The Purchaser and Supplier Contract

This is a very important stage. In the rush to get “on contract” and develop a sense of trust and good fellowship between the two organizations, many difficult issues are glossed over and procedures needed to deal with the problems that are sure to arise during the development effort are not defined. Basically, the lack of an engineering approach in dealing with business relationships at the very beginning of a project increases the likelihood of product budget, schedule, and quality issues. For the short-term feeling of “teamwork” and the warm feeling the effort is under way, both the purchaser and supplier have put the future at risk.