Monica Aurora Roesch Davila

Special Guest Blog Post written by Bernadine Henderson Ms. Henderson, senior director of procurement at Protolabs, lifts the lid on buying in manufacturing and why relationships are central to it.   Simply put, the job of a buyer is really about buying the right thing at the right time for the right price. It sounds simple, but it really is very complicated because everything that’s going on in the world impacts the timing, the availability, and the price of the product. This means that buying has recently got a lot more complicated. World events have very real consequences on global supply chains. Just one example is the way in which buyers have responded to tariffs in the U.S. by re-routing sourcing locations. It takes a certain amount of agility to be a buyer in 2025, and this quick responsiveness is helped along by one key ingredient, and that is strong relationships with suppliers. Relationships Built on Trust A widely held misconception is that buyers are only interested in getting to the lowest price possible. In fact, the most important thing to a buyer is for suppliers to bring solutions that deliver overall value. In my experience, a really strong supplier…

Another great week here at Supply Chain Now! Have you listened to all the episodes? If not, you can check them all out here: On Monday, Scott and Greg chatted with Jenny Froome and Dominique Zwinkels. Supply Chain Now · “Supply Chain Front & Center: Jenny Froome & Dominique Zwinkels”   Then on Tuesday, we continued in the Logistics with Purpose series and welcomed Jeremy Newhouse with MATTER to the podcast.   Supply Chain Now · “Logistics with Purpose: Jeremy Newhouse with MATTER”   On Wednesday, Scott and Greg tackled the top news in supply chain on the Buzz, and welcomed special guest Rob Lopez with Peach Tree Commercial Capital.   Supply Chain Now · “Supply Chain Buzz with Rob Lopez & Peach Tree Commercial Captial: Manufacturing, Money & More”   Scott and Greg were joined by Lynne Johnson and Joe Barto with AME on Thursday:   Supply Chain Now · “Helping Manufacturers Share, Learn, & Grow: Joe Barto & Lynne Johnson with AME”   And we wrapped up the week as Scott and Greg were joined by Ricahrd Schrade with Automation Intelligence:   Supply Chain Now · “Tomorrow’s Automation Today: Richard Schrade, Co-Founder & President of Automation Intelligence” Which…