SPORTSCAR – Best Practice – Global Supplier Development
Overview
This enterprise is a large European company that has located its operations in the United
States, and is devoted to the production of a new model roadster. For purposes of this
report, the enterprise will be referred to as “SPORTSCAR”. This is an entirely new
product for SPORTSCAR, and has been an enormous success. Demand for the product
has escalated, with a majority of sales going back to Europe. Many of the components for
the product are localized. The plant was originally intended to produce another platform
as well, but production was stopped to focus on the roadster platform, which was
encountering capacity problems due to the success of the product. The plant has been
working on 2 shifts for about 18 months, with a large time gap between each shift.
Production of the other platform has moved to Europe (since it was already produced
there). This year, the plant will sell 61,000 roadsters, which is its maximum capacity.
Recently, the plant is being expanded to begin production of a new sports utility vehicle
as well.
The approach to globalization in this company was discussed by the Vice President of
Procurement: “Our original strategy was to start with purchasing everything locally,
which resulted in some successes but also some failures. Since, then we have started by
asking the question ‘What are the strengths of the North American component industry?’,
and getting buyers to fully understand the markets. Only then did we discover how to
encourage engineers at our European parent to source in those commodities.
For the company as a whole, about 20 commodities have been the focus for North
American sourcing. Some of these include the following:
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Electronics (entertainment, in-car modules, and safety airbags), which are all in a
high-growth mode
Other low-tech electronic components
Traditional commodities such as leather and seating, which has traditionally been a
North American strength with high exports
Alloy wheels – high customization in North America, which is not as strong as in
Europe
Stampings and pressings and other items that cannot be transshiped easily
All powertrain systems are still imported to North America, and this is not anticipated to
change until volumes increase significantly. Moreover, it is estimated that at least 5000
similar engines would be required to justify localization of the engine. The powertrain is
considered the “heart” of the engine, and is imported from Austria. However, a lot of
“ancillary” add-ons to the powertrain system are sourced in North America, such as the
manifold, catalytic converters, starters, and generators.
A major trend driving this is that suppliers are becoming more global, and can find ways
to mutualize currency differentials. Currency differences are therefore not as important as
they once were. SPORTSCAR had a procurement office here 10 years before the sod was
turned on the new manufacturing plant. Today, it has offices in Japan, South Africa, and
Europe, and is developing relationships with suppliers everywhere. This is helping them
to better identify the strengths and weaknesses of local auto suppliers.
Many automotive suppliers are becoming more globalized in order to better follow their
customers. For instance, Bosch manufactures a variety of different products in different
plants, and is thus able to move business around to different locations without moving
suppliers!
The Roadster
An interesting aspect of the roadster product is the number of different varieties available.
In addition to being available in the left-hand and right-hand drive models, a number of
different powertrains are available. SPORTSCAR made the decision to build a “world
car”, but wanted to allow customers the maximum amount of customization possible.
Today, a total of 1500 associates work at the plant, and 60% of the product value is
outsourced. Of that amount, a combination of both NAFTA (60%) and European (40%)
suppliers are used. Because of this product structure, the Vice President of Procurement
acknowledges that there is a high interdependence on suppliers, which requires a high
level of integration. Historically, SPORTSCAR insourced a considerable amount,
including brakes, transmissions, etc., and has a glorious manufacturing history associated
with production of these parts. In Europe, many castings are still produced internally, as
well as other items such as instrument panels, bumpers, etc., which are produced on inhouse pressing operations.
Supply Base
The US plant, however, has much less insourcing than traditional SPORTSCAR
locations. They outsource all body stampings to the subassembly level. Production of
hoods, doors, and final assembly are done internally. A number of suppliers have colocated and constructed plants in the state (e.g. a stamping supplier), but this was done in
some cases to provide access to other business with GM and Ford. Other examples of colocated suppliers include a supplier of interior linings and instrument panels, and a
supplier of bumper trim, grills, plastic parts. A large seating supplier has also established
a local plant “up the road”. Such co-locations were done to support SPORTSCAR, as
well as to expand opportunities for doing more business in the US.
SPORTSCAR currently has 22 first tier suppliers located in the state. One of the few
exceptions is a sunroof supplier which produces the soft top. In this case, the fabric is
produced in a northern state. Local suppliers receive sequence build orders, and
manufacture components in the same sequence. Other suppliers of the front frame and
steering assembly), and also receive sequencing schedules, and sequence the parts in the
correct order before shipping them to the facility.
