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Supplier Improvement Exit Criteria

Discussion in 'Supplier Quality, Audits & Other Supplier Issues' started by Xavier Garcia, Mar 27, 2020.

  1. Xavier Garcia

    Xavier Garcia New Member

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    I've been tasked to revise our organization's supplier scorecard however currently I'm stuck on the process once a supplier is consider a risk supplier and place into a improvement program, looking for ideas or benchmark workbooks. First my understanding is notify the supplier of their poor performance, then create a plan to improve areas of poor performance, document actions to improve areas and track performance. Any input is greatly appreciated.
     
  2. RoxaneB

    RoxaneB Moderator Staff Member

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    Why would you create a plan for them? They should know their business, resources, etc. better than your organization. Maybe they're willing to lose your organization's business.

    Feel free to collaborate with them and perhaps offer some clarity on trends your organization had noticed with regards to their product/service, but the plan should be them to create and document and implement.
     
    yodon likes this.
  3. Eric Twiname

    Eric Twiname Well-Known Member

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    By the time they come on your radar as a "risk supplier", they should have been contacted several times.
    ...when each late shipment arrives.
    ...when product is received out of spec.
    ...when the paperwork is incorrect.
    ...whatever.

    I get the feeling from your post that you have not reported any of the issues making them a "risk supplier" when they happened...is this the case?
    If you have let them know lates and errors along the way...they already know they are a poor supplier from the qty of your complaints...so you are not initiating a conversation, just continuing one. Right?
     
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  4. Guy Léger

    Guy Léger Member

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    I agree with @RoxaneB, in addition, if you can, during a meeting for example, you can ask them to send you their Quality Plan, according to ISO 10005:2005, clause 5.
    A quality plan is generally one of the results of quality planning. It demonstrate internally and externally, how quality requirements will be met.

    If the supplier is able to implement a Quality Plan according to ISO 10005: 2005 clause 5, I think they will also be able to improve their own performance...

    Constantly remind them of what they wrote themselves in their Quality Plan if they continu with poor performance...
     
  5. Andy Nichols

    Andy Nichols Moderator Staff Member

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    Unless a Quality Plan is a contractual requirement, why would they create one? Expecting organizations to magically adopt an ISO document which they are unlikely to have heard of is futile.
     
  6. Eric Twiname

    Eric Twiname Well-Known Member

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    I'm guessing you aren't in a vendor management role...that kind of thinking only works internally in a quality department.
     
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  7. Guy Léger

    Guy Léger Member

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    If I have well understand, @Xavier Garcia would like to "notify the supplier of their poor performance, and create a plan to improve areas of poor performance, document actions to improve areas and track performance."

    According to ISO 10005, "a Quality plan is applicaple whether or not an organization has a management system in conformity with ISO 9001..." and it may also give insight into opportunities for improvement"..

    In 5.12, it's said that "the quality plan should define requirements for, and reference to, supplier quality plans, "... That's means that, according to ISO, event suppliers can implement quality plans...

    And if the @Xavier Garcia situation is not an appropriate case to talk about and implement a quality plan according to ISO 10005, honestly I would like to know if another plan can be better...to manage relationships with relevant interested parties (Relationship Management)
     
  8. RoxaneB

    RoxaneB Moderator Staff Member

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    To @Eric Twiname 's point, the supplier should have been contacted each time any delivery/service did not meet the specifications documented and/or referenced in the purchase order. We don't know if this was done, but regardless if it was, it sounds as if @Xavier Garcia 's organization has reached the point where more serious action and conversations need to occur.

    Unfortunately, @Guy Léger , if the vendor does not consider @Xavier Garcia 's organization "important", they could very well take the request for a quality plan to the nearest recycling bin and toss it in there. Some form of response needs to be request, but it needs to add value to the relationship between the two organizations, not create an exercise in paperwork.

    A nonconformance report with the request for root cause analysis and a corrective action plan (which includes the need for a metric as part of the requirement for closure) is likely sufficient in terms of a response. Ongoing discussions will focus on the status of the activities and the results of the metric.

    I can appreciate the desire for a formal quality plan, but the reality of the situation is that not every organization has the resources (i.e., time, people) to create one. Using an existing tool within the management system - the nonconformance report with corrective action activities - is a more flexible tool that can be used in various situations, including supplier relationship management.
     
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  9. Andy Nichols

    Andy Nichols Moderator Staff Member

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    And the response from the supplier is more than likely going to be "So what...?"
     
  10. Guy Léger

    Guy Léger Member

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    I respect your opinion @RoxaneB, but in this competitive world, I don't know if an organization can take money from another organization, without considering the second organization important...is it a free supply? and also, I don't know if @Xavier Garcia organization can place his supplier into "an improvement program," if both of them do not consider each other important...may be @Xavier Garcia can tell us a little bit about their professional relationship...

    With all my respect
     
  11. RoxaneB

    RoxaneB Moderator Staff Member

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    If the vendor has larger clients, more profitable clients, there is a high likelihood that should a smaller company - even if they're a client - come with a response of "we want a quality plan", the vendor's response will be to ignore or brush off or simply pay them off. This is what we did when a smaller customer complained to us - they'd complain, we'd look at it, we'd credit their account or refund some money, and life went on. They continued to buy from us and we were one of their key suppliers. Was it morally correct? Probably not, but they got money back (and cash flow is vital to smaller companies) and we were able to focus on areas where we saw more value. Yes, we tracked the complaints and kept on them to make sure they weren't getting out of hand, but in the grand scheme of things, if we had lost this customer, it really would not have impacted our financial bottom line. That was my previous company - a for-profit steel manufacturer.

    Now I'm in not-for-profit healthcare. When our client complains (a government funded organization), it can take up to 6 months to close because of their requirements. They'll get a response with root cause and an action plan, and we meet on a regular basis to discuss progress (as well as challenges they continue to push our way that impede our ability to make progress). Clinical and operational quality plans are done at a higher level as part of our strategic and annual planning, not as a response to a complaint.
     
  12. Guy Léger

    Guy Léger Member

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    Well, thank for this information...But I don't know if @Xavier Garcia situation is the same situation that you faced in your previous company...that's why I just asked if he can tell us a little bit about this "improvement program" and the relevant relationship with this specific supplier...I cannot pretend to provide better answer, but because @Xavier Garcia said "ANY input is greatly appreciated", my own answer is just about his issue/concern/topic...And also because I know that "Successful organizations have an ongoing focus on improvement", I suggest a Quality Plan because:

    A Quality Plan "may give insight into opportunities for improvement of poor performance"

    A Quality Plan is not just an exercice in Paperwork, "it apply to the path from customer requirements, through product realization and product, to customer satisfaction...And it can be useful to minimize the risk of not meeting quality requirement (ISO 10005: 2015, 4.1).

    But I also know that a quality plan may not be needed to be prepared for a specific case, when an organization with an established QMS may be able to fullfil all of its need for quality plans under its existing system, that why I simply asked @Xavier Garcia exact situation with his supplier...

    Sincerely,