Another reason cramming down price cuts isn’t as effective as in the past is that inflationary pressures from raw materials and intermediate goods aren’t letting up. That has rightfully made many suppliers more assertive in passing on their higher costs, creating budgeting headaches for manufacturers, distributors and their customers.

“There continue to be cost increases in the marketplace,” Max Tunnicliff, CFO of industrial goods distributor Fastenal Co., told analysts and investors in mid-July. “Keeping up with the new inflow of cost and chipping away at the old is a lot of effort.”

Clevenger said a supplier can make itself more valuable to its customers by being collaborative and able to adjust. That can include blocking-and-tackling work on ways to streamline production or refine products as well as reworking packaging processes to take out time and cost.

But it can also include major decisions: When Clevenger worked at a manufacturer in China and an ambitious supplier shared plans to build another plant, he worked with that company’s leaders to consider a site closer to Clevenger’s operations. Doing so obviously had its logistical advantages, but it also let the supplier capitalize on relationships Clevenger’s team had built that smoothed the permitting and construction process.

Productive relationships also can help with contract structures. A recent report from the Institute for Supply Management and Amazon Business showed that 71% of surveyed supply chain leaders said long-term contracts are one of the ways they try to manage costs during periods of uncertainty.

“Cost management during uncertainty favors contractual levers,” the report said. “Larger firms more commonly use volume flexibility agreements, price indexing and currency hedging.”

Flexibility is the key to making deals work for both sides, Clevenger said. Shortening contracts isn’t often the answer, he added, but building in terms that can be adjusted between longer product cycles helps both sides manage risks and costs.

Another factor that can help on that front is automation. Updating equipment can lower a company’s cost dynamics, but there are also less capital-intensive ways to improve OEM-supplier relationships. The ISM/Amazon report pointed out that analytical tools can improve the quality and timeliness of information and benefit everyone in the supply chain.

“When you can see six or eight levels down, it changes the conversation,” said Jim Fleming, manager of product development and innovation at ISM. “It makes risk real.”

In short, every little bit can help. And every little bit is worth considering, because geopolitics, trade wars and other stresses that have become all too common are pushing more companies to consider overhauling their production footprints and, in turn, their supply chains. If you’re not working on adapting to these changes, Clevenger said, be sure that your competitors are. The marching orders are clear.

“Keep moving forward,” he said. “Be proactive.”