a long-term business strategy that is the basis for an integrated supply chain. products and services, and thus on its profitability. The direct effect of supplier performance on a buyer's bottom line highlights the importance of t>ptimizing stipply-chain performance. Thus, we propose the following.

Supplier development requires both firms to commit financial, capital, and personnel resources to the work; to share timely and .sensitive information; and to create an effective means of meastiring performance. Thus, this strategy is challenging for both parties. liuyer executives and employees must be convinced that investing company resources in a supplier is a wcmhwhile risk. Supplier executives musi be convinced that their best interest lies in accepting direction and a.ssistance from their customer. Even if the two companies mutually agree that .supplier development is important, .success is not a foregone conclusion.

ContintioLis long-lcrm improvement of supplier performance is only achieved by (1) identifying where value is created in the supply chain. (2) positioning the buyer .strategically in line with value creation, and i5) implementing an integrated supply-chain management strategy to maximize internal and external capa!iilities throughout the supply chain.

Aithotigh difficult, supplier development can be an important "cornerstone" in the deployment of a truly integrated supply chain. The average manufacturing firm spends over 50 percent of its revenues on purchased inputs.- With companies continuing to increase the \"olume of outsourced work across industries.' this percentage is likely to rise. Con.sequently, suppliers will have a greater impact on the quality, cost, technology, and deli\'er>' of a buying company's own

We believe that improved supplier performance will not be realized or .sustained unle.ss buyers recognize procurement and supply-chain management (SCM) as sources of competitive advantage and align their SCM strategy with their overall business strategy.' Any performance improvements gained without this strategic alignment are likely to be short term and perhaps only tactical in nature. Some companies with successftil supplier-development progratiis .suggest that first

Real-Life Supplter-Devetopment Experiences Our findings are based on a survey funded by the Global Procurement and Supply Chain Benchmarking Initiative (GEBN) at Michigan State University and case studies funded jointly by the Center for Advanced Purchasing Studies (CAPS) in Tempe, Arizona, and the Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) at Michigan State University. The GEBN study examined processes that organizations use to develop suppliers, as well as the obstacles to success. Approximately 200 companies participated in a long-term research initiative that involves responding to a series of benchmarking surveys. These survey efforts focused on critical procurement and supply-chain-management strategy areas. The response rate for the supplier develop-

Handfield • Krause • Scannell • Monczka

ment study was 41.5% (83/200) and included firms from the following industries: industrial products (38%|, services (14%), consumer durable goods {13%), consumer nondurable goods (8%), capital goods (2%), and other {25%). The surveys varied in length, but generally required betv^'een 10 and 20 hours to complete. Survey questions were qualitative {requiring in-depth descriptions of company practices) and quantitative {including Ukerttype scales and categorical questions). To address survey questions comprehensively, responding managers needed to consult design and production engineers, buyers, quality managers, inventory controllers, and others. CAPS and CIBER funded detailed case studies of the problems encountered during supplier development. The researchers conducted interviews with purchasing executives, engineers, quality managers, and operations man-

agers in several organizations worldwide. This facilitated comparing supplier-development practices within the same industry, but in different countries. The study targeted electronics/electrical and automotive industries, because they are highly competitive, experience high rates of technological change that shorten product life cycles, and have large global firms that produce multinationally. These characteristics contribute to their need for world-class suppliers and force participating firms to continuously improve product quality and reduce product costs. The collected data was diverse, so researchers constructed a "meta-matrix" to summarize each major process associated with each code and concept for each site. They refined these conceptual linkages in order to develop recommendations for avoiding the pitfalls described in this article.

Sloan Management Review Winter 2Q0D

The underlying axiom is that 20 percent of suppliers is responsihie for 80 percent of the poor performance. e;t,sy-t()-fix .supplier problcm.s liulp.s build momentiiiii. This is true. However, it is best to viewsupplier development as a long term busine.ss strategy that is the basis for an integrated supply chain. The first step, therefore, is to sticcessfully implement •supplier-development programs. This study addresses the pitfalls that impede such efforts. This article presents survey data and examples drawn from case studies of electronics and automotive companies in the I'nited States, the United Kingdom, japan, and South Korea. These examples Illustrate specific supplier-development practices and examine how these companies avoided or mitigated common pitfalls in assisting their suppliers. (For details of the study, .set' "Real-Life Supplier-Development Experiences.") We begin by describing a process map that many firms intiiiti\ely employ. We fotmd that, although most firms are able to identify suppliers ivtjtiiring development, relatively few are completely successftil in their supplier-development efforts. Then we explore the mcjst significant pitfalls in supplier development and present strategies used to avoid them. Our goal is to provide general guidelines for supplier-development efforts.

costs or sales that investing in suppliers is neitlier strategically nor financially justifiable. Therefore, managers must analyze their situation to determine whether supplier development is warranted.' and. if so, which pLirchased commodities and services recjuire the most attention. To focus the effort, a corporate-level executive steering committee must assess tlie relative strategic importance of all goods and services that the company buys and produce a "portfolio" of critical commodities (products or services essential for succe.ss in a targeted industiy segtnent). This assessment is an extension of the company s overall corpomte-level strategic planning and shotild include panicipanis from the functions affected fiy sourcing decisions (finance, marketing, information technology, accounting, production, and design). (See Figure /, a matrix used to assess the relative importance of company purchases.) After classifying commodities accordingly, the resulting portfolio consi.sts of clusters of "noncritical .supplies," liottleneck supplies," "leverage supplies," and "strategic supplies." Commodities in the "strategic supplies' category are considered strategically imporFigure 1 Commodity Portfolio Matrix

Bottleneck Supplies

A Process Map for Supplier Development After scanning supplier-development strategies used in more than sixty organizations, we de\'eloped the following se\'en-step generic process map for deploying these initiatives.^ Other case studies of supplierdevelopment efforts describe variations of this model." Most of the organizations studied deployed the first three or four steps, but they were le.ss succe.ssfiil with the remaining .steps.

• • • •

t O

Step 1: Identify Critical Commodities

Not all companies need to pursue supplier development. Some may already be sourcing from worldclass suppliers because they have made effective sourcing decisions and supplier selections. Or their purchases may be so small in proportion to tota!

Sloan Msnagemenl Review Winter 2D0D

jc M

.£ ^

Substitution difficult Monopolistic markets High entfY barriers Critical geographic or political situation

Critical Strategic Supplies : • Stralegicaily important • Substitution or alternate supplier difficult lo find •. • Of major importance for ; purchasing overall

Noncritical Supplies

Leverage Supplies

• Availability adequate • Standard specifications of goods and services • Substitution possible

• Availability adequate • Alternative suppliers available • Standard product specifications • Substitution possible

Low-Volume Purchases

High-Volume Purchases

Handfieid • Kiause • Scannell • MniKzka

39

uint. difficult to siilistitLitc or purcha.st' from a livc suppliers (often diif to an oligopoli.stic inar[