Pre-Qualification of Suppliers

The possibility of rejecting good suppliers at an early stage is reduced. 

Resource commitment of the buyer toward purchasing process is optimized. 

With the application of pre-selected criteria, the pre-qualification process is rationalized. 

Pre-qualification is an orderly process of ranking various suppliers under conflicting criteria. It is a multiple-criteria ranking problem that requires the buyer to make trade-off among the conflicting criteria, some of which may be qualitative. There are a number of multiple criteria ranking methods available for pre-qualification of suppliers. Section 6.3 discusses in detail the various ranking methods available for supplier selection. 

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Many organizations have a large pool of suppliers to select from. The supplier selection problem can be solved in ttvo phases. The first phase reduces the large number of candidate suppliers to a manageable size (pre-qualification of suppliers). In Phase 11, a multiple criteria optimization... 

The problem of ranking suppliers (pre-qualification) represents a class of multiple criteria optimization problems that deal with the ranking of a finite number of alternatives, where each alternative is measured by several conflicting criteria. Several ranking methods have been developed in the multiple criteria optimization literature to solve the problem (Masud and Ravindran, 2008, 2009). In this section, we present several multiple criteria ranking approaches for fhe supplier ranking problem, namely, the pre-qualification of suppliers. 

Pre-qualification reduces a large set of initial suppliers to a smaller set of acceptable suppliers for further assessment. De Boer et al. (2001) have cited many different techniques for pre-qualification. Some of these techniques are categorical methods, data envelopment analysis (DEA), cluster analysis, case-based reasoning (CBR) systems, and multi-criteria decision making method (MCDM). Several authors have worked on pre-qualification of suppliers. Weber and Ellram (1992) and Weber et al. (2000) have developed DEA methods for pre-qualification. Hinkel et al. (1969) and Holt (1998) used cluster analysis for pre-qualification and finally Ng and Skitmore (1995) developed CBR systems for pre-qualification. Mendoza et al. (2008) developed a three phase multi-criteria method to solve a general supplier selection problem. The paper combines analytic hierarchy process (AHP) with goal programming for both pre-qualification and final order allocation. 

A large number of major client organisations have quality assurance (QA), which requires the initial selection or pre-qualification of suppliers and contractors. The successful contractors are placed on an approved list from... 

Customer audits are part of a scheme for pre-qualification of suppliers, where there is a desire to estabUsh a contractual relationship. Alternatively, they are carried out after order placement, when the customer wants to... 

Pre-qualification (Figure 6.3) is defined as the process of reducing a large set of potential suppliers to a smaller manageable number by ranking the suppliers under a pre-defined set of criteria. The primary benefits of prequalification of suppliers are (Holt, 1998) as follows ... 

In the pre-qualification process (Phase I), readily available qualitative and quantitative data are collected for the various suppliers. This data can be obtained from frade journals, Infernet, and pasf transactions to name a few sources. Once fhis dafa is gafhered, these suppliers are evaluated using multiple criteria ranking methods. The decision maker (DM) then selects a portion of the suppliers for exfensive evaluation in Phase II. 

In this case study, we assume there are 20 suppliers during pre-qualification. The 14 supplier criteria values for the initial set of 20 suppliers are given in Table 6.12. Smaller values are preferred for criteria C6, Cll, and C13 larger values are preferred for other criteria. Next, we discuss several multiple criteria ranking methods for short listing the suppliers and illustrate them using the case study data. Each method has advantages and limitations. The methods that we discuss are as follows ... 

Is it ensured that the suppliers (contractors and vendors) are evaluated and selected in pre-qualifications and bid evaluations on the basis of their ability to meet the project s SHE goals, requirements and acceptance... 

Contract selection to determine the most appropriate type of contract with respect to payment choices and timescales together with the tendering process with respect to the choice of appointment of consultants, suppliers etc., whether pre-qualification and a competitive tendering process will be required and some early analysis to determine suitable conditions of contract. 

Low-income countries with poor administrative capacity can seek technical assistance to manage the procurement process (Leach, Paluzzi, and Munderi 2005). Strengthening regulatory bodies and judicial systems is critical, as provision of counterfeit or substandard drugs can harm the public and should be penalized. To further eliminate substandard suppliers from the tendering process, both pre- and post-qualification procedures can... 

It must be proven that a device will be suitable for the intended function in the preparation process by appropriate validation or qualification, see Sect. 34.15. Qualification and validation must be planned, described and documented. Responsibilities must be clear before the vaUdation process starts. Tests, calibrations, inspections and acceptance criteria must be laid down in a pre-approved qualification protocol. Raw and processed data, test results and ccmclusions must be documented. The result is the qualification or vahdation report, including test results and conclusirais. Qualification effort are highly dependent on the criticality of the equipment and the direct or indirect effect (impact) of the device on the quality of the preparation process and product. When purchasing a new device it is often possible to ask the supplier (by quality agreement) to qualify the equipment. This involves, usually, the Installation Qualification (IQ) and the Operational Qualification (OQ), sometimes also parts of the Performance qualification (PQ), although usually the user of the equipment has to take the responsibility for the execution of the PQ (see Sect. 34.10). 

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