The opinion of our Supply Chain Scouts:
The goals are clear, right?
Purchased too expensively? Is the supplier's price too high? The requirement is to save at least 8%.
There is a significant difference between implementing this in series production or in custom production, where the details constantly change from order to order.
Custom production differs in two forms:
Once with a very high proportion of engineering (Engineer-to-Order [E-2-O]) and on the other hand, a process-related variation of components (Configure-to-Order [C-2-O]).
In both cases, the approach and challenges regarding suppliers are completely different from those in serial or mass production.
The processes are not uniform, and it's only "in principle" the same as last time. Each order is a project with more (in Engineer-to-Order [E-2-O]) or fewer (in Configure-to-Order [C-2-O]) spontaneous events and quick solutions. However, the outcome regarding deadlines or functionality is significantly affected by this.
The assessment of the supplier is therefore defined not only by price but by a broader set of objectives.
