The 9000 Resource

How can supplier performance be measured?

The most common aspects of performance that are measured are quality, service and price. What can you put goals and numbers to that will tell you how the supplier is performing in each of these areas?

Decide what the most critical aspects are to you, is it an item that you can get from a number of different suppliers? Is price, or on-time delivery the deciding factor? Or is it an item or material that can vary in quality and will affect the quality of your product? In this case, the supplier with the most consistent quality may be the best source, regardless of the price. Measure what is most important about what is being supplied.

Do I need to include all of my suppliers under my purchasing procedure?

Do I need to include all of my suppliers under my purchasing procedure? Even things like cleaning supplies?

You are able to evaluate if purchases have an affect on quality of the product or service. Decide for each item purchased how important they are to the product or service, and determine what control you will need. Items that directly influence quality will need to come from suppliers that have been evaluated to determine that they can meet the quality requirements. Others may be purchased based on price or delivery concerns.