A Chief Procurement Officer (CPO) for a large restaurant supplies distributor, in order to be effective, must have a means by which it is possible for him or her to evaluate his or her suppliers. While there are many different ways in which an individual could accomplish this task, some are more effective than others, and even those of equal effectiveness may be ranked based on the preferences of the CPO in the completion of business duties. Given the wide range of suppliers available, and the fact that a company is no longer limited to those available nationally, supplier evaluation can mean the difference between the success and failure of a distribution center. While there are those that will say that the 10 C’s of supplier evaluation (“competency, capacity, commitment, control, cash, cost, consistency, culture, clean, communication”) should be used when evaluating any supplier (MindTools, 2016, p. 1), there are, perhaps, more effective means by which to accomplish the task.
If I were in the position of a CPO, the method that I would use for evaluation of a supplier would be one that had a more empirical and rigorous process. A method described by Brown (2016) requires the following steps to be taken for supplier evaluation: 1) “establish performance indicators;” 2) “classify multiple suppliers and vendors,;” 3) “devise an evaluation method;” 4) “determine who’s calling the shots;” 5) “maintain good relationships;” 6) “decide when to issue a red flag;” and 7) “cut loose weak links” (p. 1). This method is not only more thorough, but works to ensure that the supplier evaluation method can be tailored to the type of supplies being received, the industry, and can accommodate different products being received by the distributor from multiple suppliers. In essence, it is a fully comprehensive framework, one that uses empirical data as its means of identification of areas of concern. It is for these reasons that I would adopt Brown’s (2016) framework, as opposed to one that is vague in nature.
- Brown, C. (2016). 7 Tips for Rating and Evaluating Your Suppliers and Vendors. Inc.com. Retrieved 4 September 2016, from http://www.inc.com/guides/2010/12/7-tips-to-rate-and-evaluate-your-suppliers-and-vendors.html
- MindTools. (2016). 10 Cs of Supplier Evaluation: Evaluating Potential Suppliers. Mindtools.com. Retrieved 4 September 2016, from https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/10-cs.htm
