vendor-assessment

UNIVERSAL RULES (apply to every vendor task)

• NEVER classify a sole-source supplier as low risk based on spend alone -- always assess operational dependency separately from spend volume
• NEVER accept a vendor risk assessment that contains fabricated financial data -- label all estimates and flag where primary data is unavailable
• NEVER recommend a vendor exit without a qualified alternative identified or an explicit "no alternative -- managed risk" decision documented
• ALWAYS include specific recommended actions with deadlines in every output -- observations without actions are not acceptable

MANDATORY OUTPUT HEADER

Every output must begin with:

TASK:          [e.g. Vendor Assessment -- Acme Corp]
VENDOR TIER:   [Strategic / Tactical / Commodity / Bottleneck / Unclassified]
CONFIGURATION: [Loaded: supply-chain.local.md / Not configured]
DATA SOURCES:  [ERP / Web / Manual input]

ASSESSMENT WORKFLOW

Phase 1: Vendor Classification (Kraljic Matrix)

Before any assessment, classify the vendor:

Question	Strategic	Tactical	Commodity	Bottleneck
Are alternatives available?	No / very few	Yes -- 2-3	Many	No / very few
Annual spend?	High	Medium	Any	Low-Medium
Impact if vendor fails?	Critical	Significant	Manageable	Critical
Relationship depth?	Deep / long	Established	Transactional	Variable

STRATEGIC (Tier 1): High spend AND high dependency. Single-source or near-sole-source. Review: quarterly + event-triggered. TACTICAL (Tier 2): Significant spend. Multiple alternatives available. Review: bi-annual + event-triggered. COMMODITY (Tier 3): Standard goods/services. Easy to switch. Review: annual. BOTTLENECK (Tier 4): LOW spend but HIGH dependency. MOST DANGEROUS -- most often neglected. Review: quarterly despite low spend.

CLASSIFICATION RULE: When assessing a vendor with low spend but sole-source dependency, ALWAYS classify as BOTTLENECK and flag as high-risk regardless of spend volume.

CLASSIFICATION DETERMINES:

• Assessment depth (number of dimensions assessed)
• Review frequency
• Risk threshold stringency
• Escalation level

Phase 2: Six-Dimension Assessment

DIMENSION 1: COMMERCIAL Contract status:

• Active contract: Yes/No; expiry date; auto-renewal clause?
• Notice period for non-renewal: documented?
• Pricing model: fixed / index-linked / open book / variable
• Payment terms: standard for sector/market?
• Volume commitments: minimum order quantities; penalty clauses?
• IP ownership: critical for manufactured-to-spec components

Flags: RED: No contract for spend > configured threshold RED: Auto-renewal without documented notice window reminder AMBER: Fixed price contract on commodity category (index exposure) AMBER: Volume commitment with penalty below minimum forecast volume

DIMENSION 2: OPERATIONAL Metrics from ERP (last 12 months):

• On-time delivery rate (OTD): calculate from GR dates vs. PO delivery dates
• Average lead time and variance (consistency matters as much as average)
• Quality rejection rate (from QMS or goods inward records)
• Capacity: can they scale with our growth? (ask directly)
• Business continuity: single site or multiple?

Flags: RED: OTD < configured threshold for tier (e.g. <90% for Strategic) RED: Quality rejection > configured threshold (e.g. >2% for direct materials) AMBER: OTD declining trend (even if above threshold -- trajectory matters) AMBER: Single production site with no documented BCP

DIMENSION 3: FINANCIAL For publicly listed vendors:

• Revenue trend (last 3 years): growing / stable / declining
• Profitability trend: EBIT margin trajectory
• Debt to equity ratio: deteriorating?
• Days Sales Outstanding (DSO): lengthening = cash pressure
• Analyst commentary (if listed): any concerns raised?

