Registration Starts Today, May 17, for Annual OEM-Supplier Study that Ranks Best Auto Companies to Work With

Study Moves Online for 2004

DETROIT, May 17 -- Registration to qualify participants in one of the automotive industry's most important benchmark studies -- the annual OEM-Supplier Working Relations Study -- starts today.

The comprehensive study benchmarks the OEMs' relationships with their suppliers and is conducted annually by Planning Perspectives, Inc., in Birmingham, MI. Results are used to create the "OEM-Supplier Working Relations Index" (WRI) that ranks how the automakers are viewed by their suppliers.

The registration period runs May 17 through May 25 and is used to qualifying participants to ensure that they represent suppliers and are functioning in the appropriate customer-facing sales or engineering role. On May 26, qualified participants will be emailed a link to a special web site where they can begin completing the annual study online. Deadline for suppliers to complete the study will be June 25, and results of the 2004 study will be made available the week of July 12.

Last year's Index had Toyota and Honda as the suppliers' preferred OEMS with top rankings of 334 and 316 respectively, while GM and Ford were at the bottom with rankings of 156 and 161. Nissan and Daimler were in between. As in previous years, the Japanese continued to widen the gap as the OEMs suppliers preferred to do business with.

This year's study has been broadened to examine how the OEMs handle suppliers' intellectual property, how OEMs respond to suppliers' price concessions, and how continuing demands for cost reductions and the promises of cost-savings sharing has impacted supplier relationships with the OEMs.

"Over the years, the automakers have launched numerous programs to improve their relations with suppliers. With the Working Relations Index, the OEMs -- and the industry -- have a way to determine whether their programs are working, the quality of their supplier working relations and whether OEM purchasing and engineering staffs are in sync with top management's public message," says John Henke, president and CEO.

Henke says this knowledge is critical to the success of the OEM since Planning Perspectives' exhaustive auto industry studies have shown that good supplier working relations directly affect a supplier's willingness to share technology and willingness to work toward helping OEMs improve quality, cost, and competitiveness.

Planning Perspectives' "OEM-Supplier Working Relations Index" is an outgrowth of the firm's 15 years of conducting studies for both manufacturers and suppliers on their working relationships. Although these studies originated with the automotive industry, Planning Perspectives has also conducted similar studies for the computer, electronics, and aerospace and defense industries, as these industries have discovered the competitive value of good relations with their respective supply chains.

Automotive suppliers wishing to participate in the 2004 OEM-Supplier Relations Study may do so by going to www.ppiresearch.com and completing a simple registration form.

Notification of the annual study has also been mailed to hundreds of major suppliers. For information about the study, contact John Henke at 248-644-7690.