CASE STUDY / US POSTAL SERVICE
SRM drives supplier performance at the US Postal Service
In 2018, the USPS supply management organisation updated its SRM governance model. Its experience shows even in a mature approach can be improved.
D elivering more than 400 million pieces and approximately 47 percent of the world’s mail each day, the United States Postal Service’s (USPS or Postal Service) Supply Management (SM) organisation uses a well-established supplier relationship management (SRM) programme to drive timely performance from its key suppliers while also focusing on supplier innovation. While mature in its deployment, the USPS continually seeks to enhance its SRM governance and innovation metrics. Through a developed model, each year USPS Purchase Teams review a series of supplier attributes and determine key suppliers for each of its organisational Portfolios and Category Management Centers (CMCs). Suppliers are placed and grouped within definitional areas of “supporting”, “leading”, “critical”, and “strategic”, and SM assigns a Relationship Manager (RM) to each supplier. The RM is established from within the management chain and teams with an operational internal business partner in managing the relationship. RMs include senior USPS management, and this level of involvement in SRM is an example of how seriously the USPS takes its relationship with suppliers. RM’s include the Postal Service’s chief financial officer (CFO) and the vice president of supply management, as well as other executives and managers through the SM organisation. RMs also include senior managers within business units; however, the SM team ensures governance
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STATE OF FLUX
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