PRINCIPLES OF CUSTOMER/SUPPLIER RELATIONS
In order to ensure the practice of continuous process improvement, it is essential for the organisations to have partnering atmosphere with suppliers. In this regard, Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa has suggested ten principles, which are presented in Table .1.
Table .1. Ishikawa’s 10 principles for customer/supplier relations
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1. Both the customer and the supplier are fully responsible for the control of quality.
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2. Both the customer and the supplier should be independent of each other and respect each other’s independence.
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3. The customer is responsible for providing the supplier with clear and sufficient requirements so that the supplier can know precisely what to produce.
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4. Both the customer and the supplier should enter into an non-adversarial contract with respect to quality, quantity, price, delivery method and terms of payments.
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5. The supplier is responsible for providing the quality that will satisfy the customer and submitting necessary data upon the customer’s request.
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6. Both the customer and the supplier should decide the methods to evaluate the quality of the product or service to the satisfaction of both parties.
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7. Both the customer and the supplier should establish in the contract the method by which they can reach an amicable settlement of any disputes that may arise.
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8. Both the customer and the supplier should continually exchange information, sometimes using multifunctional teams, in order to improve the product or service quality.
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9. Both the customer and the supplier should perform business activities such as procurement, production and inventory planning, clerical work and systems so that an amicable and satisfactory relationship is maintained.
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10. When dealing with business transactions, both the customer and the supplier should always have the best interest of the end user in mind.
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