Fletcher Electronics
no. 1-0003
Fletcher Electronics
Fletcher Electronics Company was a large regional manufacturer of several different consumer products as well as a range of electronics products for the defense industry.
Fletcher had 30 plants, located primarily in the Eastern part of the US. Their procurement procedures were not coordinated. Fletcher’s corporate headquarters had even encouraged plant managers to act as separate entities. In addition, each plant bought many items from local suppliers. Fletcher's decentralized approach to procurement was indicative of its overall strategy toward dealing with its constituencies including employees, customers, shareholders, and communities.
As demand for defense industry products heated up in late 2001 and it became clear that this trend would continue into 2002, Fletcher faced increasing competitive pressures to drive prices down, and company management recognized that dealing with such a fragmented supplier base was hindering “efficiency” at the company. Jean Dalmer, the company’s president, hired an experienced materials manager, Bill VanDyke, as Vice President of
Corporate Procurement, a new position in the company. Dalmer gave VanDyke lots of flexibility in organizing his work, and placed Susan Wilks as VanDyke's executive assistant.
Wilks had worked for 15 years at Fletcher in several different positions, and thus knew many plant employees. VanDyke's appointment was announced in the employee newsletter published at headquarters and in a memo to plant managers.
VanDyke wanted to centralize the company’s procurement procedures and reduce the number of suppliers overall. To begin the process he asked each of the executives who handled materials management in the various plants to clear with headquarters all contracts over $100,000. VanDyke thought that if headquarters was going to coordinate in a way that would help each plant and Fletcher overall, he had to know about contracts being negotiated at least a
Fletcher Electronics
Fletcher Electronics Company was a large regional manufacturer of several different consumer products as well as a range of electronics products for the defense industry.
Fletcher had 30 plants, located primarily in the Eastern part of the US. Their procurement procedures were not coordinated. Fletcher’s corporate headquarters had even encouraged plant managers to act as separate entities. In addition, each plant bought many items from local suppliers. Fletcher's decentralized approach to procurement was indicative of its overall strategy toward dealing with its constituencies including employees, customers, shareholders, and communities.
As demand for defense industry products heated up in late 2001 and it became clear that this trend would continue into 2002, Fletcher faced increasing competitive pressures to drive prices down, and company management recognized that dealing with such a fragmented supplier base was hindering “efficiency” at the company. Jean Dalmer, the company’s president, hired an experienced materials manager, Bill VanDyke, as Vice President of
Corporate Procurement, a new position in the company. Dalmer gave VanDyke lots of flexibility in organizing his work, and placed Susan Wilks as VanDyke's executive assistant.
Wilks had worked for 15 years at Fletcher in several different positions, and thus knew many plant employees. VanDyke's appointment was announced in the employee newsletter published at headquarters and in a memo to plant managers.
VanDyke wanted to centralize the company’s procurement procedures and reduce the number of suppliers overall. To begin the process he asked each of the executives who handled materials management in the various plants to clear with headquarters all contracts over $100,000. VanDyke thought that if headquarters was going to coordinate in a way that would help each plant and Fletcher overall, he had to know about contracts being negotiated at least a