Working hand-in-hand with the client, 3SIXTY’s Head of Process Excellence, Aidan Magner, led the team tasked with delivering the Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) strategy.

Working closely with the Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) team, we developed a joint vision which aligned supplier engagement and S&OP.

Together we set up and delivered a commodity strategy for the organisation, with a focus on building strong and reliable links with the client’s most important suppliers. As part of this, we implemented Performance Management techniques across Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers. This involved monthly performance reports as well as quarterly business reviews.

The client understood that a key part of the success of this project was going to be the involvement of the suppliers. With this in mind, suppliers were invited to become part of the long-term vision for the organisation. They were brought on a journey to understand how this new platform would be of mutual benefit. Critically, both the supplier and our client would share in the associated cost savings.

To deliver on what the client had identified, we implemented Event-Driven Cost Reduction platforms. This involved each “event” having a structured, planned and executed process that resulted in cost reductions (these could be resourcing events, requalification events, redesign events, or elimination events), with an agreed plan of action based on Lean Six Sigma tools and techniques.

As part of this, the client had the vision to invest in Lean Six Sigma training (Black Belt & Green Belt) for suppliers because they understood that the return on this investment would be significant in terms of higher quality and lower cost from these suppliers.