A new report by The 3M Company reveals some surprising conclusions about the state of buyer-supplier collaboration. Or, to be more precise, the lack of it. Turns out that many suppliers are far from embracing true collaboration. The 3M research finds fewer than half of surveyed suppliers feeling "fully empowered" to collaborate with their nominal partners. Half are holding back from making strategic recommendations, due to a lack of incentives or customer openness. And 70 percent of suppliers say that at least half of their customers lack a strong system to support collaboration. So why this disconnect between dream and reality? Jose Varela, vice president of sourcing and packaging engineering with 3M, joins us on this episode to explain where things have gone wrong. But he also delivers some good news, in the form of new efforts by both sides to strengthen ties. He explains how 3M manages an army of suppliers the world round, inviting them to offer creative input and creating a culture of transparency that promises to elevate “collaboration” above the status of everyone’s favorite buzzword. Hosted by Bob Bowman, Managing Editor of SupplyChainBrain.

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Show notes:

3M’s survey, “Driving Growth and Innovation Through Supplier Partnerships.”

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