Operations Management: Sustainability and Supply Chain Management, Twelfth Edition

Building the Supply Base

1. LO 11.4 Describe the steps in supplier selection

For those goods and services a firm buys, suppliers, also known as vendors, must be selected and actively managed. Supplier selection considers numerous factors, such as strategic fit, supplier competence, delivery, and quality performance. Because a firm may have some competence in all areas and may have exceptional competence in only a few, selection can be challenging. Procurement policies also need to be established. Those might address issues such as percent of business done with any one supplier or with minority businesses. We now examine supplier selection as a four-stage process: (1) supplier evaluation, (2) supplier development, (3) negotiations, and (4) contracting. ...