To facilitate sequence, a distribution center receives parts that are shipped to the center.
SPORTSCAR then calls the DC on a rolling hour basis and releases schedules. There is
very little inventory at this location, and deliveries are made on a 2 hour horizon (except
for small bulk parts).
There are a total of 72 first tier suppliers located in the NAFTA region. Other examples
include a supplier of wiring harnesses who produces them in Mexico and bring shipments
in to the DC. Other suppliers include lightbulbs, electrocoat, and paint suppliers. The
latter two companies helped install SPORTSCAR’s advanced paint system, which
employs a water based primer which is also very environmentally sound.
SPORTSCAR purchases the different modules (seat, panels, etc.) and fits them in. The
instrument panel goes to the highest level of assembly, and it is received with the
different ducts, etc. and assembled here.
A Changing Design Environment
There is a big thrust in the automotive industry to reduce complexity and customization,
but SPORTSCAR has been bucking this trend! The adopted philosophy has been to
develop an “individual car”, and the focus was on offering a “spoke” concept to any
particular customer. This was to be accomplished by offering different interior style items
and exterior colors/features. The idea was to do this, but be able to achieve compressed
time-to-market, and utilize speed and nimbleness to bring additional features and
innovation in the hands of customers. SPORTSCAR is able to offer engineering
excellence which is focused to individual customer needs, within a short leadtime.
Up until a few years ago, the company was had a largely localized European supply base.
There was an implicit understanding with suppliers that required very little
communication. Suppliers had a “second nature” regarding what was required of them.
Thus, when the company expanded its suppliers globally, dealing with a new suppliers
was a shock.
One of the biggest problems in dealing with new suppliers was related to the design
process. Most US automotive suppliers have adopted the Japanese approach to product
design and process control, which requires a regimented stage-gate approach with
measures and targets that leads to a quality product. SPORTSCAR, however, still has a
philosophy that change is constant and cannot be confined. Change must naturally be
allowed to occur throughout the development process. Part of the reason behind this is
that a SPORTSCAR platform remains in the market for 7-9 years, and undergoes only
moderate refinement during this time. A Japanese model will be replaced every two to
three years. Thus, the SPORTSCAR process takes more time, but the outcome lasts
longer.
Consider that when another Japanese competitor goes through a new design, 70% of the
engineering changes must be completed during the period from prototype to manufacture
(with the exception of safety and quality issues). To ensure that this happens, they even
go so far as to take away the engineer’s from the process after this period! By adhering to
this process, greater process stability is introduced into the design process.
At SPORTSCAR, however, change is allowed to occur all the time, requiring continuous
communication. The design is being refined even when the tooling is being built. This
trend is diametrically opposed to the majority of the automotive industry, and makes
dealing with suppliers more difficult.
Adding Complexity
An additional layer of complexity is added by the very nature of the product itself. As a
basis for comparison, a Japanese competitor has a total of 29 different make-to-order
models on any single platform. On the Roadster alone, SPORTSCAR has 500,000.
Thus, suppliers who are used to working with a high volume product with low change
and low complexity, are clearly going to experience problems.
The Vice President of Procurement believes that the trend of mass customization in the
automotive industry is associated primarily with highly developed countries. While
customization can be done in the aftermarket, it is difficult to customize vehicles without
making significant changes at the design stage. Simply adding “modules” is difficult to
do. The real challenge is that to have a mass customized car, one needs an agile supply
base who can provide variety at a reasonable cost and with high quality. He also believes
that the trend of mass customization will occur more in the future, especially in Europe
and Japan.
In any case, there exists an on-going potential conflict between short leadtimes and
increased complexity. For example, SPORTSCAR is currently producing only 50 cars in
5 special colors, which also have special leather in the door linings, etc. The bumpers for
these cars also have to be painted in the same different colors by suppliers. In the future,
SPORTSCAR hopes to be able to supply an “individual car” in “individual colors”. They
are approaching this goal. For example, a competitor’s model offers 29 make-to-order
options, whereas the SPORTSCAR model offers 500,000 possible combinations of
60,000 different cars. This includes different suspensions, axles, colors, electronics, trim
colors, leather instrument panels and armrests, 4 different soft tops, manual vs. electric
softtops, wheel styles, tires, headlamp washers, traction control, and many other features.
