Delivering the level of performance required by customers today is a prerequisite for a successful partnership. Whether we are talking about small businesses or international companies, there are always indicators that constantly monitor and evaluate performance. It could be on-time loading or unloading, real-time traceability of the transport, or the possibility to offer extra capacity with a pre-notice that sometimes becomes real-time.
The ones described above are not isolated cases. On the contrary, they are already seen by markets as a working standard.
In these conditions, a dense and well-trained fleet of subcontractors is essential to put into practice the level of services that we assume in front of our clients.
There are differences from industry to industry and often even within the same sector in terms of customer demands, in other words SLA – service-level agreement.
A good strategy for their fulfilment is two-fold: in-depth knowledge of the client and of its sector of activity, and then the efficient management of the carrier network.
The key role in the management and development of the network of subcontractors belongs to the Procurement department, which works with identical concepts to the management of a client portfolio (KAM).
The Procurement Specialist is the one who has the responsibility to identify the right subcontractors, negotiate and implement a potential collaboration. The continuous growth of the carrier base is the main objective. Another important responsibility is to identify those carriers with whom long-term relationships can be created, in the form of a partnership in a dedicated / exclusive agreements.