Supplier Relationship Management: a systematic solution to make supplier relationships efficient and effective

The objective of this master’s thesis project is to develop an efficient and sustainable solution regarding the Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) for Indirect Procurement’s department at Hilti. In other words, it means to provide an integrated set of management tools focused on facilitating the interaction between Hilti Indirect Procurement and its strategic suppliers. Due to the high number of supplier relationships and dependencies, Hilti has started to invest in the SRM initiative being well aware of its strategic importance and its potential benefits. Nowadays, each Indirect Procurement Category is managed through different ways of working and consequently sometimes this aspect causes hindrances for the achievement of the company’s overall goal. Despite each Category has its own specificities, having common structured methods helps team members and stakeholders to avoid confusion on the processes’ execution. Actually, SRM represents the strategic building block that enables the Indirect Procurement department to reach the next level of procurement maturity. It facilitates a holistic alignment with stakeholders and a better exchange of information, which Regions and Headquarters can leverage afterwards in their tenders.