Vendor management:

Definition:
The businesses and individuals that provide goods and services to an organization
are considered its vendors. A company could work with a few, dozens, or even
hundreds of different vendors, all with different contract terms, pay rates, and points
of contact that must be managed through a vendor manager.

The term vendor management is used when describing the activities included in
researching and sourcing vendors, obtaining quotes with pricing, capabilities,
turnaround times, and quality of work, negotiating contracts, managing relationships,
assigning jobs, evaluating performance, and ensuring payments are made. It
requires a lot of skills, resources, and time.

With effective vendor management processes in place, you can properly establish
service, quality, cost, and satisfaction goals and choose and manage third-party
suppliers that help you achieve those business goals.

Characteristics of a vendor:
1. Accountability

Admitting to a mistake can be difficult. But when your goods are on the line, it’s
essential that you’re working with someone who can take responsibility for their half
of a deal and actively work to fix any problems that occur. That’s why accountability
tops the list of qualities of a good supplier.

But a supplier without accountability is more likely to deflect responsibility. They

might tell you the quality of the fabric was poor and difficult to work with. If you used
a third-party inspector to check the goods, the supplier might accuse the inspection
company of incompetence or of being unprofessional.

2. Production capabilities

The ability to actually manufacture the product to your specifications is one quality of
a good supplier most importers are especially familiar with. In fact, many importers
tend to focus so much on the production qualities of good suppliercapabilities of a
prospective supplier that they may overlook other vital considerations. But knowing
with confidence what a supplier can actually deliver is harder than simply talking to a
supplier representative from Alibaba.

A good supplier should be able to consistently manufacture a product that meets

your requirements. Without having the necessary procedures and skilled staff at the
factory, your supplier is going to fall short of meeting your standards.

3. Ease of communication
Language and cultural barriers can present real challenges for importers buying from
suppliers overseas. You’ll benefit greatly from working with a supplier with good
communication skills. Effective communication can prevent a variety of problems
ranging from delays to product nonconformities.

Open and direct communication

A good supplier is open and direct. They know that you may have made
commitments to your own customers, and it doesn’t help to keep you uninformed
about a bad situation. If there’s a change to the status quo, they tell you upfront. If
they need clarification about your requirements, they ask for it.

4. Cooperation with third-party QC

Checking their work. But third-party inspection has become a fairly standard
requirement for most importers qualities of good supplier manufacturing in Asia. A
good supplier will comply with an importer’s request to have an outside inspector
verify the product before it ships.

A supplier’s resistance to third-party quality control is usually cause for concern.

Such a supplier may be trying to hide an issue from the importer.

Better suppliers typically book inspections on time and provide assistance for
auditors on-site. If problems are found during inspection, good suppliers provide
objective feedback about the results and advise what can be done to resolve issues.
The same suppliers are also open with their internal documentation and processes
when being audited.

5. Ethics

Ethical sourcing has made its way into the spotlight. As larger brands have made
headlines in recent years for social compliance violations in their supply chain,
countries have taken steps to outlaw goods made with forced labor (related: The
U.S. Ban on Imports Made with Forced Labor).

Qualities of good supplier

Many importers don’t want to be associated with a product made by workers that are
treated unfairly or working in unsafe conditions. By choosing to work only with good
suppliers that meet popular social compliance standards you can be confident that:

1. Your products are not made with involuntary or child labor;

2. Your products are made in safe working conditions;

3. Retailers you supply won't refuse to distribute your product; and

 4. The reputation of your brand is protected from negative press surrounding
unethical sourcing

Proper ethics may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you’re looking for a
good supplier. But it’s not difficult to audit a supplier or prospective factory for social
compliance. And disregarding ethics entirely could lead to problems down the road.

Local & International Brands:

Crockery:

Local Brands

Fab India
Lazzaro
Clay Craft
Jaypore
Larah
Yera
Treo
Borosil
La Opala
Corelle

International brands:

 Rachael Ray.
 Williams Sonoma.
 Sango.
 Noritake.
 Corelle.
 Wedgwood.
 Mikasa.
 Royal Doulton

Glasses Ware:

Local brands:
 Asahi. ...
 La Opala
 Borosil Glass
 Saint-Gobain Sekurit
 Gujarat Guardian Limited
 Hindustan Nationa

International Brands:

 Saint-Gobain- France.
 Corning Inc-Corning-
 Asahi Glass-
 Murata Manufacturing -
 Morimura Group-
 Nippon Sheet
 Kyocera Corp.
 SCHOTT AG.

Cultery :

International brands:

 Bugatti Cutlery.
 Carrs Cutlery.
 Cutipol Cutlery.
 Denby Cutlery.
 Herdmar Cutlery.
 Laguiole Andre Verdier Cutlery.
 Laguiole Jean Dubost Cutlery.
 Noritake Cutlery.

