It is clean and brightly lit, with nary a conveyor belt or storage bin. Delivery
trucks will unload parts just a few meters from the assembly line; they will drive
in one door and out another to eliminate the need for backing in and out of loading docks. Hundreds of such details add up to huge efficiencies.
A single vendor for each material is the ideal; in practice, a second vendor may be
used to ensure sufficient supply in periods of unusually high demand. The goal is long-
term vendor relationships. rather than short-run price breaks. Selecting and monitoring
vendors requires a system of vendor performance appraisal that quantitatively rates each
supplier on timely deliveries. quality of materials, and price competitiveness. rather than