[Supplier] evaluation ... without action is not effective (Gordon, 2008).
Supplier evaluation is a continual process within purchasing departments and part of the pre-qualification step within purchasing. Evaluation can take the form of a questionnaire, an interview, or site visit. It includes appraisals of various aspects of the supplier's capacity such as financials, quality assurance, organisational structure and processes and performance (Varley, 2001). Supplier evaluation is one of the fundamental steps to evaluate a supplier’s adaptability towards an organisation. This can be done through the Supplier Evaluation Framework (SEF) which is a generic framework set by an organisation for establishing supplier credentials and capabilities. Tan, Lyman and Wisner (2002) propose an evaluation model which involves the following dimensions and aspects: (1) product and delivery assessment evaluates quality level, on-time delivery, correct quantity, service level and price/cost of product; (2) capacity assessment which evaluates willingness to change product/services and to meet changing needs; and (3) information assessment which evaluates the willingness to share sensitive information and to participate in new product development.
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The three terms supplier appraisal, supplier approval and supplier rating are sometimes confused. Each of the three terms has been defined in this paper.
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