Supplier Evaluations of Customer Selected Suppliers

M

mshell

#1
This may already be covered but I could not find it so here goes...

If our customers select suppliers of parts, delivery services or materials. Do we have to perform supplier evaluations on them?

Even if the evaluations indicate a negative trend, we can not change to a new supplier. All that we can really do is provide the customer with a copy of the evaluation.
 
Elsmar Forum Sponsor
T

Tom W

#2
mshell said:
This may already be covered but I could not find it so here goes...

If our customers select suppliers of parts, delivery services or materials. Do we have to perform supplier evaluations on them?

Even if the evaluations indicate a negative trend, we can not change to a new supplier. All that we can really do is provide the customer with a copy of the evaluation.
Because the customer selected the supplier does not absolve you from performing supplier development and things like that. It is a catch 22. If they are a good supplier no worries, but if a bad supplier then you have a challange on your hands. But YES you still are responsible for the product they supply to you that goes into your customers product. :bigwave:
 

Wes Bucey

Quite Involved in Discussions
#4
mshell said:
Thanks Tom,

I was afraid that would be the response. :thanx:
There is an upside to this, though. If you are having a problem with a "customer-approved supplier" you have the added muscle of "snitching them out" to the customer if they fail to perform.

In my experience, the only time I ever had any continuing problem with a "customer-approved" supplier was when it was a nepotism or graft thing between the customer and his approved supplier. It doesn't take too much effort to ferret out that kind of thing. When you encounter it, the solutions may range from
"blindness" (just maintain high alert on incoming inspection, reject any and all non-conforming material)
to
"whistle blower" (we all know the big downside to that course of action)
and everything in between.

The one thing I can almost guarantee is that no two situations will be exactly alike.
 
B

Bill Ryan - 2007

#5
mshell said:
...If our customers select suppliers...
We have a couple of those situations. Had nothing but trouble with one house that didn't have the expertise/support we would have required had we found our own supplier. All we could do was keep our customer informed of our attempts to "help them along" (they have improved tremendously!).

Side Bar - How do you evaluate your supplier when said supplier is the customer? Ex.: Our customer supplies bushings to us to insert into a part we cast and machine. A few of the bushings have "rust". We call and ask what to do (if we happen to catch it at incoming inspection). They say "Just sort them out as you go" (or something to that effect). Lo and behold, we get a Customer complaint for rusty bushings in the product. How do you fill out a 5-Why and not make the customer look like the culprit (very tactfully)? Should we issue a formal complaint to our customer (probably not if we want to keep the business)? Should we have rejected the lot and shut their lines down (and gotten another PR/R)? Talk about Tom's "Catch 22" :frust: .

Bill
BTW - We just handle it as we handle any other complaint (eg.: it was our fault :bonk: )
 
R

Rob Nix

#6
Great subject!, but no fun at all. :frust:

Not much you can do when your customer is your supplier, except cover your [self] with documentation!

Often, the customer specifies a particular supplier or product to maintain uniformity in their plants (e.g. spare parts stores) or for special rates from said suppliers. I've always treated these suppliers the same as the rest; they get evaluations. If they fail the evaluation or produce defective products, the first attempt is to get corrective action, as usual. Failing that, the customer is brought into the documentation loop, ending in a letter to customer purchasing that we have done everything we can. It's up to you now to help us out or change required vendors.

Side point: sometimes the specified product OEM can be purchased from several distributors. If the problem (e.g. late deliveries) is from the distributor, you can change to another one.
 

Wes Bucey

Quite Involved in Discussions
#7
Rob Nix said:
Great subject!, but no fun at all. :frust:

Not much you can do when your customer is your supplier, except cover your [self] with documentation!

Often, the customer specifies a particular supplier or product to maintain uniformity in their plants (e.g. spare parts stores) or for special rates from said suppliers. I've always treated these suppliers the same as the rest; they get evaluations. If they fail the evaluation or produce defective products, the first attempt is to get corrective action, as usual. Failing that, the customer is brought into the documentation loop, ending in a letter to customer purchasing that we have done everything we can. It's up to you now to help us out or change required vendors.

