How can you achieve a high level of supplier development maturity?

More than ever, the health crisis linked to Covid-19 is forcing us to take full control of our supply chain. As a result, companies have every interest in moving from a corrective to a preventive mode.

In this webinar, our expert Moumen EL FASSI shares his best practices based on feedback to help you master your supply chain through supplier development.

He presents his 5 fundamentals:

A single repository
The creation of a single repository is essential from both the customer's and the supplier's point of view. It will bring together all the customer's requirements and expectations, right from the start of the project.
It will enable suppliers to avoid requirements coming from different sources, to speak the same language as the customer, and to have a clear vision right from the start of the project.

Selection
The selection process must be based on relevant criteria (cost, location, quality, etc.). Decisions are made by a multi-disciplinary team, so that they are shared by all. Following the selection process, it is essential to check that suppliers understand customer requirements.

Risk analysis
In order to have a clear view of the overall risk to your supply chain , you need to draw up an analysis of both potential and proven risks. This can be done by mapping supply chain and conducting a supplier health check. For a risk analysis to be robust, it is necessary to define a pilot who will be able to detect the risk as quickly as possible, by creating the most relevant analysis categories possible.

Supplier management
Supplier management can take various forms, such as performance measurement through the use of KPIs, evaluations and audits.
The use of KPIs will enable us to take stock of the situation at a given moment in order to identify trends, dangers or deviations, and thus reduce their impact. It is essential to monitor these KPIs in order to deploy corrective action plans.
" Without measurement, no improvement is possible" - Lord Kelvin

Evaluations and audits enable us to implement a monitoring policy in a collaborative manner. These audits highlight suppliers' opportunities for improvement, which can help them to develop and adopt a continuous improvement approach. Following an assessment or an audit, the customer implements an action plan to work in full collaboration with its suppliers.

Supplier support
Supplier support takes 3 forms:
- Training: training is a key lever for continuous improvement. Manufacturers need to become more skilled in the methods and tools they use. Suppliers need to be trained on subjects where there are potential gaps in expertise.
- A guide: share best practices through a user manual to clearly explain requirements to suppliers
- Go-Look-See / coaching: make the link with audits and assessments by going out into the field. This enables suppliers to become autonomous, and customers to understand the specific features of each supplier.