1993 NAPM Insights Article Index
Term selected: Supplier Management

A valuable reference tool, the Article Index is a comprehensive list of articles that have appeared in Inside Supply Management® (formerly Purchasing Today® and NAPM Insights®) magazine. Articles are organized by subject for easy locating and study.

• Supplier Certification: Taking the Plunge, A Model to Live By
  James L. Bossert and John O. Brown, May, Vol. 4, No. 5, p. 20.
  

  Most of the early work in supplier certification was in the high-volume, hardware industries. They provide some of the most well-developed models to follow. But, the process of certification has been expanded to include any size company from all sectors of business. Company supplier certification successes range from food processing to logging to the pure services such as transportation and data entry. The traditional issues of capability and process flows have become issues of consistency, timeliness, and accuracy. The definitions of specifications through drawings have become discussions of expected performance factors. One series of steps developed by a company purchasing services such as security, cafeterias, and grounds maintenance follows:

• Supplier Certification: Taking the Plunge, Before You Begin
  Janet Raddatz, May, Vol. 4, No. 5, p. 19.
  

  Laying the foundation for your certification process begins with knowing what you want, measuring, and clearly communicating with your suppliers.

• Supplier Certification: Taking the Plunge: An Update
  James L. Bossert and John O. Brown, May, Vol. 4, No. 5, p. 18.
  

  Today, model supplier certification programs can be found in service sector companies.

• The "How to" of Outsourcing Contracts
  Frank Tahmoush, C.P.M., October, Vol. 4, No. 10, p. 34.
  

  Preparing contract clauses forces purchasers to question anything that might go wrong, and then write protections into the contract.

• The Chains that Bind
  Jeanette Budding, August, Vol. 4, No. 8, p. 49.
  

  Linking suppliers and customers through the supply process to the end-user can be analogous to marriages - binding yet open to unconditional sharing. Success depends on the relationship.