As a customer, you are doing well, doing everything right, lots of customers, busy staff.
A supplier lets you down:
- No parts arriving
- Delays to customers
- Reputation in tatters
- Staff on short time
- Some leave, thus loss of key personnel
- Can’t sell because you can only make part of the product
- Cashflow ruined
As a supplier:
- Natural disaster
- Raw materials don’t arrive
- Civil unrest in the supplier country
- Can’t make anything without materials
- Letting customers down
- Orders withdrawn
- Loss of cashflow
- Trauma
These events have happened with major companies around the world in the last few years, major household names were affected, one was out of action for 6 months.