In the retail industry, how you build and manage the relationship with your suppliers will have a significant influence on the outcome of your project. Therefore, it is crucial to build and maintain a trustworthy relationship and working arrangement with your suppliers. However, in many instances your suppliers may be located in a remote location and therefore managing those suppliers, their team, and your project from a distance can be an overwhelming task. Vincent Breitel, Associate Director of leading sourcing and supply chain management company Genesis Solutions, has provided some key points to follow when managing suppliers from afar.
1. Start by spending quality time working with your suppliers:
Building a trustworthy relationship with your suppliers will have a strong influence on the success of your project. It is important to establish these relationships at the very start of your collaboration in order to set the standards for the rest of your working relationship. Spending quality time at the beginning of the relationship allows you to help their team understand your project requirements, the service standards to be achieved, and provide them with a sense of ownership of your project. If the team has a clear understanding of what is required, and feel connected to the project, this will result in better outcomes as your project progresses. It is at this time that you will be able to evaluate the supplier’s resources, check they have the capacity and skills necessary for your project, and identify any areas of concern. This is a very important process in order to establish the leadership structure, assess the supplier’s team, identify any initial issues, and create a trustworthy connection so that your project can be carried out smoothly.
2. Create your communication strategy:
One of the key factors required to maintain control of your project remotely is implementing an effective communications strategy. In order to make informed decisions it is imperative that you receive continual up-to-date and accurate information about your project. Again, this is another important step to set up at the start of the project. Ideally, setting up a weekly reporting and communication system will allow you to receive project updates on a regular basis. Ensure that the reports cover all aspects of your project. This should include production status, updates on design specifications, project risks, outstanding approvals and the procurement status including quality control reports, warehouse inventory, and logistic status updates. Receiving accurate comprehensive weekly reports will provide you with strong transparency of your project, and will allow you to identify successes and failures from afar. We would suggest, certainly at the beginning of a working relationship, that reports and information are validated through factory visits. This will develop trust and responsibility for accuracy which is essential.
3. Help them to help you:
When a report is not up to standard, or a meeting or deadline has been delayed, be a mentor and not an executioner. By taking the time to explain to the supplier what is wrong and why, this message will be better received than just providing negative feedback. This approach is more likely to see change and improvements, and overall will have a positive effect on your working relationship.
It is also important to note that working remotely involves many emails, and sometimes the context or tone of the email can be misunderstood by the recipient. Therefore it’s a better option to provide constructive feedback if there is an issue, rather than a message that could be received as rude and negative. Managing by email is not the solution!
Always remember that even the worst situations have a solution. If your supplier has not been able to identify a solution themselves, then recognise the need to assist them, as inevitably this is in your best interest. Take the time to understand the root cause of the issue to avoid the same issue reoccurring. You could also consider this approach at different phases of the project, to identify and mitigate any potential issues in the future, which could save you time and money down the track.
4. Listen!
Throughout the duration of your project, there will be many opportunities to receive recommendations and advice from your supplier. A reliable supplier will actively provide new solutions and recommendations to improve your product and reduce your costs. It is important to pay attention to these ideas as some of them may be very beneficial to achieving your project goals. However, in contrast, keep in mind that some ideas put forward might be short-cuts and only in the best interest of the supplier. Listen to all ideas that your supplier suggests, so that you can rationally evaluate which are beneficial and which of them are not worth pursuing.
5. Seek the expertise of specialists
In some instances, the success of your project will rely on expertise that neither you nor your supplier can provide. If you realise you are in this situation, seek support from those who are experts and specialists in the industry. By utilizing the knowledge and expertise of others, they will be able to offer professional and targeted solutions leading to improved outcomes for your project.
Vincent Breitel is Associate Director of Genesis Solutions Ltd, and has been developing retail supply chain strategies for international clients of Genesis and partner company EC Harris. Based in China since 2008, Vincent has been working in different manufacturing businesses and has strong experience in addressing sourcing and procurement challenges facing clients in China.
Genesis Solutions is a leading provider of sourcing and supply chain management services specializing in fixtures, furniture, components and other non-consumable products for the retail sector. Based in Hong Kong with offices in China, Singapore and India, Genesis provides convenient access to manufacturers across Asia.
Find out more at Genesis Solutions.