Side point: sometimes the specified product OEM can be purchased from several distributors. If the problem (e.g. late deliveries) is from the distributor, you can change to another one.
As Rob suggests, the least stressful way to deal with a poor supplier (regardless whether it is customer, customer-dictated, or independent 3rd party) is to deal with ALL suppliers in a very straightforward, business-as-usual manner.

In my case, I found this route helped me improve my relations with ALL my suppliers. (I wasn't as quick to pull a trigger on an otherwise good supplier who had a momentary lapse.) Customer-related suppliers appreciated straightforward root cause inquiries when a CAR was issued. Sometimes we included an offer to provide an independent party to compare our instruments and techniques with the supplier's to determine whether we were being unfair in our rejection.

Strangely, we had one occasion where we discovered NEITHER of us had instrumentation capable of the discrimination necessary for an ohmmeter test, despite the fact the instrument maker's literature said it was capable. Chalk one up for independent metrology labs!
 

Cari Spears

Super Moderator
Staff member
Super Moderator
#8
We deal with this frequently ourselves. Our customer is also our supplier, or the customer has an approved vendor list.

I simply keep track of their performance the same way I do for all suppliers. The only difference is we don't request corrective action from a customer who is our supplier, we simply keep track of pricing and delivery performance so our estimators are informed. When we get a call from the buyer - we say we're waiting on delivery from your other branch, yada, yada... With the two major customers I have in mind as I post - this usually gets the buyer on the phone with the sales branch and they get it hustled in if possible.

Customer dictated suppliers - we usually deal with the supplier directly on matters relating to product quality, pricing or delivery. If we receive a customer complaint attributed to the performance of their approved supplier - then we respond with the facts.

I've had auditors question our continued use of suppliers that fall below our expected performance levels in any area - I just lay it out for them...
"This is one of our top 5 accounts, we are required to use their product in the repair or remanufacture of their products."
or...
"This is a customer dictated supplier and we keep our estimators and our customer aware of their performance."
or..
"This is the only place we can get this, and it is noted on our supplier list that we only buy this from them. We inform people in charge of departmental supplies so we can establish a minimum supply they must keep in their inventory to accommodate for long delivery."
 
Last edited:
R

Rob Nix

#9
:topic: One of our company's customers requires that we use Cari's products. But they're pretty good, so I don't evaluate them. :vfunny:

Although, once the weather gets warmer, I could find I need to audit her facility. ;)
 

Cari Spears

Super Moderator
Staff member
Super Moderator
#10
Rob Nix said:
:topic: One of our company's customers requires that we use Cari's products. But they're pretty good, so I don't evaluate them. :vfunny:

Although, once the weather gets warmer, I could find I need to audit her facility. ;)
LOL - you're welcome anytime!!
 
