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TopThe goal of every organization is to have a good business result, which is the result of good decisions, especially on the expenditure side of the company. If we want to reduce expenses, the organization must know the needs of the company well and most importantly, it must trust its suppliers. We can work with suppliers in the short term (suppliers that are not strategically important for the organization) and with suppliers with whom we build long-term business cooperation, as we can grow, develop and see some potential with it. The questions that the company's production faces on a daily basis are mainly which supplier is trustworthy, which supplier can the organization grow and develop with, which suppliers can we work with in the long run and at the same time reduce costs on the expenditure side? As these questions are difficult to answer without market research and knowledge of suppliers, we can help ourselves with some guidelines and tools according to which potential suppliers work.
One of the formal tools we can use is intelligent logistics systems or standards that are increasingly important in the manufacturing industry, if not mandatory. Standards include the treatment of employees, the information support, treatment with environment, occupational health and safety, information security, etc.
Standardization of products and increased use of information technology, including common tools such as e-mail, online meetings, or ERP systems, are likely to reduce the need for geographically closed suppliers (Haartman & Bengtsson, 2015). According to Gumzej (2013), the information system has a central, linking role in the business system and provides easier and better communication between departments, business units and individual employees. We can also agree with Wang and Luo (2019),, that intelligent logistics technology is the result of the integration and penetration of intelligent technology and logistics industry.
According to Singh et al. (2018) Information technology (IT)-enabled partnerships can unlock previously unattainable value propositions between organizations that have a resource, capability, and other asymmetries by allowing larger organizations access to niche and local resources while providing smaller organizations access to enhanced resources and capabilities. In such circumstances, efficient and effective marketing strategies are required in order to understand disadvantages, and the effects of the involved activities (Iršič, 2004). In the base of that, we can agree that IT can enable collaboration between a larger organization and one or more smaller organizations by facilitating information exchanges and allowing the larger organization to access niche and local resources (including assets and capabilities) and the smaller organizations to access an enhanced scope and scale of resources. These partnerships allow the involved organizations to take advantage of mutually beneficial symmetries (e.g., the technology platforms upon which their products and services are built) as well as asymmetries (e.g., size, resource endowments, and other attributes relevant to the partnership, such as market access, information availability, geographical location, and business relationships) (Singh et al., 2018).
The ISO (International Organization for Standardization) story began in 1946, when delegates from 25 countries met at the Institute of Civil Engineers in London and decided to establish a new international organization that would facilitate international harmonization and unification of industry standards. Since then, more than 22595 international standards have been published, covering almost all aspects of technology and production (»International Organization for Standardization« (All about ISO). n.d.).
Many management systems´ standards have been developed on the basis of a common framework with several aspects of standards common to all, such as policy, management review, document management, internal audit, operational control and process control, corrective and preventive measures, etc.
Depending on how the organization develops and implements its management systems regarding quality, environment, health, and safety, it can achieve different levels of system integration (»Boreua Veritas« (Integrirani sistemi vodenja).n.d
ISO creates documents that provide requirements, specifications, guidelines or features that can be applied consistently to ensure that materials, products, processes, and services are appropriate for their purpose. Technology-based standards that guarantee the quality are expected to represent real and measurable benefits to almost every possible sector (International Organization for Standardization. n.d.).