Communication issues hamper supplier experience

The supply chain is complicated enough, now a survey is showing that big business may be making it more difficult.

HICX, which offers a supplier experience platform to businesses, surveyed 1,000 suppliers serving large multinational firms for its Voice of the Supplier Survey 2024. What it found is that supplier experience is a major problem for many suppliers.

“We found that supplier experience is still a problem,” Costas Xyloyiannis, HICX’s CEO, said. “Presently, 59% of suppliers struggle to do their best for major customers, compared with 61% in the previous (2021) study. This very minor improvement is concerning. With supply chain resilience so critical to business success in today’s economy, it’s time this figure drops.”

The major issue, the survey found, is communication. Nearly all respondents (98%) said they need their biggest customers to communicate better.

“Not nearly enough leaders are working with suppliers in a modern and helpful way. Rather, people are clinging to the idea of running supplier transactions, and then from this baseline, trying to manage suppliers. Don’t get me wrong, transacting is important. But in today’s landscape supplier collaboration is more important. It’s time, therefore, to shake up supplier management and put collaboration first,” Xyloyiannis said.

Collaboration is not happening, or at least often enough. Nearly half of respondents said they find it hard to resolve queries with their customers and this is leading to a more difficult relationship. Many suppliers, the survey found, feel too “stretched to volunteer new ideas and they find big customers unpleasant to work with.”

The survey also found that if customers were easier to work with, suppliers believe they can deliver better service, including faster transmission of data and quicker response to requests.

“If staying resilient within an ever-changing world relies so heavily on supplier relationships, why aren’t we giving suppliers a more collaborative experience? Why aren’t we communicating with them better? Unlocking their best? Those leaders who get this right will create the opportunity to make their businesses truly competitive,” Xyloyiannis concludes.

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