Help Your Supplier, Help Yourself, 1999 Process & Product Quality Conference Proceedings

H. Vann Parker--Any company, operation, or operator processing raw materials benefits when those raw materials are uniform and predictable. This applies for raw materials from either external suppliers or internal suppliers. To understand the value of predictable raw materials, ask any operator in any plant to name one thing would make it easier for him or her to do the job well. The answer will always be some variation of, “If they would just send me the same material all the time, I could do a good job with it.”

If statements such as this from operators are truly fact based, it must follow that predictable raw material has a positive impact on process efficiency and finished product predictability. Everyone agrees that improved efficiency translates into greater profits. If this concept is completely accepted by management, then the primary objective for raw material procurement should be predictability. Furthermore, the procurement process should be designed to lead and encourage suppliers to provide the most uniform, predictable products that they are capable of producing.