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• 1. Communication and Transparency: Open and transparent communication between buyers and suppliers is crucial for successful collaboration. This will include information sharing, transparency in processes and visibility into manufacturing and inventory levels. This helps suppliers better understand the buyer's needs, enabling them to plan and respond more efficiently.
• 2. Forecast Sharing: Collaborative planning and forecasting involve buyers sharing market intelligence, sales data, insights and accurate and real-time forecast data via a user-friendly supplier portal and supplier continuously accessing the data, reviewing it and confirming it. This helps align production and inventory levels with actual market demand, reducing the risk of overstock or stockouts.
• 3. Performance Measurement: Establishing shared performance metrics and KPIs and sharing them through an online vendor scorecard helps regularly reviewing and analysing these metrics which leads to continuous improvement and constructive feedback.
• 4. Risk Management: A collaborative approach helps in identifying and mitigating potential risks in the supply chain. By sharing information about market trends, disruptions, and potential challenges, companies and suppliers can jointly develop strategies to address and overcome potential disruptions, such as geopolitical events, natural disasters, or changes in market conditions.
• 5. Technology: Implementing shared technology platforms and systems enables real-time visibility into the supply chain and helps Buyer-Supplier Collaboration by using common tools for order tracking, inventory management, and other processes, promoting transparency and collaboration. In addition, using advanced big data analytics technologies can play an instrumental role in improving suppliers management and collaboration. It resolves several pain points at strategic, operational, and tactical levels. It can hav a hugh impact on all supply chain activities. It ranges from improving delivery times to identifying ways to reduce the communication gap between manufacturers and suppliers.

Collaboration between the supply chain and procurement organizations and their suppliers, can evolve into a strategic partnership when both parties work together to achieve shared goals, create mutual value, and build a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship.

This will help mitigate risks in the supply chain and create a more resilient and efficient supply chain ecosystem that will enhance performance and transform the supply chain from a reactive to a proactive methodology.