Supplier Relationship Ford

the automotive supply chain is one of the most complicated of any industry. the company and their supplier must work together to deliver great product, have a strong business and make better in future. If we want a role model for excellence in supplier relationship management (SRM), Ford Motor Company would be a good one. There are two reasons. first, there are the dynamics of the industry. The automotive industry is extremely competitive and, in the past, had an extremely bad record in the area of SRM. The US’ Big Three automakers were experts at beating down suppliers to get the lowest price, and then beating them down some more.Ford treat supplier differently.

The second reason is  the close working relationship between the CPO and the CEO. there have worked together to make suppliers feel more like partners at Ford. Their efforts are reflected in part, on the survey of automotive suppliers that ranked Ford, along with Toyota and Honda, as one of automakers most likely to compensate suppliers for rising raw-materials cost.

Certainly, there have been times when Ford has put the spotlight on suppliers as the cause for quality problems. But that doesn't negate the strong relationships the company has forged with its supply base. decision to show key suppliers product plans and encourage innovation has played some part in the strides the company has made in car rankings recently. In US News’ best-car rankings, Ford captured or shared first place in the categories of “affordable small cars,” “hatchbacks,” “affordable midsize cars,” affordable convertibles,” and “hybrids.” Quite a record for a company whose nickname in the US used to be Fix Or Repair Daily.

At Ford there committed to maintaining strong relationships with our ABF and other suppliers by:

- adhering to Ford supplier relationship values

- deploying a single global product creation process that combines aggressive execution of product plans      with minimal variances.

- enchancing process stability, commonality and re-usability.

- providing supplier with greater access to senior Ford managers in small group settings.

- improving communication by providing real time performance data to the supply base.

- establishing organizational stability models in manufacturing, product development and purchasing.

- improving order fullfillment.

- engaging the supply base in discussion about process stability, incoming quality and corporate responsibility, and involving suppliers in coalitions to create awareness of industry issue.