Pergamon European Journal of Purchasing& Supply Management Vol 2, No 1, pp. 31-38, 1996 Copyright © 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd Printed in Great Britain. All rights reserved 0969-7012/96 $15.00 + 0.00 0969-7012(95)00014-3 Manufacturing technology and the supply chain Linking buyer-supplier relationships and advanced manufacturing technology H K Gules* and T F Burgess School of Business and Economic Studies, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK The literature on advanced manufacturing technology (AMT) implementation and buyer-supplier relationships is reviewed, and the links between the two factors are examined. These links are summarized and highlighted through a causal influence diagram. A major influence is focused on, namely that the adoption of AMT causes adopters to change their relationships with their parts suppliers to more collaborative forms. Empirical data drawn from a recent survey of the Turkish automotive industry demonstrate support for this major influence. Keywords: advanced manufacturing technology, buyer-supplier relationships, Turkish automotive industry Manufacturing enterprises face increasingly severe competition in both domestic and international markets. To improve, or at least to maintain, their enterprises' competitive position, manufacturing managers have to continue to improve their operations. Research shows that activities such as the implementa- tion of advanced manufacturing technology (AMT) result in only marginal improvements if they are not accompanied by initiatives that improve linkages within the whole supply chain. This paper aims to explore the importance of one particular aspect of supply chain links - the collaborative nature of buyer-supplier relationships - for the effective implementation and diffusion of AMT throughout the supply chain. The first section of this paper outlines the nature of AMT. Next the general environmental pressures leading to AMT adoption are described. Some initial comments are made to define the scope of the supply chains of interest in this paper. The nature of buyer-supplier relationships is then explored. The importance of collaborative relationships for the success of the buyer's implementation of AMT is covered. This is followed by a consideration of the impact of collaborative relationships on the diffusion *H. K. Gules is a Ph.D. student at the University of Leeds and is a Research Assistant at the University of Sekuk, Turkey. of AMT from buyers to suppliers. A model is provided showing the main linkages between the adoption of AMT and the nature of buyer-supplier relationships. Early results from a research study on the Turkish automotive industry are then outlined in support of the proposed model, and some conclusions are drawn. The nature of advanced manufacturing technology According to ACARD (1983, p 7): Advanced manufacturing technology (AMT) is regarded as any new technique, which, when adopted, is likely to require a change not only in manufacturing practice, but also in management systems and the manufacturing approach to the design and production engineering of the product. A wide definition of technology is appropriate for the focus of this paper. AMT is taken to include both the more usual 'hard' technologies, such as numerically controlled machine tools, and the more managerial, or 'softer', technologies, such as Just-in-Time. Lamming (unpublished interview, 1994) uses this division into hard and soft, and sees the hard technologies as emphasizing machines and computer systems, while soft technologies derive their strength from organizing principles. 31