by Symphony Consulting | Feb 16, 2016 | Supply Chain
Outsourcing is an important part of the modern manufacturing landscape. In fact, in many cases, your contract manufacturer (“CM”) represents your most important and complex supplier relationship. If you need to switch CMs, the cost, risk, and disruption to your...
by Symphony Consulting | Dec 2, 2015 | Supply Chain
Everybody likes to strike a good deal. But when can pushing too hard do more harm than good? We are often called in to help clients with important and/or complex negotiations. While we are motivated to get the client the best possible deal, we tend to look at the...
by Symphony Consulting | Feb 13, 2015 | Supply Chain
After a two year struggle to stabilize a product with their ODM (Original Design Manufacturer) supplier, our client was fed-up and decided to move the business. The product, a medical device which had been previously co-developed with the ODM, was facing shipment...
by Symphony Consulting | Aug 15, 2014 | Information Technology, Supply Chain
The Greek inventor Archimedes is quoted as saying “Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.” Since negotiation is really a process of movement, a similar concept applies here. Instead of trying to move the world...
by Symphony Consulting | Feb 18, 2014 | Information Technology
Most of us are familiar with the concept of Lean manufacturing. A key notion in Lean is the idea that waste is eliminated by building product only when it is needed and there is a clear line of sight to customer demand. Why is it then that these same companies waste...