Supply Chain Metrics – F2 Adherance
One of the most important metrics used to measure supply chain performance at
SPORTSCAR is called “F2 Adherence”. This is essentially the percent of vehicles
shipped in accordance with all sales orders in the system within a given timeframe. The
F2 Adherence Goal is 95%.
The timeframe in this case is 2 weeks of orders plus one week of manufacture. This has
recently been modified to one week of orders plus one week of manufacture. For
instance, starting on Monday AM to next Monday PM, all orders placed a week prior to
Monday AM must be shipped by next Monday PM. (Next year, they are going to ship by
Friday PM, which will eliminate the weekend buffer overtime). Up to that 5 day period
on Monday AM, sales can make any changes to an order. That gives them a total of 2
weeks leadtime from the time an order is placed to the time it is shipped.
Given the complexity of the vehicle, this seems like an exceedingly difficult task.
However, simulation studies have revealed that the total percentage change in items
produced should not exceed 10%, which can be accommodated within the current
production systems. At first, it was believed that extra stock would be required within the
system, but with the current window, it will not be needed. It is anticipated that as this
Adherance window continues to shrink, strategic stocks may be needed. Also, if the level
of market change increases above the historic levels used in the simulation, extra stock
may also be required. Finally, it is not clear whether customers even need the vehicle in a
2 week leadtime. Currently, customers can order their vehicles via an on-line system at
dealers.
Purchasing Organization
The Vice President of Procurement has been at this location for two years. He was
formerly at another European operation. The plant was set up by European managers
initially. These managers have progressively been returning to Europe over the last 6
months, and more Americans have been hired. This transition between European and
American managers has been progressing steadily.
Purchasing is organized around several different commodity teams, as follows:
NTM-1 Investments and consumables (buildings, capital equpment, support
requirements, logistics, etc.)
NTM-2 Electronics / Electrical
NTM-3 Exterior powertrain (chassis and power train)
NTM-4 Interior and bumpers, mirrors, soft top, etc.
NTM-5 - planning / control / supplier development / systems support
Each team is run by a manager, with buyers responsible for specific commodities and
suppliers. For instance, the organization of the different commodity teams for interior
and exterior is as follows:
Interior
Sunroof
St. Wheel
Carpet / NVH
Safety restr.
Seats
Materials
Plastic
Inst. panels
Cost
Engineering
Exterior
Body Bumpers
Plastics
Windshield
Assigned to
GRM plant (3
years) SPORTSCAR
network
Another team of buyers is located in Mexico City at a plant, which focuses on paint and
development opportunities. Another small team of buyers is located in Canada. There
are also 4-5 people in another state, who support the sales and marketing functions. This
includes specialty requirements, such as car entertainment and other “add-on” items. The
manager of this support function represents a liaison with colleagues in Europe, and is
acting as a managing/strategic force to provide North American suppliers with access to
future business in European plants. SPORTSCAR currently ships the same value to
Europe as it imports from Europe, to meet NAFTA requirements which stipulates equal
shipment arrangements. However, this involves getting “buy-in” from line buyers in
Europe, as well as influencing R&D people to use North American suppliers. The
SPORTSCAR Board has set targets for NAFTA suppliers to manage currency variations.
(This is part of a longterm plan for NAFTA requirements).
The supplier development part of the organization is organized as follows:
Supplier Development
Acting Manager
Planning / Control
Systems
Support
Admin.
Supplier Development
Activity
New Model
Development
Parts planning
Interior
Exterior
Temporary Support
costing unit
Interfaces / coordinate with
SQA
Note that procurement is not responsible for Supplier Quality Assurance. SQA fits into
the Plant Quality / Audit group. However, the Quality VP, Logistics VP and Procurement
VP meet weekly to coordinate activities. The supplier development people are on
projects and are catalysts of all supplier development activity. However, they rely on
specialists in engineering, manufacturing, logistics, and supplier quality assurance to help
them in their endeavors. They also rely on specialists from SPORTSCAR Headquarters
to aid in development.
