The Real Cost Is Not In the Quote

Most companies I talk to are not dealing with bad suppliers. They are dealing with too many moving pieces between them.

Quotes going to three different people. Timelines nobody fully owns. Last-minute issues that pull whoever is closest into fixing them. Rush fees that have become expected rather than exceptional.

That coordination layer is where the real cost lives. Not in unit price. In the internal time it takes to keep everything aligned across suppliers, categories, and timelines. 

It rarely shows up on a P&L. But it shows up every single day in how your team spends their time.