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Article: Suppliers: friend or foe? Traditional supplier management strategies begin to blur in the automotive industry. (The Automotive Buy).
- Article from:
- Purchasing
- Article date:
- February 6, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. (US). This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Historically there have been two schools of supplier management in the automotive industry. The U.S.-based automakers over the years gained a reputation for focusing on price reductions from suppliers and the slumping automotive market in recent years has intensified some of that pressure. Japanese carmakers like Honda and Toyota, however, became known for building long-term, close-knit relationships with top suppliers under the keiretsu system, which had OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) owning a percentage of its top suppliers. But in recent years, the strategies of individual automakers have begun to blur the lines as consolidation continues in the industry and ...