Course Overview

Every company invests significant time, effort and money in their supplier selection process. However, all precautionary and evaluation steps are undertaken at the start of their relationship with suppliers.

How does one ensure that supplier performance evaluated at the start stays consistent through the relationship with the organisation? This gives rise to the need for supplier performance evaluation at regular intervals through the relationship.

Companies have now realized the need for some form of objective performance evaluation and are gathering data and determining key performance indicators to draw objective conclusions regarding supplier performance, enabling these organizations to take relevant action.

Various important characteristics are measured and tracked, and feedback is delivered accordingly, inciting efforts to improve and perform better. These metrics revolve around quality, delivery time, costs, responsiveness, etc.

This training course will provide you with the required understanding and knowledge of supplier selection and performance evaluation that will help you think objectively of measures to track and measure supplier performance and devise corrective action accordingly.

This Supplier Relationship Management Course will equip you with the necessary skills and capabilities to devise and gather ratings and performance metrics and the strategic mindset to define corrective action accordingly.

Course Objectives

The main objective of this Supplier Relationship Management Course is to empower professionals with—

• in-depth knowledge and understanding regarding ratings, metrics and methods to evaluate supplier performance
• the required skill and understanding to define objective metrics and measurements to act as indicators of supplier performance
• the necessary understanding of advanced concepts and techniques to define, track and correct supplier performance
• the ability to enhance business performance through effective and favourable supplier relationship management
• the ability to contribute to controlling risks and distractions related to supplier relations and performance
• the experience and confidence to maintain good supplier relations and performance, ensuring the credibility of suppliers, in turn contributing to an increase in organizational credibility leading to increased investments
• the necessary skills and capabilities to check for gaps in processes of supplier performance evaluation so as to identify issues earlier, take corrective action in time and save costs for the organization, increasing profits in the bargain
• the ability to present to the organization a range of suppliers in order of preference as per performance and credibility, thereby ensuring continuity and sustainability of business operations, leading to organizational growth and facilitating career progression

Training Methodology

adopts a dual approach to training, both theoretical and practical. The theory is delivered through lectures by experienced professionals from the relevant domain. Practical training is facilitated through role-plays, group assignments and projects as well as detailed, relevant case study discussions.

Experiential learning is also encouraged to enhance the relevance of the training content to real-life scenarios and problems because experiences of trainees are discussed in detail by the trainer.

Organizational Benefits

By professionals undertaking this Supplier Relationship Management Course, organizations will derive the following benefits:

• Better supplier selection and relationship management because of suggestions from and management by trained and experienced professionals
• Continuous, regular checks on supplier performance with resultant corrective action to maintain their performance at desired levels
• Regular audits regarding adherence to standards and guidelines necessary for suppliers and other vendors
• Objective evaluation and conclusion of supplier performance for effective and accurate decision making regarding contracts with suppliers
• Timely prevention of risks and challenges related to supplier non-performance and non-adherence, thus leading to cost savings and increased profits
• Assurance of a continuous supply of materials and goods for effective supply chain performance to ensure timely delivery of high-quality goods to customers, thus resulting in extreme client satisfaction
• Fool-proof methods for tracking and tracing supplier performance and cooperation to ensure that the business is supported well by the supplier, thereby increasing the credibility of the organisation, leading to greater investments and organizational growth and development

Personal Benefits

Professionals enrolling for this Supplier Relationship Management Course will derive the following benefits:

• Detailed understanding of best practices for effective supplier selection as well as relationship and performance management
• Increased understanding and skill to devise and work with objective measures and metrics to track supplier performance and define related corrective action
• Enhanced perspective and experience to use available data to predict challenges and risks and define measures to prevent these from impacting relationships as well as operations in the supply chain
• Greater understanding and experience to work with advanced techniques and measures for supplier performance management, thereby demonstrating skill and potential and inviting further opportunities of higher roles and responsibilities for growth and development
• Increased skill and understanding and greater ability to contribute to business performance and excellence through effective supplier relations and retention, thereby contributing to organizational growth and development
• Increased skill and confidence to train other professionals on managing supplier performance
• Increased ability to confirm supplier credibility, thereby increasing organizational credibility and, ultimately, leading to more investments
• Greater ability and experience to contribute to reduced costs and increased profits for the organization
• Enhanced skill set and capabilities to ensure continuity in business and sustainability of operations

Who Should Attend?

• Suppliers and other vendors dealing with an organisation for any process
• Performance managers and supervisors dealing with suppliers and responsible for managing their performance regularly
• Senior members of an organisation responsible for all key decisions within the organisation
• Quality checkers and compliance officers responsible for ensuring adherence to set standards and benchmarks
• Investors and other important shareholders who would like to know about the credibility of the organization through the management of its suppliers
• Operations managers and supervisors responsible for overseeing all operations related to the supply chain, particularly those processes dependent on suppliers
• Any other professional who would like to know more about the supplier performance evaluation

Course Outline

The Supplier Relationship Management Course covers the following topics to thoroughly understand supplier performance management:

Ways to Improve Supplier Performance

• Build scorecards around business goals
• Establish processes to evaluate the performance
• Communicate information to suppliers and take action
• Share information internally

Benefits of Supplier Performance Measurement

• Avoid supply chain risks and disruptions
• Protect and improve brand reputation
• Avoid costs and achieve savings
• Segment and rank vendors
• Collaborate with suppliers
• Improve internal processes

Supplier Performance Metrics

• Quantity ordered vs received
• Assignment accuracy
• On-time delivery
• Ordered price vs invoiced
• Inspection fails vs total items inspected
• Returns rate
• Order fill rate
• Lead-time variance

Steps to Evaluate Supplier Performance

• Align performance goals
• Choose evaluation approach
• Develop an information collection method
• Design a robust assessment system
• Roll out the system
• Provide actionable feedback
• Showcase results

Qualities Indicative of Supplier Performance

• Good communication
• Competency
• Capacity
• Commitment
• Control
• Cost
• Consistency
• Culture
• Sustainability

Approaches in Supplier Performance Evaluation

• Identification
• Criteria
• Quality
• Solutions
• Expert insight

Challenges in Supplier Performance Evaluation

• Lack of uniform metrics
• Lack of transparency
• Different business models
• Lack of cooperation from suppliers
• Biased/incorrect audits

Techniques for Supplier Performance Management

• Categorical system
• Weighted point system
• Cost-based system
• The total cost of ownership