For private vendors:

• Companies House / SECP / equivalent filings (annual accounts)
• Credit rating from Creditsafe / D&B / Experian
• Request audited accounts for Strategic and Bottleneck vendors annually
• Trade references from other customers (for new vendors)

Flags: RED: Restructuring, administration, or insolvency proceedings RED: Zero financial visibility on Strategic or Bottleneck vendor AMBER: Revenue decline >15% year-on-year AMBER: Credit rating downgrade AMBER: EBIT margin below 3% (marginal viability risk)

DIMENSION 4: COMPLIANCE Certifications required (configure by category in local settings):

• Quality: ISO 9001 / sector-specific (IATF 16949 for automotive, etc.)
• Environmental: ISO 14001 (if required by your policy)
• Data: GDPR compliance + DPA for any data-sharing arrangement
• Modern Slavery Act statement (UK vendors > GBP 36M turnover)
• Sanctions screening: verified against OFAC, EU, UK HMT lists
• Trade compliance: export licences, import documentation
• ESG/ethical sourcing: modern slavery, conflict minerals (sector-specific)

Flags: RED: Active sanctions match -- immediate escalation; stop all activity RED: Required certification expired with no renewal in progress AMBER: Certification expiring within 90 days -- request renewal evidence AMBER: No modern slavery statement (UK statutory requirement above threshold)

DIMENSION 5: STRATEGIC

• Dependency: sole-source / dual-source / approved panel
• Switching timeline: how long to qualify and onboard an alternative?
• Switching cost: tooling, qualification, ramp-up period
• Relationship investment: what have we and they invested?
• Innovation: are they bringing improvements and ideas?
• Strategic alignment: do their long-term plans align with ours?

Flags: RED: Sole-source with switching timeline >6 months and no backup qualified AMBER: No alternative vendor qualified or in qualification for critical category AMBER: Vendor has indicated desire to exit the relationship or market segment

DIMENSION 6: GEOPOLITICAL / SUSTAINABILITY

• Country risk: political stability; trade restriction risk; sanctions exposure
• Currency risk: contract currency vs. payment currency
• Supply chain depth: do we know Tier 2 sub-suppliers for critical components?
• Carbon footprint and Scope 3 reporting (increasingly mandatory)
• Ethical sourcing: conflict minerals, child labour risk by geography
• Single-geography concentration: are all suppliers for this category in the same country or region?

Flags: RED: Vendor in sanctioned country or subject to active export restrictions AMBER: All suppliers for a critical category in a single high-risk geography AMBER: No Tier 2 supplier mapping for Strategic vendors

ASSESSMENT OUTPUT FORMAT

VENDOR ASSESSMENT: [Vendor Name]
================================================================
Classification:  [STRATEGIC / TACTICAL / COMMODITY / BOTTLENECK]
Tier:            [1 / 2 / 3 / 4]
Rationale:       [Brief justification for classification]

-- COMMERCIAL ----------------------------------------------------
[Findings and flags per item above]

-- OPERATIONAL ---------------------------------------------------
OTD (12M):     [X]%   Threshold: [X]%   Status: [PASS / WARNING / FAIL]
Lead time avg: [X] days  Variance: +/-[X] days
Quality rej:   [X]%   Threshold: [X]%   Status: [PASS / WARNING / FAIL]

-- FINANCIAL -----------------------------------------------------
[Findings and flags]

-- COMPLIANCE ----------------------------------------------------
[Certifications status; sanctions clear/flag; DPA status]

-- STRATEGIC -----------------------------------------------------
[Dependency level; switching timeline; backup vendor status]

-- GEOPOLITICAL / SUSTAINABILITY ---------------------------------
[Country risk; currency; Tier 2 visibility; ESG]

RISK SUMMARY
RED CRITICAL: [list]
AMBER MODERATE: [list]
GREEN LOW: [list]

RECOMMENDED ACTIONS -- RANKED BY URGENCY
[N]. [Priority] [Action] -- [Owner] -- by [Date]
================================================================

NEVER DO THESE

• NEVER classify a sole-source supplier as low-risk because spend is low
• NEVER complete a financial assessment with fabricated data -- if data unavailable: flag explicitly as "financial visibility: NONE" and recommend requesting audited accounts
• NEVER conduct a sanctions screening check manually -- always use an authoritative list (OFAC, EU, UK HMT)
• NEVER close an assessment without a recommended action list
• NEVER skip the Tier 2 visibility check for Strategic vendors

ALL OUTPUTS REQUIRE REVIEW BY A QUALIFIED PROFESSIONAL BEFORE USE IN BUSINESS DECISIONS.