2-6.3 Well-Documented and Understood Guidelines

It is essential that the purchase/SCM team understands its roles and responsibilities when suppliers are involved in planning. The purchase/SCM team should prepare for the involvement by discussing and documenting the guidelines it will follow throughout its interaction with the supplier community, and the team must be aware of the Postal Service’s strategies and objectives when deciding what information suppliers will be provided with, and the information that will be sought from them. In addition, procedures for the interaction should be documented and well understood among the team members. The following should be considered:

• The desired outcome and its strategic importance.
• Techniques for handling any initial and follow-up queries.
• Awareness of precisely what suppliers can provide.
• Understanding of what changes mean to project and/or program.

Information from suppliers will be generated during this task, so it is also essential that all team members realize that, as a good business practice and as required by law, it is imperative to ensure that suppliers’ business-sensitive or proprietary data is not divulged to a third party or to Postal Service employees outside of the purchase/SCM team. Additional information can be found in Sections 2-14, Clarify Data Rights and Intellectual Property Issues, and 7-14, Privacy Considerations.