For many businesses, as much as 80% of product cost is comprised of goods or services provided by external suppliers. And often workers inside a business will tell you that about 80% of their headaches have something to do with those suppliers. Yet, the traditional arm’s length relationships between customers and external suppliers create significant barriers to improving this situation. To reap the most benefits of continuous improvement over the long term, companies must reach beyond their own 4 walls and engage the extended value stream.

"Supplier Kaizen" uses entertaining (yet reality based) skits and interviews with practitioners who are reaping the benefits of supplier kaizen in their companies, and explores how to break through some of these barriers to create a true win-win scenario - advantages for both you, the customer, and your suppliers. Shorter lead-times, better quality, faster delivery, and yes, reduced costs are natural outcomes of these new and improved relationships. We speak often of employee empowerment. Well this is all about supplier empowerment.