Margins leak quietly through rework, delayed dispatches, and quality incidents. Supplier scorecards make that leakage visible and actionable.
Track five dimensions only: quality acceptance rate, on-time delivery, landed price variance, responsiveness, and financial reliability. Weight each metric by business impact and grade suppliers monthly.
Use the scorecard in quarterly business reviews to lock corrective actions and escalation thresholds. Vendors improve faster when performance targets are transparent and tied to volume allocation.