There are many important relationships in business. Certainly, the customer relationship is critical. The employer - employee relationship is a key one as well. But one that is sometimes overlooked is the vendor relationship.

At one time vendor relationships were seen as adversarial.  Less was more when revealing information to your vendor about your operation. Then, when it came time to negotiate price, each side's goal was to get as much as possible.

The total quality movement changed this thinking. Materials needed to come just-in-time. Quality had to be right the first time. Vendors needed to know more about your manufacturing flow to deliver the right product or specifications.

Today, things are even more complex. Instead of a separate prepress distributor, paper distributor, or pressroom products distributor, now graphic arts distributors are carrying plates, ink, and pressroom supplies. Paper merchants offer packaging, janitorial and other products as well as paper.  Software, workflow and integration are all key elements in the digital age. Picking the right vendor is a real partnership.

Because most vendors have a much broader line of products and services make sure you are using everything your vendor has to offer.  Sometimes the vendor's own sales people don't fully understand or sell all their products. Visit the vendor's web site and ask to be put on an email list for new product announcements and newsletters.

Many vendors offer free training or webinars to help educate your employees and customers about new technology or just the basics. Vendors may have product specialists or marketing people who are watching the trends and can help you decide where you want to go. Imagine having a group of customers come in for a lunch meeting with an industry expert, from one of your vendors, who speaks about how to get the best marketing response rates or the use of variable data.

Vendors now offer plant audits in various areas. Some of these are fee-for-service and some are at no charge, if you use enough of their products or services. Having someone from the outside take a look at your operation can often yield great improvements. Making sure you are getting optimal use or mileage from their products. When was the last time you had your stretch wrap machine adjusted to operate for the maximum pre-stretch or minimum number of wraps on a skid? Are you getting the best usage from your ink or plate chemistry? Is there ancillary equipment that can save you money, such as press wash recycling or fountain solution filters? Your vendor can be of valuable assistance in these areas.  If they can't, maybe it's time to look for a vendor who can.
Purchasing decisions are becoming more and more challenging. Procurement professionals nowadays have the added challenge of working with offshore suppliers or working  in a multi-supplier environment which can be stressful to all involved. But why should there be only one point of contact for vendors?

To create a real "partnership" with your vendors, why not have multiple touchpoints with the vendor team even if it is coordinated centrally by the procurement professionals in your organizations?

Not clear what I mean?

Well, all I'm saying is that centralization of vendor management is important to get a good arm around what you are buying for how much and from whom. However, to really create synergies, there should be multiple people from your organization engaged with multiple people in the vendor's organization. By doing so, more information will be readily shared and there will be more of an opportunity to brainstorm ideas that will help you.

You know that your vendors are constantly seeking to grow their footprint in your organization. By talking to more than one or two people in their organization, you can find ways to improve your processes or challenge them (in a friendly manner ofcourse) to help you better manage your costs. 

Vendor management doesn't have to be the responsibility of only your procurement team because it's not just about cost. Other dimensions to consider are quality, responsiveness, speed to market, and so on. So to make all this work; your team should be made up of department leads, plant managers, engineers, procurement professionals, IT professionals, and an executive that oversees the entire process.

And although you may be focused on building a great partnership with your vendors, remember that competitiveness helps. That means that continue to bid out your projects, check market prices to ensure that you continue to receive competitive pricing, and ensure that you have fair practices to evalute a vendor's performance.

And if you think you are getting a better deal with a new vendor, don't forget to consider the cost of switching to the new vendor. Many times that cost is lost in the negotiation process and then when it raises its ugly head after the contract has been signed, the relationship starts off on the wrong foot through the simple lack of understanding and communication of all involved.

Healthy vendor relationships are important to help an organization reduce costs and drive profitability. But it takes two to tango and two to make it work, so work on it and make your vendors your partners with fair and clearly communicated vendor management practices.