Article: A 'Dear casting supplier' letter.(misuse of the partnering concept)(Editorial)

A conversation with a foundry executive last week on the subject of today's foundry-customer "partnerships" ended with my receiving a "get-a-load-of-this" fax. It was a "Dear Valued Casting Supplier" letter his foundry received from a customer. Take my word for it, the tone in this form letter that demanded a 4% price reduction (or else pay a rebate) was less than cordial, and flies in the face of what OEMs so often preach about their dealings with suppliers.

This correspondence, and a few other things, has had me pondering the frequent misuse of the word "partner" that has now rendered the buzzword near meaningless.

This foundryman attributed such OEM ...

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