EADS Global Website - Strong supplier partnerships

Risk-sharing partnerships

We are only as good as our suppliers. Their performance affects the safety and overall quality of our products, as well as our customers’ satisfaction. We select suppliers with great care and devote considerable attention to managing our long-term business relationships with them. In line with the Group’s Vision 2020 strategy for the next decade, we are sourcing a greater proportion of our products from suppliers and relying more on their expertise. As EADS focuses on its core capabilities of design, assembly and marketing, a smaller number of main suppliers are assuming an increasing share of our programmes’ business risks in return for greater opportunities. Recognising that our success is dependent on theirs, EADS is committed to helping suppliers be prosperous, independent businesses at the leading edge of technological development. For this reason, we communicate our product strategies and intentions, train their staff and share best practices. In this way, we are fostering a true partnership approach. Such close partnerships are an extension of EADS’ existing practices. With sourcing volume equivalent to more than two-thirds of our sales, we have far closer supplier relationships than companies in other sectors do.

High standards and sustainable relationships

We have redeﬁned our approach to managing the supply chain over many years, aiming to select the best suppliers, to monitor their performance carefully and to give them practical support. The Group Corporate Sourcing function is in charge of sourcing strategy across the Divisions and Business Units, and also implements many of the important procurement initiatives. Supplier selection is extremely thorough, with input from various competence centres such as engineering, quality and ﬁnance. In order to be selected, suppliers need to show continuous excellence in performance, demonstrate a credible long-term interest and have the resources to ﬁnance product development. We evaluate supplier performance on an ongoing basis, aiming both to maintain high standards of performance and to sustain stable relationships. There are annual reviews, and suppliers are ranked on common criteria that range across commercial, logistic, quality, technical and customer support factors. In order to help them improve, we share our evaluations with suppliers. If needed, EADS helps the supplier to identify the root causes of any problems with delivery of work packages, and to establish appropriate improvement plans.