Supplier evaluation

Supplier evaluation and supplier appraisal are terms used in business and refer to the process of evaluating and approving potential suppliers by quantitative assessment. The aim of the process is to ensure a portfolio of best-in-class suppliers is available for use. Supplier evaluation can also be applied to current suppliers in order to measure and monitor their performance for the purposes of ensuring contract compliance, reducing costs, mitigating risk and driving continuous improvement. Supplier evaluation and supplier appraisal are terms used in business and refer to the process of evaluating and approving potential suppliers by quantitative assessment. The aim of the process is to ensure a portfolio of best-in-class suppliers is available for use. Supplier evaluation can also be applied to current suppliers in order to measure and monitor their performance for the purposes of ensuring contract compliance, reducing costs, mitigating risk and driving continuous improvement. Supplier evaluation and take-on is a continual process within purchasing departments, and forms part of the pre-qualification step within the purchasing process, although in many organizations it includes the participation and input of other departments and stakeholders. Most experts or firms experienced in collecting supplier evaluation information prefer doing so using five-step processes for determining which to approve. Their processes often take the form of either a questionnaire or interview, sometimes even a site visit, and includes appraisals of various aspects of the supplier's business including capacity, financials, quality assurance, organizational structure and processes and performance. Based on the information obtained via the evaluation, a supplier is scored and either approved or not approved as one from whom to procure materials or services. In many organizations, there is an approved supplier list (ASL) to which a qualified supplier is then added. If rejected the supplier is generally not made available to the assessing company's procurement team. Once approved, a supplier may be reevaluated on a periodic, often annual, basis. The ongoing process is defined as supplier performance management.