Communication is key to supplier relations
Reprints
Print
Respond
DETROIT -- A purchasing panel of suppliers and automakers told the Automotive News World Congress how they seek to improve communication and collaboration in the supply chain.
Nissan Motor Co. relies on a supplier council to provide feedback on Nissan's purchasing, said Rebecca Vest, vice president of purchasing at Renault-Nissan.
The council, set up last year, has representatives from 12 parts makers who offer what she said was sometimes "excruciatingly candid feedback" about areas in need of improvement.
"In 2012 we are going to cross off methodically the open items that exist from the supplier council," said Vest, 45.
Dan Knott, 51, Chrysler Group's purchasing boss, said Chrysler will overhaul the way it communicates with its suppliers in an effort to give suppliers a single set of expectations rather than several that may be contradictory.
The new initiative, dubbed "One Voice," will roll out from the second quarter through year end, with leaders from engineering, purchasing, and supplier quality meeting with suppliers to lay out expectations.
Bob Young, vice president of purchasing at Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, said coordination with parts makers was essential to Toyota's recovery from the March 11 earthquake in Japan.
Young, 45, called suppliers "the real heroes" in getting Toyota's assembly lines back online. But the quake also exposed just how little communication there is between automakers and lower-tier suppliers, many of whom were all but unknown until plants were idled by the disaster.
Rob Deni, 49, vice president of global supply management at BorgWarner Inc., said the company is pursuing collaborations with companies outside the auto industry.
The goal is to pair with noncompeting companies that use similar processes or tap similar supply bases for components and materials.
Often they have innovative purchasing methods that are unknown inside the automotive industry, said Deni..
BorgWarner, for example, is cooperating with a maker of speakers and headphones to find new methods to acquire the rare-earth metals that are used increasingly in hybrid vehicle batteries and the electric motors of battery-powered cars.
Emilio Esparza, 47, director of purchasing at Valeo North America, said cooperation and clear communication between automakers and suppliers is especially important as the recovering industry races to meet a surging customer demand.
"Growth with innovation is done together," he said. "If you want to go fast, you can run alone. If you want to go far, you have to run together."
 | Photo credit: GLENN TRIEST |
Rob Deni
Title: Vice president, global supply management
Company: BorgWarner Inc.
Main point: BorgWarner seeks partners outside the auto industry for collaboration.
Quote: "It's amazing how much you can learn when you collaborate with people in noncompeting industries."
 | Photo credit: GLENN TRIEST |
Emilio Esparaza
Title: Director, purchasing
Company: Valeo North America
Main point: Having a global footprint, a record for innovation and the ability to fulfill localized needs are keys to winning new business with automakers.
Quote: "The success of a Tier 1 supplier depends on the quality of its relationship with the customer and their relationship with the supply base."
 | Photo credit: GLENN TRIEST |
Dan Knott
Title: Senior vice president, purchasing and supplier quality
Company: Chrysler Group
Main point: Chrysler will speak with "One Voice" to suppliers.
Quote: "We had engineering saying one thing and purchasing saying another."
 | Photo credit: GLENN TRIEST |
Rebecca Vest
Title: Vice president, purchasing
Company: Renault-Nissan Purchasing Organization
Main point: Nissan listens closely to supplier input through a new supplier council.
Quote: "The supplier council has 12 supplier companies on it who are giving us very candid, sometimes excruciatingly candid, feedback about the areas in which we need to improve."
Photo credit: GLENN TRIEST
Bob Young
Title: Vice president, purchasing
Company: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America Inc.
Main point: Close ties with suppliers bailed Toyota out of the earthquake crisis.
Quote: "The only way to achieve a long-term partnership is for people to check their egos and not to take advantage of their power card over time."
You can reach Hans Greimel at hgreimel@crain.com. -- Follow Hans on 
