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Forging closer supplier-customer relationships

Strong commercial relationships between customers and suppliers drive long-lasting mutual benefits, and recent supply chain disruptions prove resilient relationships have never been more critical. As supply chains become more complex, with more frequent disruptions, partnerships with strong end-to-end communication help customers and suppliers better navigate market turbulence. Our experts will help you understand what stakeholders want from you and what you can do to improve commercial relationships. We can conduct surveys from all points of view of the supply chain, including voice-of-the-customer or voice-of-the-supplier studies, and then help turn that feedback into actionable steps. Read on to learn more or contact our experts.

We know that using honest feedback from surveys to facilitate improvement reduces friction and unintended costs along the supply chain. That’s why, in addition to other industry studies, Plante Moran offers the widely quoted industry benchmark, the Working Relations Index® (WRI®) Study, which allows suppliers to provide confidential feedback to the Big Six North American OEMs. For more information on the WRI or to participate, reach out to our team.

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June 17, 2024

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Meet the Team

Do you understand how your supply chain partners view you? How can your business grow and improve with the benefit of smoother supplier and customer relationships with better communication? In addition to our WRI® Study, our experts can provide several services to help you understand what stakeholders want from you and what you can do to improve commercial relationships.

  • Voice-of-the-customer studies measure customers’ perception of your competitiveness, technology innovation, and specific measures related to new business sourcing. Our experts interpret the results and work with you to identify action plans to position your company resources to meet customer expectations.
  • Voice-of-the-supplier studies measure the effectiveness of the interface between purchasing and other functions with your supply base. Our experts interpret the results and work with you to identify purchasing agent and business practice improvements related to becoming a customer of choice.
  • Strategic planning, market assessment, and organizational effectiveness are engagements supported in response to customer and supplier studies.
  • Executive training for onboarding new purchasing and account executives is custom work based on factual survey data.