Quality supplier selection is one of the most important areas of focus in order to insure quality and sustainability in the e-negotiation process.

Having a large database of available suppliers to drive sustainable results in e-procurement events such as reverse auctions is a critical success factor. Maybe even more critical is making sure that the suppliers once selected for participation in an event are of the highest quality, professional, responsive and have your best interests at heart. There are several areas in the early strategy stages of a reverse auction which if properly monitored can be leading key performance indicators as to future performance. These KPI?s are, the initial supplier response and supplier training schedule adherence. If suppliers are not interested enough during these early stages, that may be an indicator of future performance in other more critical areas such as on time delivery, back order management and documentation.

A simple process for measuring these KPI?s would be to measure the number of days between the project start date or initial supplier contact and the event start date, where the supplier has been sent an invitation but has not responded either positively or negatively. Maintaining an active status of response dates could be scored based on the number of days it takes invited suppliers to respond. Obviously the longer it takes to respond the lower KPI score the supplier would receive. Another possible KPI measurement or filter once the invitation has been accepted would be the number of days between the date accepted and the event start date, where the supplier has accepted an invitation but has not completed their training.

These are not intended to be punitive measures. In most cases suppliers will perform beyond your expectations. Sustainability and quality require measurements regardless of how simple.

As always we appreciate and look forward to your comments.