I understand many of you will say "Just find a new supplier," but I want to work the hard way.

Im working for a company who has a small group of suppliers who provide secondary operations, such as heat treat, plating, coating, etc. as the last step in the manufacturing process.

The mindset of my company is that the manufacturing process is "complete" once all of the inhouse operations are complete.
Nevermind that without the final outside operations the product cannot be sold.
The company has experienced significant growth and the pressure to accelerated delivery of the outside process has frustrated the suppliers. We also use some rather unconventional data transactions that smaller suppliers are unaccustomed to dealing with.

I'm charged with reaching out to these suppliers to see what we can do to smooth the transaction.
Has anyone developed a "questionaire" that is sort of like the inverse to a supplier evaluation questionaire?

Most companies have your attitude, that is to focus on improving the capabilities of sub contractors. I know of particular cases were these companies provide training, loaning of equipment, etc. The "just find another supplier" syndrome is only a last resort.
I don't have the questionare nor know that they have one, however with a bit of effort it can be done. Furthermore I find it more proactive and dynamic when issues are discused and resolved during scheduled meetings.

I can say, having done some of the kind of work that your suppliers are doing, it would be so much more beneficial for everyone to just have the conversations, don't burden them with paperwork. Questionaires leave them, and you, frustrated because there is no give and take, no middle ground. You cannot write a questionaire that leaves any room for the way a company works, or their culture.

If you cannot go to them, at least you can have phone conversations. Even phone conferences between several people if needed. But, at least they will be able to explain how and why they do things, and you can explain why you need things. Paper is just impersonal and makes people feel put upon. They interpret something differently than you meant, and what have you gained? Miscommunications that lead to wrong conclussions.

If I could change anything about our profession, I'd outlaw all questionaires.

I should have made myself more clear. What I want to do is visit the suppliers personally and "interview" them rather than a mail out questionaire.
What I would like is to ask something like 5 rather open ended questions and note their comments.

thanks for the clarification. I don't use any standardized template for supplier visits/audits. I'm sure you can find some here. I just start with what we suspect might be problem areas based on our historical receiving/usage data. I outline what we want, or where we want to be, where we perceive we are, and ask what can we do to help you get there.

Jac3LLC-

Do you have anything like a supplier quality manual? We have one that spells out all the things we expect from our supplier relationships that aren't specific to a particular drawing or purchase order.

Before I came to work at my current employer, the company had accumulated thousands upon thousands of poorly drawn prints that did not cite national standards, did not properly reference things like screw thread specifications, had very inconsistant use of AWS weld symbols and a number of other deficiencies; our drawings had no conformance whatsoever to ASME Y14.100 and and our revision process did not conform to ASME Y14.35M. The suppliers were howling about the quality of our drawings.

It would have been utterly impractical to go back and fix all of these drawings (although we are bringing them up to date as we revise them for engineering changes.) The supplier quality manual is provided to all of our existing suppliers and to any new ones as they are approved. The supplier's QA and production management review the manual and their management rep or equivalent signs a reciept that it has been read and understood. We then schedule a meeting to review the manual with them to be certain that there are no misunderstandings. This way, there is no confusion between us and our suppliers about what our expectations are. Well, remarkably little anyway.

We also are committed at all times to helping our suppliers to improve their processes, and that is not just to make it easier on us. We want to help them to better serve all of their customers and become more profitable so we can be assured that the supplier will be there when we need them and maybe even find that they are in a position to pass some cost savings on to us.

Make any sense? If so, that would very unusual for me.

Regards -John

Jac3LLC,
My input, not in any particular order, is this:
- Interpretation of when a product is "complete" tends to cause problems, the bottom line is it can't ship until all processes are performed, better rattle some chains on the home front and come up with a realistic definition/understanding/plan before venturing out to spread the joy.
- Change management is always a challenge, if you're of the mindset that suppliers are an extension of your assembly line (partnership), you've got to factor in the impact of change across the board whether it's timing/methods or whatever, ideally as far in advance as is feasible. Face to face communication when possible is always a plus so you've got the right idea but also be prepared to bring news home that may not be rosy.
- The head in the sand approach to let the suppliers deal with the new "rules" is borderline bad business, better to involve them on the front end.
- Survey value is limited, your open ended approach is perferrable, hey just use common sense, sit back, wait for the dust to settle, use what input can be gleaned in a constructive manner.

At a previous company I worked for we grew very fast. Annually we would have a supplier meeting. This meeting became loarge enough we could not hold it at our facility, we actually used meeting hall at a local university.
Just my thoughts,

-Do your suppliers understand the growth that you company is experiencing?
-Has your company shared your company goals and objective with the suppliers
-Has purchasing developed any contracts with these suppliers pick up and deliver x amount of product per day/week
-Are there any specific complaints that you or someone in your company has already received from the suppliers, if yes can these complaints be addressed?
-Is your company willing to change to accommodate the suppliers’ frustrations?