Everybody’s still trying to cut costs anywhere and everywhere they can. But what if your customers told you you’d have to take steps to lower their expenses … even if it drove your own up?

That’s exactly what’s happening to suppliers that have Wal-Mart as a customer.

The retail giant is dragging its thousands of suppliers into yet another of its corporate initiatives. (A while back, the mega company wanted its suppliers to start “greening up” … or else!)

The target this time? Logistics, specifically deliveries.

New strategy, same story: You want to sell to us, you play it our way. Even if it jacks up your own costs. That’s Wal-Mart’s stance.

And there are implications for all organizations, no matter whom you sell to.

Wal-Mart’s newest plan to cut costs? To take control of all deliveries themselves, relying on its own trucks and more private contractors. The move is expected to improve the company’s delivery rates, transport supplies more efficiently and even let them better negotiate fuel prices. But are there benefits to their just-alerted suppliers? Not so much.

OK, maybe you don’t have many (or any) Wal-Marts in your database. That doesn’t mean your organization may not experience a similar phenomenon. And soon.

As companies of all sizes continue to seek out ways to cut costs, they’re forced to look farther afield to do it. And they may be looking to enlist their suppliers in that quest.

Why not beat them to the punch? Start brainstorming ways that both you and your major customers can control expenses and think about approaching them with your ideas.

Everybody saves, you show customers you’re looking out for them and you call the shots!

Adapted in part from “Wal-Mart Asks Suppliers to Cede Control of Deliveries,” APICS e-News, Vol. 10, No. 11.