Buyers are really cranky: buying from service centers will increase, but many supply relationships are strained.

From: Purchasing | Date: May 5, 2005| Author: | Copyright information

Metals buyers have gotten downright short-tempered when discussing their suppliers, who are or will be, seeing more rigorous business parameters from their metalworking clients. Atop that, buyers aren't about to roll over on price increases this year.

"We are demanding that suppliers adhere to on-time delivery schedules or that they move to a VMI (vendor-managed inventory) model," says the purchasing manager for a multimedia products firm in Washington, D.C. "This way, my in-house inventory is always correct, because my company does not pay more than we really need." And ...

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