What is Supplier Development- A Technical Definition
Dr. Muddassir Ahmed
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The Term Supplier Development has been used since many decades, however, the scope of the definition was not presented. During my research in Lancaster University Management School, myself and my supervisor believe that there is appetite for update definition, which is presented in this blog post.
“A long-term cooperative effort between a buying firm and its suppliers to upgrade the suppliers’ technical, quality, delivery, and cost capabilities and to foster ongoing improvement”.
It is important to note that the above definition does not take into account short-term efforts to improve cost, quality or delivery issues with supplier(s) to meet customer expectations. However, a frequently cited definition in the literature review is presented by Krause and Ellram (1997b, p. 12) as:
“any effort of a buying firm with its supplier(s) to increase the performance and/or capabilities of the supplier and meet the buying firm's short - and/or long-term supply needs”.
In this definition the phrase “the buying firm's short - and/or long-term supply needs” refers to those needs that are dictated by the firm’s operational and competitive strategies. This definition does not restrict the scope of the varied activities that may be part of a Supplier Development programme; however, it is intended to exclude developing a new source of supply. Krause and Ellram (1997b) also suggest that SD can be a one-to-one effort or with two or more suppliers, or it can be a more global effort that could be rolled out to a large supplier base globally.
Whilst the definition by Krause and Ellram (1997b) mention short-term efforts to increase supplier performance, it does not include the aspect of continuous improvement. Therefore, it is argued that an updated definition of Supplier Development is needed, as proposed here by myself:
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General Mgr. at Avila & Associates
7 年- Development (of course of a supplier), has to match (depends on the type of manufacturing process) to cover the key quality and design call by the engineering specification for ceratain goods. In the case of a cast product, the fact to be hand-by-hand with the source choseen to become supplier, will be set ahead of many trial and effort done only by the foundry (in this case of a casting), were this will save time and money trying to "fit" the specification call by the customer, just by themselfs. A win-win operational team will fullfill the goals set on a planned program.
Strategic, Mission-Oriented Executive and Consulting Leader Helping Teams Drive Improvement, Growth, & Competitive Advantage in Supply Chain | Culture Carrier | Global Business Transformation | Outdoor Enthusiast
7 年Advanced buyers create their own supplier ecosystems to serve present and future needs. Smart.