Improving Product Reliability and Software Quality, 2nd Edition

14Supplier Management

14.1 Purchasing Interface

One of the many factors that influence the bottom line is supplier quality. The ability to receive purchased materials on time, to specification, at the quantity and quality specified, is critical to business. Many companies have a purchasing department, but what they really have are buyers and expediters. There is a vast difference between these two material procurement methods. Buying materials for production purposes looks easy. One picks up the phone, calls the supplier's order desk, places an order, uses a credit card, check, or purchase order, and expects on‐time delivery. If your supplier has the specified material in the quantity needed, it is reasonable to expect prompt delivery. But what happens if your supplier is out of stock?

You thank your first supplier very much and call another. You continue to do this until the needed material is found. You may get the material you want in the quantity and even at the price you need. Then, you do it all over again for the next needed item. You repeat this cycle as you buy the material that goes into your product. When the bill of materials needed for production has finally been ordered, you can't be comfortable because things can still go wrong.

You need to know the following: Will all the purchased materials arrive on time for the planned production run? Will you get complete or partial shipments? Will your supplier fill the order exactly as specified? Will some other components ...