Utilities are faced with the challenge of providing safe and reliable services with a tight control on costs.

Supplier relationships are critical to the long-term success of any organization.

In more mature industries, such as automotive, suppliers form an integral part of the overall product design. In power and utilities, supplier relationships remain in infancy as utility companies struggle to embrace suppliers as business partners.

Utilities have traditionally been good at managing materials spend. But with services spend now accounting for a larger share of total spend, managing service procurement is critical.

It has become even more critical as public utility commissions and regulators are limiting or outright refusing rate increases to manage operating costs. In such an environment, it makes sense for the utilities to partner with their suppliers in advancing product and service innovations.

Our series, 5: insights for executives, explores the questions:

• What’s the issue?
• Why now?
• How does it affect you?
• What’s the fix?
• What’s the bottom line?

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