Supplier Risk Assessment
Supplier development also runs an on-going risk assessment of its critical current and
future suppliers. The risk assessment is done via a questionnaire carried out by a Supplier
Development person, who spends 2-3 days at the supplier’s site speaking with different
people, ascertaining their knowledge and processes in different areas. The questionnaire
spans a number of different areas, and is structured as follows:
Interface with Supplier Supplier
Interface - Supplier/ Subsupplier
Project Management
Development
Production Planning
Production Planning
Quality Assurance
Logistics
This provides a clearly visible assessment of the entire business chain for the entire
supply base. At the end of the visit, the supplier is given the results of the audit, and
follow-up visits are scheduled as necessary. Each areas is classified using a “Traffic
Light” system of “Red”, “Amber”, or “Green” for each of the major attributes. The table
is also set up to show new suppliers/processes that are highlighted red, and help focus
attention where it is most needed. The checklist then results in a chain of events,
including a report, action plan, and control tool report. High-risk components are
followed-up on a monthly basis. This assessment has only been in place for one year, and
40 suppliers have been assessed. This has produced a detailed risk assessment for each
major component, and everyone is aware of where development needs to occur. In such
cases, it may be decided to intervene and go on-site immediately.
The process is important, as it also provides a “mirror” for SPORTSCAR to assess how
good a job they are doing at communicating requirements to suppliers. For instance, a
supplier was asked if they were given an Engineering Release specification, and the
answer was “no”! In such cases, procurement personnel can use the “red lights” to
understand those areas where they are not providing information that will allow the
suppliers to be successful. In other cases where the supplier is at fault, different functions
will come in as needed and spend time at the supplier’s facility (in some cases for
extended periods of many weeks).
Staffing the Supplier Development Group
The Ideal Development Person has
 very “hands-on” - good technical skills
 good people skills and interaction, (not just “I’m the customer - do as I say!”)
 ability to convince people
 Motivator - must be able to push people to exceed their perceived capabilities
 Good project management skills
One of the reasons why these characteristics are important is because of the need to truly
get suppliers to become motivated. It is easy to show results, but suppliers may be
“forced” into showing these results, and they may not continue in the long term
Major Differences between European and North American Supplier Development
Approaches
SPORTSCAR tends to not just look at one area, but instead focuses on the entire business
chain. This is because of their belief that all processes are closely intertwined. For
instance, a PPM problem might be related to training of associates, environmental factors
or equipment. Quality problems are often related to many different possible causes,
including mixed expectations. As such, the focus is on analyzing the entire business
chain, not just individual processes. As such, they have developed the following twopronged approach:
Process Optimization
Supplier Support
Initially, the focus is on process analysis, and documentation. In the design stage,
questions include “what are the hidden non-visible problems that may exist. This is
followed up by an intervention phase, which is a very methodical all-encompassing
approach.
The primary focus at SPORTSCAR in supplier development is through a program known
as “Process Consulting”. This process was developed originally in Europe, but required
modification before it could be adopted in North America. The revised approach is
“more suited to North American conditions, which are substantially different than the
relatively well-developed supply base conditions in Europe.
Many supplier development efforts in Europe were established primarily with the
objective of reducing cost as early as 5 years ago. Lately, however, the focus has been
more on process optimization, as opposed to cost. Process optimization refers to the
practice of stabilizing processes and reducing parts per million defective, and the methods
to achieve these objectives.
Process Consulting
The primary tool applied in Europe is called “Process Consulting”. Process consulting
involves having a group of SPORTSCAR engineers visit a supplier’s facility, and explain
to the supplier how to improve their process (e.g. in a consulting role). Because of the
cohesiveness that exists within the European culture, such recommendations are easily
adopted by suppliers.
A supplier development manager admits that this is an excellent set of tools, but that the
manner of applying it in the US had to be modified significantly for the US supply base.
Because many of the US suppliers were “not mature”, the process consulting concept had
to be modified significantly. In Europe, the majority of suppliers are very mature in terms
of their process capabilities, and so Process Consulting involved really just “tweaking”
the supplier’s processes. In addition, the cohesiveness that exists between Europeans in
the same country, and the length of the relationship between SPORTSCAR and its
suppliers meant that most suppliers understood SPORTSCAR’s expectations very well.
However, the US suppliers supplying the US plant have relatively new facilities, and
consist in many cases of fewer than 200 employees. The development effort has focused
on helping supplier optimize their systems.
