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52 PCB007 MAGAZINE I MAY 2021 In his book, Schonberger writes that "world- class manufacturing depends on blended man- agement—rather than domination by a sepa- rate group of managers—which marshalls re- sources for continual rapid improvement. To achieve world-class status, companies must change procedures and concepts, which in turn leads to recasting relations among suppli- ers, purchasers, producers, and customers." In Chapter 9, "Partners in Profit: Suppliers, Carriers, Customers," Schonberger writes in one section of the discussion: "Exact as much as possible at the lowest price om your suppliers and carriers of materials, provide the least possible service at the highest price to your customers. Harsh sounding , but good business? If it ever was, it's not anymore." I-Connect007 readers who follow the col- umns of Anaya Vardya and Alfred Macha will recall that partnership is an ongoing topic in building not only positive customer relation- ships but also good supplier relationships. We are, aer all, suppliers to our customers, and customers to our suppliers. e current tech- niques for creating a supply chain partnership are quite in keeping with Schonberger's com- ments in the mid-1980s. On page 155, he warns that your partners will not be at their best if: • You beat down the price so much that your provider or customer is unprofitable, unable to invest in improvements, and perhaps unable to stay in business • Your withholding of information on capacity plans, product plans, and demand forecasts causes your supplier/carrier to design, buy, build, and ship late—or early • Your failure to specify requirements clearly makes it impossible for your supplier to assure quality at the source • Your failure to share your knowledge of best business practices contributes to their inability to keep up and stay attractive as your providers or customers • Your energy is expended in the search for new providers and customers, which results in a continual succession of startups and no movement up the learning curve • Your lack of interest and reluctance to keep in close touch leads them to treat you as an adversary Schonberger shares examples of how to turn these adversarial tactics around. In one exam- ple, programs at Polaroid were put in place so that a supplier's request for a price increase based on increasing costs was met first by a consulting session with Polaroid experts who oen helped the supplier find cost savings in their manufacturing processes to offset the cost increases elsewhere, thereby keeping the price to Polaroid stable. Shrinking your supplier base is an argument that Schonberger supports, pointing out the time and staffing savings by doing so (and cit- ing examples). He also advocated tough con- tractual requirements to keep the supplier in the mode of continual and rapid improvement. Shiing this mid-'80s perspective into the early 2020s, much of the thinking still holds true. Nearly 40 years later, we are still seeing some of the old school management styles and manufacturing thinking that was prevalent in post-WWII manufacturing. In the interven- ing years, one could argue that purchasing de- partments concentrated so single-mindedly on price and single-sourcing that the resilience was only offered by a larger number of poten- tial suppliers. e list of bad practices I men- tioned continues in play even up to today. So, how does an OEM firm, designing and specif ying electronics assemblies for their products, manage the competing needs of few- er parts and fewer suppliers, and yet still main- tain a flexible supply chain? Recent supply chain revelations have made it clear that good business operations in man- ufacturing must rely on reliable and resilient supply chains. Yet, in the name of price-cut- ting, supply chains tend to become more con- solidated rather than more dispersed. [2] Schonberger offers a possible solution in Chapter 9. He recounts an anecdote from a