Bashing Suppliers

The guys over at the Evolving Excellence blog (Lean topics) are often a somewhat cynical lot, but they also can hit the point. Today they mention how large companies bash suppliers into submission in pursuit of cost reductions. Actually, this is nothing new. I was bashed a lot when I headed marketing and application engineering for a special tool manufacturing company. GM would totally ignore our net 30 terms and stretch us out up to 75 days. That would kill us. So a significant part of our accountant's day was chasing invoices through the labyrinth of GM's system. Guess big companies still fail to realize the benefits they derive from other companies.

Anyone have any experiences to share?