A supplier manufactures toys of proprietary design for its customers.

The supplier's request for the procurement team to turn off and put away cell phones with cameras is primarily to protect the confidentiality of their proprietary manufacturing processes. In the competitive toy manufacturing industry, the specific techniques and processes used to create products can be considered trade secrets. Allowing visitors to use cameras could risk capturing and potentially sharing these secrets, which could be detrimental to the supplier’s competitive advantage and violate the non-disclosure agreements in place with other customers.

References

Trade Secrets Protection: A Guide to the Law and Practice by Jane Lambert

"Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) in Manufacturing" - American Bar Association