Yesterday I read in a Bloomberg article by Christopher Jasper, Benjamin D Katz, and Julie Johnsson that “General Electric Co., the world’s biggest jet-engine maker, said it’s not prepared to enter a three-way race for turbine production on Boeing Co.’s planned mid-sized plane because a fragmented market wouldn’t justify the investment needed. Should Boeing opt for more than two suppliers, “we’re out,” David Joyce, head of GE’s aero-engines arm, said at the Paris Air Show, adding that his company still carries “scars” from being one of three engine providers on the Airbus SE A330 two decades ago.”
Often procurement professionals are quick to drive for cost reduction by leveraging competition among suppliers. When there’s more than one supplier, they go forward without thinking of the position of the category in the portfolio segmentation analysis. In an industry like aerospace where suppliers must deliver capacity, investment and innovation value, there is extreme risk in losing a strategic partner when procurement tries to leverage those suppliers. Yesterday Boeing revised its 20-year industry forecast to 41,030 jetliners; to send the capacity of a key supplier to a competitor could result in a costly failure to deliver.
It’s always important to assess the strategic nature of suppliers when adding competition. It’s especially important to understand the relationship and value that is received. In strategic procurement, it’s critical to assess the industry 5- 10 years into the future. If the supplier has built a strategic relationship and is delivering significant value, you could really undermine or kill the relationship by adding competition. The best rule of thumb is to maximize competition when you are confident you are dealing with a commodity.
Corporate memories are long! One client I worked with used competition incorrectly many years before and, when the industry consolidated to two suppliers, this company was stuck with a sole source (the wronged supplier would not do business with them) for 17 years until the management of the alternate supplier retired.
Do you threaten strategic suppliers with competition?
Sourcing Guy 