Thread starter Similar threads Forum Replies Date
B Vendor (Supplier) Evaluations and Reports Supplier Quality Assurance and other Supplier Issues 11
S Supplier Evaluations of a wide range of suppliers and different products IATF 16949 - Automotive Quality Systems Standard 8
J Is MS Outlook a sufficient reminder to perform yearly supplier evaluations? Quality Manager and Management Related Issues 10
M Simplifying Supplier Evaluations for hundreds of Suppliers Supplier Quality Assurance and other Supplier Issues 6
R Supplier Evaluations - Merits and Demerits Supplier Quality Assurance and other Supplier Issues 2
D Nominated Supplier (long standing relationship with the company) Evaluations Supplier Quality Assurance and other Supplier Issues 5
M Supplier Evaluations - Handling suppliers (vendors) with Low Scores. Supplier Quality Assurance and other Supplier Issues 9
S Supplier Re-evaluations - Purchasing Process - Clause 7.4.1 Supplier Quality Assurance and other Supplier Issues 9
R How Supplier Evaluations work - ISO 9001 7.4.1 "Records of the results of evaluations ISO 9000, ISO 9001, and ISO 9004 Quality Management Systems Standards 19
J Service Supplier Evaluations - Criteria for evaluation and control of registrars Supplier Quality Assurance and other Supplier Issues 7
J Supplier not responding to PPAP request APQP and PPAP 5
D Supplier audit Medical Device and FDA Regulations and Standards News 2
lanley liao Does all of the suppliers need to integrated into the supplier list qualified of the company? Oil and Gas Industry Standards and Regulations 2
S Distinction between a critical supplier and a Virtual manufacturer EU Medical Device Regulations 2
R AS9102 FAI Change in Material / Process Supplier AS9100, IAQG, NADCAP and Aerospace related Standards and Requirements 4
John Broomfield Five ways to botch your supplier management program Misc. Quality Assurance and Business Systems Related Topics 7
C Supplier survey - 200 to 250 duppliers Supplier Quality Assurance and other Supplier Issues 3
J Where is the definition of a critical supplier? ISO 13485:2016 - Medical Device Quality Management Systems 5
U Approved Vendor (supplier) List Supplier Quality Assurance and other Supplier Issues 8
M Supplier requirements - Major supplier is a Non-Profit registered with ICCBBA (FDA UDI) Supply Chain Security Management Systems 12
P Training department ideas and development for automotive supplier Training - Internal, External, Online and Distance Learning 6
B Software service provider as critical supplier ISO 13485:2016 - Medical Device Quality Management Systems 5
T AS9100D Clause 10.2.1g Supplier Corrective Action for each and every nonconformity? AS9100, IAQG, NADCAP and Aerospace related Standards and Requirements 3
S Supplier protocol for the Quality Supplier Quality Assurance and other Supplier Issues 6
A API Spec Q1 Purchasing Process - Supplier Reevaluation based on Supplier Risks 5.6.1.4 Oil and Gas Industry Standards and Regulations 17
D Approved supplier list - Distributors question ISO 13485:2016 - Medical Device Quality Management Systems 6
G Supplier delivered recent PPAP, should he deliver yearly layout inspection? IATF 16949 - Automotive Quality Systems Standard 4
E ISO 13485 QMS certification as a Supplier ISO 13485:2016 - Medical Device Quality Management Systems 8
G Supplier doesn't share drawings IATF 16949 - Automotive Quality Systems Standard 15
S Use of raw materials by two supplier CE Marking (Conformité Européene) / CB Scheme 2
D Are Supplier Quality Agreements Quality Records ? Other Medical Device Regulations World-Wide 9
G Dealing with non conformity caused by Supplier Components detected in the production line IATF 16949 - Automotive Quality Systems Standard 14
G Supplier doesn't accept the complaints Supplier Quality Assurance and other Supplier Issues 20
K New supplier audit as per V3.1 by French Automotive OEM General Auditing Discussions 2
A ASL requirement when the supplier is certified for ISO 13485 ISO 13485:2016 - Medical Device Quality Management Systems 6
S Supplier Management ISO 13485: 2016- Which supplier needs to fill in a self assessment form? ISO 13485:2016 - Medical Device Quality Management Systems 6
D Approved supplier list for R&D ISO 13485:2016 - Medical Device Quality Management Systems 5
M SemaTech SSQA Standardized Supplier Quality Assessment - my favorite tool ever Manufacturing and Related Processes 1
D Supplier Quality level category help - high level ISO 13485:2016 - Medical Device Quality Management Systems 6
J Supplier Controlled Shipping (GM CS1) Condition Manufacturing and Related Processes 3
L Supplier within the Organization ISO 9000, ISO 9001, and ISO 9004 Quality Management Systems Standards 5
D Supplier Quality - How to classify a supplier level Medical Device and FDA Regulations and Standards News 10
P Understanding DFMEA and PFMEA - Supplier Related IATF 16949 - Automotive Quality Systems Standard 21
S Can assembly manufacturing sub-supplier be certified IATF 16949? IATF 16949 - Automotive Quality Systems Standard 6
M How Supplier Capacity check is done by competitors Manufacturing and Related Processes 0
C One Time Service Supplier - Temperature and Humidity Testing Service ISO 13485:2016 - Medical Device Quality Management Systems 5
M Supplier Audits - Stop Wasting Everyone's Time! General Auditing Discussions 15
G Supplier management when the supplier is your headquarter IATF 16949 - Automotive Quality Systems Standard 3
V Supplier wants to perform pre-qualifications prior to every run instead of locking in parameters. Supplier Quality Assurance and other Supplier Issues 7
D Class 3 Device - Change of supplier of material Canada Medical Device Regulations 6

Similar threads

Top Bottom