Re: Supplier Certification Programs
1. Do you have levels of supplier certification?
Yes, we have two types of certification. Suppliers which are ISO certified and suppliers what are what we call, "SQE Approved". The SQE Approved suppliers are not ISO certified and we have them on a six month or annual audit schedule based on their performance. This to help develop them to compliance of the standard without using a lot of their resources. These are typically very samll and specialized companies.
2. Do you reward your top performers, and if you do, how?
Yes, where it counts which is in the piece price. If based on our evaluations a company is Grade A Certified (I will explain below) we will pay up to X% more for their parts than those not Grade A. That % is set but I do not want to disclose in public.
3. What are the components you include in your evaluation? EX: quality, delivery, responsiveness, price, technology innovation, etc.
Monthly we rate Quality Profile (PPM 70%, NCR 30%) + Delivery + Customer Satisfaction + Lean Processe Health. Those catagories are weighted Q. Profile 50%, Delivery 30% and 10% each for the balance. If performance drops below a certain value then an SQE will visit and an action plan for recovery will be started.
This rolling 6 mo. score is part of an overall evaluation which is done twice per year. This larger evaluation includes finicial risk, piece price, product engineering development. If, based on bench marking to the rest of our approved vendor list a supplier is scored into a top Y% then that company earns a Grade A Certified (yes, named after the USDA rating system). Grades range from A to D. Below that there is a non-rating category and those suppliers are to be removed from our approved vendor list.
4. What level of performance is considered to be an excellent supplier?
We have one rating level above Grade A Certified. This rating is what we would consider excellent. Of over probably 300 companies evaluated only one has earned that rating. Our buyers are allowed to pay an even larger % for their parts.
Keep in mind we are an assembly operation and our suppliers are very important to our success. We do very little to no primary manufacturing in any of our facilities.