Reports and quality
The trial period for a new supplier
Six months to find out whether they work, with criteria decided before starting.
A new supplier almost always comes in on price or urgency, and their evaluation is left to the general impression of whoever deals with them most. Six months later nobody can say whether they work better or worse than the previous one, because nobody decided in advance what would be looked at.
The four criteria that suffice
| Criterion | How it is measured | When to worry |
|---|---|---|
| Meets deadlines | On-time deliveries over the total | If it worsens after the first deliveries |
| Meets specification | Quality incidents per delivery | Any repeat of the same defect |
| Responds on documents | Days to supply what is requested | More than a week on average |
| And warns when something is wrong | How many problems they told you before you saw them | If the answer is zero |
Important
The fourth is not measured in numbers and best predicts how the relationship will go. A supplier who warns of a delay three days ahead is worth more than one who hits 98% and tells you about the 2% when the lorry does not arrive.
How to run the period
- 1
Write the criteria before the first delivery
Four, with thresholds. Written afterwards, they get written to justify the conclusion you already had.
- 2
Record incidents as they happen
In their file, not in the memory of whoever suffered them.
- 3
Review at three months, not only at the end
That is when it can still be corrected; at the end you only decide.
- 4
And close with a written decision
Approved, approved with conditions, or not. All three are valid answers.
Watch out
The awkward case is the supplier who performs but is hard to work with. If that is not among the criteria, the decision will still be taken on that basis, only without being explainable — and that conversation with the supplier cannot then be had.
What makes the period useful
The first changes the outcome most: a supplier who knows they are being evaluated, and how, behaves differently — and that is information about them too.
Worth knowing
The same scheme suits an external collaborator, a subcontractor or an advisory firm. What is measured in criterion two changes; the other three are identical.
›Always six months?
Long enough for ten or twelve deliveries. Two tell you nothing.
›What if they fail on the first delivery?
Record it and raise it; one bad delivery does not decide, repeating it does.
›Is formal approval required?
It depends on your quality scheme; a written decision is worth having anyway.
A real case
The situation
A company brings in a supplier on price and six months later argues about keeping them.
What you do
- Writes four criteria before the first delivery
- Reviews at three months and raises two incidents
What you get
The final decision is made on data and the supplier knew from the start what was being measured.
The situation
A new supplier enters a trial period and nobody defines what will be looked at.
What you do
- Sets what will be measured and for how long
- Records every delivery and every incident
- Reviews at the end with the data in front of you
What you get
The decision to continue is taken on facts rather than an impression.
The situation
The period ends and nobody decides anything.
What you do
- Sets a review date at the start
What you get
The trial period genuinely ends.
The situation
Continuing is decided by inertia.
What you do
- Checks the record before deciding
What you get
The decision is taken on a basis.
The situation
The supplier does not know they are on trial.
What you do
- Tells them and shares what will be measured
What you get
The supplier gets a chance to succeed.
The situation
The supplier is dropped and there is no record of why.
What you do
- Records the reason for closing
What you get
The decision is explicable months later.
This article answers
- approving a new supplier
- supplier trial period
- criteria to evaluate a supplier
- when to stop working with a supplier