| Supplier Relationship Management (or SRM) means | | | | A selection of benefits from SRM can include the |
| different things to different people. For example, | | | | following, depending on the industry you are in. |
| type the phrase into a search engine such as Google | | | | Service related benefitso Early supplier involvement |
| and you will get more than two million hits, many of | | | | helps to shape the question that their product or |
| which relate to software applications for recording | | | | service aims to answer for you and so gives a more |
| and analysing supplier data. | | | | effective solutiono Captures and shares IPRo |
| Others think of SRM as a means of monitoring, | | | | Provides a better balance between technical and |
| measuring and reporting supplier performance. | | | | purchasing requirementso Reduces the supplier |
| What you should do in your supplier relationship | | | | learning curveo Acts as a free source for "hot |
| management programme is to use a process with | | | | housing" and incubating new ideas and problem solving |
| which you can systematically find and deliver | | | | Commercial related benefitso Lower cost of bidding |
| opportunities for delivering cost and service benefits | | | | and engagemento Marginal costs from account |
| (both immediate and longer term) that your | | | | planningo Lower costs from target costing and |
| colleagues value and for initiating innovation and | | | | benchmarkingo Reduced costs from supply chain |
| continuous improvement. | | | | management i.e. |