Supplier selection and supplier relations are considered important for the purchasing department. Should the quality assurance department ever become involved in these issues? Why or why not?

Supplier selection and supplier relations are considered important for the purchasing department. Should the quality assurance department ever become involved in these issues? Why or why not?

Answer. Supplier selection criteria for a particular product or service category should be defined by a “cross-functional” team of representatives from different sectors of your organization. In a manufacturing company, for example, members of the team typically would include representatives from purchasing, quality, engineering and production. Team members should include personnel with technical/applications knowledge of the product or service to be purchased, as well as members of the department that uses the purchased item.

Common supplier selection criteria:
• Previous experience and past performance with the product/service to be purchased.
• Relative level of sophistication of the quality system, including meeting regulatory requirements or mandated quality system registration (for example, ISO 9001, QS-9000).
• Ability to meet current and potential capacity requirements, and do so on the desired delivery schedule.
• Financial stability.
• Technical support availability and willingness to participate as a partner in developing and optimizing design and a long-term relationship.
• Total cost of dealing with the supplier (including material cost, communications methods, inventory requirements and incoming verification required).
• The supplier's track record for business-performance improvement.
• Total cost assessment.

Methods for determining how well a potential supplier fits the criteria:
• Obtaining a Dun & Bradstreet or other publicly available financial report.
• Requesting a formal quote, which includes providing the supplier with specifications and other requirements (for example, testing).
• Visits to the supplier by management and/or the selection team.
• Confirmation of quality system status either by on-site assessment, a written survey or request for a certificate of quality system registration.
• Discussions with other customers served by the supplier.
• Review of databases or industry sources for the product line and supplier.
• Evaluation (SUCH AS prototyping, lab tests, OR validation testing) of samples obtained from the supplier.

The quality department should be involved in the supplier selection and retention. To ensure that materials from suppliers are of the highest quality, suppliers must be brought into the company’s TQM program. Ford Motor company is a good example of how this should be work. A Ford the initial selection of suppliers is based on how well the suppliers can interface with the Ford’s TQM program. Ford has about 300 suppliers on its Q1 list, a list of suppliers with which Ford is willing to have long-term supply contracts in order to achieve highest quality at competitive costs. Because Q-1 suppliers in the design of new Ford products, the design reflect the supplier’s ability to product high quality materials. And suppliers participate in Ford’s quality training programs; thus, suppliers’ employees are capable of making TQM work within the suppliers’ organizations.