Plante Moran, a certified public accounting, tax, and consulting firm headquartered in Southfield, today announced it has acquired Planning Perspectives Inc., a Birmingham firm specializing in company-supplier working relations. Details of the transaction were not disclosed.
The acquisition covers all of Planning Perspectives’ intellectual property, including the Annual North American Automotive OEM-Tier 1 Supplier Working Relations Index Study conducted by John Henke, which Plante Moran plans to continue.
“Dr. Henke is the recognized expert in buyer-supplier relations, and his work and reputation are second to none,” says Daron Gifford, partner and automotive/mobility consulting leader at Plante Moran. “That, combined with our portfolio of hundreds of automotive supplier clients, makes this a perfect fit and further solidifies Plante Moran’s position as a leading consultancy with deep and specific expertise in the global automotive and mobility industries.
“With the dramatic and revolutionary changes going on in these industries and with many new companies and suppliers entering and leaving the market, trusting relations between existing and new companies will be critical to achieve success. Adding Henke’s buyer-supplier relations expertise enables Plante Moran to provide a degree of practical, measurable intelligence that no other firm can offer.”
Henke says he knew he was going to retire and has been in contact with consulting firms in the U.S. and Europe about taking over the study, which is entering its 19th year. He will consult on the study for a year during its transition to Plante Moran.
The study is conducted in March and April, and respondents are sales people from Tier-1 suppliers serving Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co., and FCA, as well as the top three Japanese automakers.
Planning Perspectives has specialized in developing and implementing supplier surveys for automotive OEMs and Tier-1 suppliers since 1990. Its studies will be merged into Plante Moran’s strategy and automotive/mobility consulting practice.
Plante Moran’s areas of expertise include automotive, manufacturing and distribution, private equity, Japanese-owned businesses, financial institutions, service, health care, public sector, and real estate and construction. It has offices in Michigan, including downtown Detroit, along with Colorado, Illinois, Ohio, China, Mexico, India, and Japan.
