Supplier development is the process of working with suppliers to improve performance and expand their business capabilities to the benefit of the buying organization.
Supplier development is employed by many top-tier corporate supplier diversity programs because of the benefits:
- Improved transparency between the buying organization and the supplier
- Improved collaboration between organization and supplier
- Streamlined and reduced sourcing activities and lead times
- Improved quality, manufacturability, and reliability for new designs
- Increased supplier responsiveness
- Increased customer satisfaction
- Increased awareness of supplier diversity
- Increased visibility of full supply base to procurement, quality, and management departments