As a senior procurement leader in the pharmaceutical sector, Neslihan Gentilleau brings a structured yet forward-thinking approach to supplier relationship management. With a focus on trust, long-term collaboration, and performance measurement, she outlines how procurement can drive not just operational excellence, but strategic value.
In this Executive Insight, Neslihan shares her philosophy on building resilient supplier partnerships, encouraging co-innovation, integrating diversity and inclusion into SRM, and navigating challenges with clarity and empathy. Her experience illustrates that procurement is no longer just about cost control — it’s about fostering partnerships that are aligned, agile, and purpose-driven.
What are the key factors you focus on to build strong relationships with suppliers?
It’s a matrix of key factors: trust, collaboration, and effective communication.
Trust and clarity are the foundation of any long term partnership. From the very first sourcing or RFI stage, it’s important to stay open, consistent, and honest about expectations, challenges, and opportunities. Before any activity begins, new partners must be thoroughly assessed across multiple areas: finance, quality, legal, IT security, and more. This lays the first stone on the path to trust. It also legitimises the relationship with internal stakeholders and secures alignment across all support functions.
Collaboration and relationship investment are equally essential.
- Fair treatment: Suppliers should be seen as valued partners, not just as cost cutting levers. A win-win relationship is key. Fair financial terms create the foundation for expecting quality, timely delivery, and priority alignment.
- Mutual goals: Aligning on shared objectives, such as quality standards, delivery timelines, and sustainability commitments, strengthens the partnership and reinforces collaboration.
Effective communication is what nourishes the relationship over time.
- Build personal connections beyond purely transactional or operational discussions.
- Hold regular catch ups, set clear KPIs, and provide performance feedback.
- Offer constructive feedback and remain open to their input, this helps both sides grow and improve together.
And finally, innovation. Encourage suppliers to innovate and co-create solutions to challenges, or even unlock new opportunities together. Long term supplier relationships thrive on continuous improvement, shared vision, and mutual respect.
How do you handle conflicts or issues that arise in supplier relationships?
Being thoughtful and adopting a collaborative approach are essential when navigating conflict. Throughout the process, the focus should remain clear: find an acceptable solution and a common ground.
Step 1: Internal Investigation
Start by gaining a full understanding of the issue. Conduct an internal investigation and work with all relevant stakeholders to get a 360° view. Identify the root cause and assess any internal dependencies. Taking the time to understand the full context allows you to address the core issue more effectively.
Step 2: Open Dialogue with the Supplier
Approach the supplier with transparency and facts, outlining the business impact clearly. Maintain a calm, professional, and constructive tone, avoid blaming or threatening escalation to legal or senior management unless it’s a last resort. It’s also essential to listen actively to the supplier’s perspective. This creates space for mutual understanding and helps identify potential paths to resolution.
Once a common ground is found through negotiation, clearly document the agreed outcomes: milestones, responsibilities, and accountabilities.
Step 3: Lessons Learned
Every conflict is an opportunity to improve. Use the experience to review and adapt processes, contract terms, or KPI mechanisms. If the supplier consistently fails to align with long term goals despite efforts to resolve issues, consider identifying an alternative partner.
How do you measure the performance and success of your supplier partnerships?
SPRM – Supplier Performance and Relationship Management, has always been my north star as a procurement leader. Having an appropriate and mature SPRM program is essential to ensure that supplier performance aligns with three key priorities:
- Operational requirements
- Strategic business goals
- Long term procurement strategy
Before any engagement begins, during the RFX phase, expectations, stage gates, and milestones are clearly defined and agreed upon by both parties.
Here are some of the key metrics and evaluation methods we use in the pharmaceutical sector:
Quality of Deliverables: Compliance with GxP regulations and adherence to internal quality standards are critical. We track defect rates, returns, and complaints to assess supplier performance.
On Time Delivery: We monitor adherence to agreed delivery schedules. Any delays and their operational impact are reviewed and discussed during Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs).
