A method for customer-driven purchasing

Competitiveness based on customer interaction is the baseline for strategies such as customization, postponement and customer-driven manufacturing. The emphasis is on the interface between a focal actor and the customer. The approach may however have implications that explicitly influence the suppliers of the focal actor and this is the core theme of customer-driven purchasing. The method for customer-driven purchasing, presented in this paper, has been developed in collaboration between researchers and practitioners and provides a structured approach with twelve steps for analyzing supplier interaction. The method can be conceived of as extending the reach of operations strategy to include also purchasing and the suppliers.