As a "veteran" logistics professional, I have always focused on operational processes, ensuring supply to production plants, and managing supplier delivery issues. However, since I didn't want to spend all my time reactively chasing parts, I had to focus more on transparency and process improvement. Beyond the daily operational scramble for parts, transparency, performance monitoring, and process control became central goals in our collaboration with suppliers.
Table of contents:
- Confessions of a logistics professional
- Relationship management according to ISO 9001
- Participation and levers for logistics
- A new opportunity for logistics professionals
- Supplier management according to ISO 9001 with TradeLink
Confessions of a logistics professional
In this context, I always viewed ISO as merely an administrative vehicle for my colleagues in quality management, until I was proven wrong. I then integrated the principles of quality management into my daily work as Head of Logistics and experienced the positive impact firsthand.
Why? ISO doesn't really help when an audit is looming and everyone is scrambling to get their paperwork in order to make a good impression on the auditor. However, when applied consistently, it provides sustainable support for the improvement process—even, or perhaps especially, in logistics, particularly during times of supply chain disruption.
Today I know: ISO 9001 can be a powerful ally for a Head of Logistics.
Relationship management according to ISO 9001
The implementation of EN ISO 9001 naturally spans all areas of an organization, but it is also specifically aimed at relationship management (formerly: "mutually beneficial supplier relationships") and thus at a company's partner and supplier management. In one of our latest blog articles, we take a detailed look at what defines ISO 9001 and how supplier management can benefit from it: Supplier management according to ISO 9001.
However, ISO 9001 certifications and audits that previously went smoothly are now posing challenges for companies when implemented consistently. The reason for this is the 5th revision of the standard, which has been mandatory since September 2018 following a lengthy transition period.
Key changes to ISO 9001 regarding supplier management:
- the increased importance of a process-oriented approach—meaning that not only products are viewed as services, but also, for example, delivery and supply processes
- the requirement to implement risk management, such as consistent monitoring and the earliest possible detection of deviations in order to initiate safeguard measures
- the requirement for systematic process improvement, such as systematically analyzing the root causes of such deviations and deriving joint improvement measures from them
- as well as the shift in focus from "suppliers" to "external providers"; from a logistics perspective, this includes transport service providers, for example
The concrete operational implementation of these principles now offers specific opportunities for involvement, requirements, and prospects for logistics professionals.
Involvement and levers for logistics
In a certified company, ISO promotes and demands the involvement of logistics and continuous improvement of supply processes. Partner management is not a one-man show for the purchasing department. As a logistics professional, you are in the same boat. This is both a challenge and an opportunity.
Simply placing orders and expecting suppliers and partners to deliver well "automatically" is no longer enough. It is necessary to develop effective mechanisms for monitoring and enforcing your own requirements, as well as for managing the relevant processes.
For the supplier management of purchasing and logistics, this means defining the following levers in particular:
- Selection of external providers and partners: How do logistics requirements become part of the selection and qualification of partners?
- Evaluation and performance monitoring of external providers and partners: When and how does the systematic performance measurement and evaluation of partners take place?
- Development and improvement of external providers and partners: When and how are measures defined, documented, and tracked in the event of deviations?
- Phasing out external providers and partners: Which performance deviations lead to a termination of partnerships, and when and how does this occur?
Procurement is traditionally well-prepared for this, whereas logistics often is not.
A new opportunity for logistics professionals
Unlike in the past, the typically informal approach within a more or less structured supplier management system is no longer sufficient to meet ISO standards. Furthermore, the disruptions and uncertainties in global supply chains give this new ISO approach even greater emphasis and critical attention in future audits and certifications.
The holistic concept of quality focuses not only on the quality of parts or goods but, in particular, on process quality. From a logistics perspective, this means focusing on the quality and performance of supply processes and daily collaboration with partners and suppliers.
This turns modern supplier management into an opportunity—and even a requirement—for logistics to get involved. The sentiment sometimes heard in logistics circles, "I have nothing to do with suppliers; that's what procurement does," is no longer tenable. Logistics professionals can no longer hide behind such arguments.
Instead, it is the task of procurement and all departments working with suppliers and partners—especially logistics—to systematically pull the levers identified above.
Supplier management according to ISO 9001 with TradeLink
Modern supplier and partner management places significantly more focus on improving collaboration processes and securing supply. To ensure this is done efficiently, measurably, and sustainably, it is recommended to use a Supplier Relationship Management tool or collaboration software with an integrated measurement and KPI system.
