Assignment Task: Maryann Franklin Industries Connie Fox is chief executive officer of Maryann Franklin Industries (MFI). MFI is feeling the pressure of a declining economy. Connie knows they will weather this storm; however, she believes this is the time to institute better cost controls. MFI has grown very quickly over the last ten years and Connie realizes that with the growth came some cost issues that were ignored. She feels that the current situation provides an excellent opportunity to have her staff look into approaches to reduce expenses. Connie knows that every department had opportunities to reduce expenses; however, she believes the buggiest opportunity is in the supply chain management division. Leonard Butler is her vice president of supply chain management. Connie told Leonard that she needed him to find ways to reduce cost without reducing quality. Furthermore, if possible, she would be delighted if he could actually improve quality while still reducing cost. Leonard brought his staff together to discuss the task. Johnathan Robert, director of supply chain management, suggested a three-pronged approach. The first prong would be to examine the number of suppliers and determine if there were ways to reduce the number. He believed that through supply base optimization, MFI could implement significant reductions in cost. Johnathan believed that a key tool in supply base optimization was to segment the suppliers, based on risk or value. Johnathan's second idea was to review their current global contracts with their suppliers and determine which ones could be renegotiated. His thought was that if they explained to the suppliers that they were working on reducing their supply base, some would be amenable to negotiations. Leonard chimed in and said that was a good idea. He stated, "We must make sure we do not prose this as a threat. Instead, explain that we hope they see this as an opportunity to strengthen our relationship and to build a stronger strategic alliance." The third prong was to engage outside sources to help MFI find best practices within the supply chain community. Benchmarking against what other companies are doing would be the most effective and efficient method for improvement.
1. Johnathan Robert suggested that segmenting their suppliers would enable supply base optimization. Utilize the Internet to research ways to segment suppliers. Find at least three categories of segmentation and explain how these support supply base optimization.
2. Although Leonard agreed with Johnathan's idea about renegotiating contracts with suppliers, he did have a major concern. Was Leonard proposing they engage in collaborative or disruptive negotiations? Explain what attributes of the specific type of negotiations you picked. Support your choice and how they relate to Leonard's concern.