Local:
 FNS
 Kishco

Linen:

Local
1. BOMBAY DYEING.
2. PORTICO.
3. SWAYAM.
4. RAYMOND.
5. D'Decor.
6. SPACES.
7. WELSPUN.
8. SALONA BICHONA.

International:
1. Charlotte Thomas
2. Frette Hellas
3. Millesimo
4. Milos
5. Sferra Capri

Vendor Sourcing:

A sourcing or tender process is used to select the best product or service for a
certain category of expenditure.
Unfortunately, lots of these processes are not run well, resulting in loss of large
saving opportunities, delivery of poor quality products, or less favorable terms.
When selecting suppliers through a tender or sourcing process, the buyer works in
collaboration with internal customers or budget holders. Internal customers are
buyer’s colleagues working in other departments, such as finance or manufacturing.
They are the ones who originally raised the need for the purchase and who will be
actually transacting with the selected supplier.

1. Information
What are the needs of your internal customer i.e. the person who requires the
product or service to be purchased? As a buyer, you challenge and “translate” these
needs in specifications that suppliers can understand.
The objective of buyers at the specification stage is twofold:

 Reduce total costs

 Safeguard a competitive market at the upcoming negotiation stage

Developing specifications in its turn is a 4 step process:

 Assess Customer needs

 Assess what the market has to offer
 Develop specifications
 Define winning criteria
2. Selection
Once you have a clear picture of the business requirements, your next step is to
formally invite suppliers to quote for your business.
You formally approach the market via:
Request for Information

 This is used to pre-qualify suppliers to whom you would send the RFQ.
 An RFI is usually a simple and short questionnaire for the supplier, which
enables the buyer to judge if the supplier is promising and has a good
chance to win the business.
 An RFI is optional. If you know the market relatively well, there is no need
for an RFI.

3. Tiering:

A Request for Quotation

 This is a formal request to the supply market to quote for your business.
 The RFQ is a more complex document with a company presentation,
bidding instructions for suppliers and detailed information about the
product and Price.

Comparing Quotation from Different suppliers

Buyer-Vendor Relation:
Vendor Reliability:

Reliability is simply defined as the ability of a company to consistently supply an

acceptable product at the required time. There are seven criteria by
which reliability can be judged. Quality—A quality product must be consistently
delivered that satisfies the customer's needs

Reputation : checking In the terms of Quality, Service about the product and
doing business in market.
Even a reputation check in the market, however, is not foolproof. If they have no
record of complaints about a business, just keep in mind that the company whose
name you are looking for may have moved or changed names—or may simply not
have been in business long enough yet for complaints to have been registered
against it.

Location

Think about location when choosing suppliers. Dealing with distant suppliers might
mean longer delivery times and extra freight costs. If you need something quickly, a
local supplier might be a better option. But be sure to investigate freight policies of
distant suppliers. Bulk orders, for instance, might get you free shipping or you might
be able to combine different orders to reduce costs

Negotiation
At the negotiation stage, you analyze the offers and select the most promising
suppliers to negotiate with. Only then you prepare for negotiation.
During the meeting, your goal is to clarify the terms of the offer and get additional
value beyond what has been offered, this might range from a lower price, a better
quality product, improved payment terms etc. At the end of this process, you
conclude the deal with the best supplier.
Most suppliers build in a price concession in their first offer. In order to obtain this
concession, you must:

 Build competition – To get the best results at the negotiation stage, you
should have two or more credible alternatives.
 Carefully analyze all quotations to get a feel for a stretching but
credible target.

Terms & Conditions Vendor: often have their own written agreements but, if they
don't, we recommend establishing them yourself. Written agreements document all
the specific details, such as what you want, what you'll get, how much you'll pay and
when.
Supplier agreements cover such issues as:
supply conditions, including volume, price, discounts, ordering periods, take
or pay and delivery times

payment terms

specifications of goods or services supplied (scope of goods)

warranty periods for defective goods or services

limited liability (risk of loss or damage)

intellectual property

confidentiality

insurance

dispute resolution

termination and exclusion clauses.

Make sure a lawyer experienced in supply agreements and terms of trade reviews
any documents before you sign and begin any transactions.

Vendor Evaluation

1. Performance
2. Quality
3. Quantity
4. Perfectness
5. Commitment
6. Price behavior

Evaluation Methodology:

Goods delivery date, Goods receipt, Purchase date, All Goods receipt dates
considered. - Any cancellations/returns are subject to evaluation. - Any quantity
difference are subject to evaluation. - Any delays are subject to evaluation. Goods
Receipt Entry Date Tolerances in Procurement & Inventory