Cost Control and Financial Performance: Transparent and regular financial reporting is essential. We verify consistency with agreed pricing and budget expectations and assess the supplier’s contributions to cost saving initiatives.
Flexibility, Collaboration, and Problem Solving: We assess how effectively the supplier responds to changing requirements or unforeseen situations. Key elements include communication quality, responsiveness, and the ability to manage risks and feedback constructively.
Innovation and Value Creation: We evaluate the supplier’s ability to contribute to process improvements, new product ideas, or other competitive advantages.
Internal Stakeholder Feedback: Post project surveys are used to gather insights from internal customers and cross functional partners. Their input is vital to measuring overall satisfaction and partnership health.
A strong SPRM framework ensures that supplier relationships are not only monitored but continuously improved in alignment with broader organisational objectives.
How do you encourage suppliers to contribute to innovation and value creation?
Innovation in Life Sciences is critical. Whether it’s accessing state of the art equipment or gaining early access to pioneering tools and services, it’s essential to actively encourage suppliers to contribute to our innovation ambitions. With strategic suppliers and long term partners, we build a shared commitment to collective innovation and value creation.
Here are some of the principles and strategies we use:
Involve Suppliers in Strategic Planning
We share long term goals and project roadmaps early, inviting suppliers to bring their expertise to the table. This creates opportunities to brainstorm ideas, assess feasibility, and explore synergies across multiple projects. This approach moves the relationship beyond vendor status, they become true partners in our innovation journey.
Facilitate and Nurture Collaboration
We promote technical co-innovation, giving suppliers access to end users for real time feedback. In some cases, we’ve acted as a reference site for new technologies, co-developing and testing prototypes with equipment manufacturers. Our operational teams provide input and suggestions that help fine tune the final solutions. This encourages suppliers to take calculated risks and propose fit for purpose innovations.
Invest in Supplier Growth (When Applicable)
We’ve developed collaboration agreements where we co-invest in pilot projects. In other cases, we’ve helped promote supplier innovations by publicly recognising joint contributions or offering live demos of their platforms to potential customers. These initiatives strengthen the partnership and incentivise suppliers to bring their best ideas forward.
By embedding innovation into the partnership framework, we turn suppliers into co-creators of value, helping both sides push boundaries and stay ahead in a competitive, fast evolving landscape.
How do you approach supplier diversity and inclusion in your SRM strategy?
Approaching supplier diversity and inclusion (D&I) within the pharmaceutical industry’s SRM strategy is both essential and challenging. The sector’s highly regulated nature and its emphasis on innovation in niche markets require a structured, deliberate, and measurable approach. While supplier D&I can be more readily applied to commodity categories, it becomes more complex when dealing with life sciences specific goods and services.
Our approach begins internally, by securing endorsement and support from the Executive Committee (ExCom). We integrate broader societal goals into our CSR framework, building key pillars such as the one I led, titled “Trusted Supply Chain.”
To establish realistic objectives and a five year roadmap, we conducted comprehensive market research to benchmark industry best practices. This included insights from major pharmaceutical companies and peer collaboration with ESG leaders.
Key steps we’ve taken to integrate D&I into our SRM strategy include:
Assessing the Existing Supplier Base – We evaluate our current preferred suppliers to identify potential risks, representation gaps, and opportunities for greater inclusion.
Policy Integration – D&I principles are embedded into our Code of Conduct and Procurement Policies, ensuring suppliers are aware of and aligned with our standards.
Procurement Guideline Updates – We’ve revised our procurement guidelines to prioritise diverse suppliers and include D&I criteria directly in the selection and onboarding processes.
Strategic Partnerships with Large Suppliers – We partner with major suppliers who actively promote diversity and maintain measurable D&I commitments, reinforcing alignment with our values.
Embedding ESG and D&I in Evaluation Criteria – We assess suppliers based on ESG scores, adherence to frameworks such as the UN Global Compact, and their demonstrated long term commitment to diversity.
By embedding D&I into supplier relationship management, we not only support broader societal objectives but also strengthen the resilience, innovation capacity, and ethical foundation of our supply chain.
