Balanced Sourcing

"Despite the rhetoric around supplier partnerships and the increasing importance of a company's extended enterprise, few executives feel confident that they are getting maximum value from suppliers."

"A business consists of three primary processes: innovation, delivery, and control."

"The best companies don't think of cost modeling as a purchasing skill, but rather as a critical organizational capability led by purchasing."

"Global sourcing does not make sense for many sourced products; global research almost always does."

"Leading companies recognize that the commodity business plan is part of the institutional memory for the company."

"But simply preaching trust as a new gospel is unworkable at best?and definitively na?. "

"A supplier that is interested in a long-term relationship should also be willing to invest in defining and building the relationship."

"Investing resources in supplier development offers one of the healthiest ways to build mutual dependence."

"Just as the world has become wired with myriad links to create the World Wide Web or Internet, many industries have developed complex sets of relationships that appear more web-like than chain-like."

"Effective supply web integration requires customers and suppliers to agree on joint supply policies that reflect the true economics of the network and drive the appropriate behavior by both parties."

"Three key concepts are critical to effectively integrating suppliers in innovation: scope boundaries, technology planning, and target costing."

"Pilots demonstrate results while simultaneously refining a company's product development process."

"Too many companies that should have focused on their core businesses have lost money speculating on currency."