Due to the immense resources required to bring complex products to market on a global scale, supply chain professionals must foster earlier and closer supply-partner relationships to stimulate the intimate collaboration needed to realize the mutual value that can be created from lean extended-enterprise concepts.

The global market for industrial fasteners is massive and complicated, and forecasted to reach $81 Billion USD by 2018. Knowing a few key characteristics about the fasteners you are sourcing will expedite and improve sourcing results.

Being a leader in the supply chain industry means using every tool at your disposal, making smart decisions, and consistently executing to the best of your ability. This starts by being informed of, and staying up to date on, industry trends and news headlines, especially those relevant to your sector, whether your focus is motorsports or consumer packaged goods.

Forging is now a major global industry, supplying components for many of the world’s most innovative products and industries, which makes it imperative for supply chain professionals sourcing forged components to understand the process types, value stream map, technical advantages, and early supply partner involvement to effectively execute strategic procurement.

We recently sat down with Ryan Toon, Purchasing Program Manager at Ford Motor Company, to aid our efforts in assembling a list of the top habits every supply chain leader should aspire to exude.

Facilities that see ISO registration as an opportunity to improve Quality Assurance (QA) and supply chain integration of quality standards will support a more effective supply chain.