Supply Chain Management Review

Robert A. Rudzki

SRM and Supplier Recognition - V
April 29, 2008

Are you ready for a supplier recognition event at your company? You are probably ready if:

• You have fairly good data on supplier performance
• You have agreement on the selection criteria
• You have a view that suppliers are part of the solution
• Your corporate culture is one where you recognize employees
• Senior management is willing to participate

You are probably NOT ready if:

• You have fairly poor data on supplier performance
• You don’t have agreement on the selection criteria
• You have a view that suppliers are part of the problem
• Your corporate culture is one where employee recognition is a strange idea
• Senior management can’t be bothered with purchasing activities

If you’ve concluded that you might be ready, here is a suggested agenda, based on some outstanding events at world-class companies:

1st Day - Evening

Dinner Reception involving Premier Supplier execs, your corporate and BU execs, and your procurement council

2nd Day - Morning

Business Meeting (max 2 hours) involving Premier Supplier execs, your corporate and BU execs, and your procurement council

Awards Ceremony (max 45 minutes) including Business Meeting participants, and other invited guests (employees and supplier reps). Videotape the entire Awards ceremony, and provide a copy to each supplier that was recognized.

2nd Day – Lunch

Either: Senior reps of suppliers and your own organization, or everyone who attended Awards Ceremony.

Optional after lunch: social opportunity / golf.  

Afterwards,

• Run a full-page color ad, naming your top suppliers, in at least one magazine
• Communicate to your entire supply base (letter, brochure, press release about the top suppliers, reprint of ad)
• Offer to re-enact a “local awards ceremony” at your supplier’s location for the benefit of its employees
• Evaluate what went well, what could be improved, and modify your checklists for next year to reflect your learnings

One caution: this is not a casual undertaking. For the first year, begin planning at least 9 months in advance of the target date. It’s not much of an exaggeration to say that this is like planning a wedding: lots of logistics to decide on, and arrange, well in advance of the event date.

Posted by Robert A. Rudzki on April 29, 2008 | Comments (0)