Tag Archives: supplier management

Dec 23 2014

How to Choose the Best Vendor for Your Project

Supplier managementOver the past several months my company has been inundated with a higher than average amount of request for proposals.  While we’re used to being solicited for several proposals every day, the last few months we’ve witnessed more than triple!

Every week we take the time to determine which ones we will bid on by using our typical approach.  At the beginning of each day we sit down and prioritize, consider the types of projects along with the quality and detail within each.  Finally, we assess the feasibility of any budgets identified.

I’ve noticed a trend that is evidently growing.  A whole lot of request for proposals start out with wording that reveals an issue with the contract awarding processes of many companies.  While the wording slightly varies, it typically starts with “We previously hired a development team that could not deliver….”

Continue reading →

Jan 1 2012

Do Not Choose Your Suppliers Based On Price Alone

Happy New Year!  I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday season and is ready to make 2012 their best year yet!

Over the holidays I had a couple of challenging situations with companies contacting me to help with emergencies.  Ironically, these emergencies could have likely been prevented had some cautionary steps been taken to prevent them from occurring in the first place.

These emergencies occurred because these individuals simply chose their suppliers based upon price alone.  These suppliers both were new in their own respective industries, smaller companies with very few testimonials and mixed online reviews.  A quick review of the quality of their products revealed several clues that they were most likely not very experienced in their respective industries.

If you were ever to require an emergency operation, and have the option of two potential surgeons; one that has performed a dozen operations with a 50% success rate versus one that has performed a thousand operations with a 95.3% success rate but costs marginally more, which one would you choose?  Now that you’ve answered this question, think about why you’re willing to take so much more risk with the success of your business?  Is it simply because it’s your company’s life on the line and not your own?

Continue reading →