Risk management and compliance with payment times may still be the number one priority for procurement departments, however, a survey carried out by AgileBuyer* reveals a trend that is gaining traction in supplier relationship management: “pampering”.<\/p>\n
75% of respondents claimed that they had targets this year in terms of managing supplier risks (whether logistics, quality, operational, financial or CSR).<\/p>\n
This figure has remained stable compared to previous years, but there is a stark contrast between the public and private sectors. Only 61% of public services have defined objectives to address risks with their suppliers vs. 76% of private companies.<\/p>\n
The strategic importance of the topic depends on the sector. For example, engineering (84%) and healthcare (80%) are fairly advanced in this particular area, unlike the hospitality and catering industry (64%) and the B2B sector (57%).<\/p>\n
One reason for this significant difference is that some lines of business are more focused on risk management and subject to different regulations.<\/p>\n
Managing and complying with supplier payment times are objectives for 69% of procurement departments. To be more precise, it is “always” the case (for 45%) and “often” (for 24%).<\/p>\n
This year’s figure is a record-breaker, which proves that buyers are feeling a greater sense of responsibility towards such cross-functional issues.<\/p>\n
Pascal Pelon, CPO at Axa France, explains: “At AXA France, the procurement department is now responsible for monitoring payment times, since one of the keys to success is a sound understanding of the suppliers and effective control over the interactions between suppliers and clients.”<\/strong><\/p>\n 59% of respondents have taken measures to improve the quality of their supplier relationships, especially by selling their needs to their suppliers and giving them greater incentive to work together.<\/p>\n Olivier Joseph, Senior Procurement Engagement Manager at Microsoft, confirms the trend: “We set up a Microsoft Supplier Program (MSP) several years ago with the aim of reinforcing and prioritising the partnership with certain suppliers.”<\/p>\n Companies have actually realised that it is in their best interest to become the “favourite customer,<\/strong>” and their suppliers’ priority. In addition to giving a greater insight into orders with suppliers, the idea is to grow together using such processes as collaborative innovation and co-investment.<\/p>\n * The survey was carried out by AgileBuyer – an operational procurement consultancy, in partnership with the CNA (French National Procurement Council).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Risk management and compliance with payment times may still be the number one priority for procurement departments, however, a survey carried out by AgileBuyer* reveals a trend that is gaining traction in supplier relationship management: “pampering”....<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":20050,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[64],"tags":[44],"yoast_head":"\nSupplier relations: heading towards a real partnership?<\/h2>\n