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How Can I Develop Better Relationships with Suppliers?

 


Can you find a role model? When Cagwin & Dorward Landscape Contractors, in Novato, Calif., won a contract with Hewlett-Packard, the landscape company got a supplier relations model as well as a prized client. Using the supplier-evaluation criteria developed by Hewlett-Packard, Cagwin & Dorward, which expected $13.3 million in 1996 sales, evaluated its own suppliers in such areas as technology, responsiveness and customer service. According to chief operating officer Wayne Richards, the new standards helped Cagwin & Dorward identify unsatisfactory suppliers--so that it could work more closely with those remaining.

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