2. Cost reduction. Supple suppliers find ways to increase your bottom line by reducing supply chain costs. Opportunist suppliers, on the other hand, try to fine-tune services to maximize their own profits. This approach robs companies of the very benefits outsourcing offers.
Logistics providers owe their customers the best prices and highest productivity possible on a continuous basis. A supple supplier makes the necessary investments to determine how best to refine logistics processes and systems to generate positive results.
Opportunists think they can provide a service, then forget about you—except when it's time to send invoices. Supple suppliers don't forget about your needs.
3. Increased productivity. Outsourced logistics suppliers can help companies continually raise the bar by stimulating internal employees. After all, internal employees and outsourced logistics suppliers have the same objective—finding better and more cost-efficient ways to handle logistics operations.
This may be a competitive situation, but it is a positive one. Instead of guessing about productivity targets and how to improve them, for example, companies working with a supple supplier get a stream of productivity enhancement suggestions and cost-cutting proposals.
The ideas behind supple suppliers are the same as those behind Six Sigma and lean manufacturing—improving processes while cutting costs. If your logistics suppliers don't offer these benefits, they are probably more focused on their bottom line than yours.