The “Process Consulting” approach involves analyzing and telling suppliers what is
wrong with their process. This works well in mature supplier environments, where the
supplier really understands what the customer wants. Because the customer and the
supplier have worked together over a number of years, a type of “sixth sense” develops,
wherein the supplier intuitively understands the customer’s problems, which precludes
the customer from having to explain their detailed expectations. In such situations, a
supplier can almost “predict” what the customer’s objections will be.
In the case of SPORTSCAR in the US, a very different approach was required. In
Europe, the plants are established, and they have a group of suppliers who have a given
level of understanding with respect to what we want. Here, however, communication
with domestic suppliers requires sharing and a “hands on “ support attitude .
The VP of Procurement noted the following characteristics of applying a “European”
approach to supplier development in the US:
“We have to spend time asking them ‘What is your corrective action plan, and we will
check on you from time to time. We need to suggest possible ways to put solutions in
place - Which actions are more beneficial in a startup phase?’
When we came here, the management teams at the new plant underestimated what
support was needed, and also underestimated what our quality requirements would be.
As a result, we were unprepared to focus our attention on SPORTSCAR’s quality
standards. The supply base really did not understand what would be required of them.
This resulted in a number of “strained relationships” with our supply base. Consequently,
we ended up spending a lot of time communicating and showing them what was needed.
This also led to a major effort to get “buy-in” from these suppliers.
The major difference between our approach and that used in Europe was that we could
not simply act as a “prop” for their improvement, but the challenge was to get them to see
it as a “two-way street”. In many cases, they needed support or needed us to make it
happen - we had to make them undnerstand that it was not simply a matter of “you need
support” or “you need us to make it happen”, but rather that “your problems are our
problems!” “You have good products, bur you have to do better, and we are here to help
you!”
For example, a typical objective is to be 20% over the industry average, plus beat our
competitors. Development is therefore a key impetus to make our suppliers better than
the competition. One of the most important ways to achieve this is to communicate
expectations. We have recently published a document that clearly delineates supplier
responsibilities, process maps, and all expectations. Such a manual has also been
published for our logistics, quality, and engineering functions. Moreover, you must be
able to clearly communicate to people what you want, before you can expect it from
them. To aid in this objective, we also regularly give seminars in which we present our
“Roadmap to Quality”.
This is made all the more difficult because we are a relatively low volume product
(60,000 units per year). At the time that suppliers were nominated / evaluated, some of
their processes were based on a low volume approach, and were not as robust as our
requirements demanded. As a result of the combined effect of new people + capital
equipment problems + low volume processes, the result was many, many problems! To
combat these problems, we worked on process capability (Cpk’s,), training and capital
equipment problems.
A good example of the type of problem encountered was a supplier’s conveyor that was
constantly breaking down, primarily due to poor design, and a temperature controlled
environment that was exceeding the specification level. These two issues results in (1)
shutdowns, and (2) product performance problems.
In the first case (1), the reaction was panic! Above all else, the supplier sought to keep
production going, which in turn affected problem (2). We needed to fix problem (1),
before attacking problem (2).
Resource Availability
SPORTSCAR does not provide financial support other than owning production tooling at
the supplier’s location. They have provided the services of several people over a few
weeks, and have also offered suppliers support any time they request it. For example,
maintenance engineering people, and procurement / logistics / quality people have been
sent as needed to help suppliers.
The current focus is that they no longer have problem-driven projects, but are paretodriven in the last 4-5 months to identify problems and prevent them from getting any
worse.
The Importance of Communication
A major challenge that exists at SPORTSCAR involves standardizing expectations
between here (the US) and Europe, as well as between purchasing and quality.
SPORTSCAR in the US currently has 70 people in Supplier Quality Assurance. Their
intention is not have increase inspection, but they invariably require inspection for new
suppliers.
An important lesson learned by SPORTSCAR is for a supplier who is qualified and
considered excellent in Europe, their subsidiary in North America may not be capable of
meeting the same standards. Globalization involves more than just bringing in equipment
and standards from Europe. Moreover, there are often problems in enforcing
expectations, and increased training is often required.
One of the biggest problems involved the surface of bumpers and body panels, which
often had scratches, etc. In setting expectations, it was important to communicate that it
was not just a matter of right vs. wrong, but a matter of setting objective criteria. For
instance, setting the standard might involve telling the supplier to hold the part under a
light, and examining it at a certain angle to look for marks. For suppliers to understand
these expectations, face-to-face discussions and communication and training is required.
