A food manufacturer asks packaging suppliers to submit ideas to reduce damage, improve shelf presentation, and lower handling costs. After three months, many ideas have been submitted, but suppliers complain that they receive no response, plant managers say some ideas are impractical, finance says benefits are not quantified consistently, and supply management cannot show which suggestions were accepted, rejected, or still under review. How can senior management preserve supplier involvement but stop the process from becoming an informal suggestion box?

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Limit future ideas to suppliers with the largest annual spend because high-volume suppliers are more likely to submit useful suggestions.

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Introduce a formal process for recording, screening, evaluating, responding to, and tracking supplier ideas, including how accepted benefits will be measured and shared.

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Accept only ideas that can be implemented without buyer resources because this prevents disputes over cost and benefit sharing.

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Ask suppliers to present all ideas directly to plant managers so that supply management does not delay technical evaluation.

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A food manufacturer asks packaging suppliers to submit ideas to reduce damage, i...

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