Tata Motors, which produces HCVs and MCVs, wants to reduce its vendor base here from around 700-800 at present to 250-300.
Tata Motors? Jamshedpur plant head SB Borwankar said that with the auto major spreading businesses and units in Uttaranchal, Singur and Dharwad, apart from the existing ones in Pune, Lucknow and here, it is becoming difficult to keep a tab on quality standards and costs of its existing vendor network.
?We have to reduce our vendor base from the existing 700-800 to around 250-300,? said Borwankar, adding that the automobile major did not have resources to keep control of such a large number of vendors.
Tata Motors last year initiated a ?mentorship? programme for its local vendors here under which senior officers of the company were to guide vendors in the areas of bringing about improvement in processes and quality of their products.
?We simply cannot guide so many vendors,? said Borwankar while interacting with members of the Singhbhum Chamber of Commerce & Industry here recently.
Borwankar said that acting upon Tata Motors managing director Ravi Kant?s suggestion of cutting down the vendor base, the company has thought of a three-tier vendor format.
As per the proposed arrangement, while tier III suppliers will be supplying material/products to tier II vendors, the latter will supply those belonging to tier I, who in turn will supply finished product to the company. Thus, those who make parts (tier III vendors) will supply the products to sub-assembly producers (tier II vendors), and they will give it to main assembly producers (tier I vendors).