This discrepancy was also confirmed in discussions with a supplier for SPORTSCAR.
Engineers at the supplier confirmed that SPORTSCAR placed a strong emphasis on
physical appearance of body parts, but that such expectations were not clearly
communicated in the blueprint design. Moreover, it was often difficult express physical
appearances / finish on a blueprint, meaning that face-to-face meetings were necessary.
As a result, the supplier development organization at SPORTSCAR now emphasizes that
the most important and primary task with suppliers is to set standards that everyone
understands and agrees to. This is not so much a problem in electronics, but involves a
huge problem in bodywork. Because SPORTSCAR pays a lot of attention to detail, a big
challenge is to reduce cost and reduce over-design, with the objective of competing with
the “same product” from the customer’s perspective, even though it is built in the US, not
Europe.
A key concept involves having supplier understand where they are in their growth and
development curve. For instance, many suppliers needed help initially just to get product
out the door. In such cases, the emphasis was on solving the big problems that might lead
to parts shortages, before attacking the big problems. In the first year of production,
suppliers experienced severe ramp-up problems in response to the increases in production
demands. In this phase of development, SPORTSCAR weeded out 50% of the supply
base if necessary. Some suppliers had gone through setup just a few months before, but
because of their inability to ramp up, were shut out of the supply base.
For example, one supplier set up a paint line, but was unable to meet the different set of
environmental standards imposed by SPORTSCAR. They had hired a group of people
who hadn’t worked with paint processes before, and simply had no idea of cleanliness
and environmental standards. In such cases, although the supplier had good methods,
they required significant amounts of “massaging” before they could be used as a supplier.
In some circles, the level of “hands-on” support is viewed as “doing suppliers’ job for
them” - in reality, this level of support actually involves training the supplier to become
self-sufficient. In this respect, supplier development can be very tricky. One manager
noted that “when our people leave, the supplier cannot “fall apart” again. We need to
come back in some cases and help them get back on their feet again.”
Supplier Responses
In some cases, suppliers have very emotional responses, and object outright to these
efforts. A supplier development manager emphasizes that in such cases, it is important to
dig in and understand the root causes of such objections: “You need to understand their
particular situation, and customize your approach to their way of thinking, in order to get
them to improve in the manner that you want. SPORTSCAR’s approach is methodical,
but flexible enough to allow customization to a particular supplier.
For example one supplier had very a very different understanding of SPORTSCAR’s
expectations, because the supplier was interpreting what we said differently based on
what other car companies (in this case, Ford Q1’s program) wanted. One SPORTSCAR
manager conceded that “This was our fault - we were communicating expectations with
too many implicit assumptions. For instance - what is an FMEA? We needed to go
through this process in detail.”
The task of getting suppliers to comply is made even more difficult by the low leverage
SPORTSCAR has, because of their lower volumes. However, because they are a
“prestige” customer, many suppliers have used the business as a vehicle for improvement.
Many have viewed it as a challenge to their quality standards which is forcing them to reexamine their boundaries. As a result of their efforts, suppliers have developed ways to
increase speed and responsiveness.
Results
The results to date have been excellent. SPORTSCAR’s cost reductions to date have
been 3% annually, which has exceeded expectations and indeed has surpassed that
achieved in Europe.
The F2 Adherence has routinely been 90-91%. The goal of 95% has been hit only once in
the last 9 weeks (since going from 3 to 2 weeks), but is improving.
PPM has been reduced by 60% in the last year. In the case of one supplier, they went
from 20,000 PPM to 232 in one year.
Conclusions
Managers at SPORTSCAR feel that most of the barriers to successful supplier
development are primarily “soft” issues. Technology and engineering are usually not the
problem. One cannot “buy” management skills, attitude, and acceptance, and that these
elements are therefore the most important when selecting/qualifying suppliers.
Although SPORTSCAR is a prestigious customer, it is not a big one, (compared to Ford,
Saturn, GM, Chrysler, etc.) When it comes to crunch time, these customers inevitably get
priority. Therefore, SPORTSCAR needs to further develop the relationship, and get
suppliers to understand the value of the relationship.
The most important pr in successfully deploying Supplier Development is to state “Let’s
look at where we will be down the road”. Do you want to be the sole source for most of
our parts, or not? Currently, SPORTSCAR has 60-70 sole source tier one suppliers, and
hopes to increase this number in the future.