Performance analysis of supplier development programs

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide an approach that a manufacturer can periodically use to measure the performances of its supplier development programs (SDPs). It also quantifies and indicates the specific supplier development outcomes (SDOs) that a manufacturer has to concentrate in improving its SDPs. Design/methodology/approach The proposed methodology integrates fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (to determine the importance of SDOs), Pareto analysis (to choose the significant SDOs) and fuzzy logic (to periodically determine the performance indices and grades of the SDPs) methods to measure the performances of SDPs. In order to demonstrate the utility of the methodology, a case situation is presented where the performance measures of SDPs running at five key suppliers of an Indian turbine manufacturing company were determined. Findings By periodically applying the above mentioned methodology, the performance indices of a manufacturer’s SDPs are measured, monitored and managed effectively. It is shown that the methodology is advantageous in clearly indicating the scope of improvement for the SDPs along the specific SDOs. Research limitations/implications Since the obtained results in this study are specific to a manufacturing environment, they may not be generalized. However, the generic lists of SDOs mentioned in the paper and the proposed approach can be used in any manufacturing environment for analyzing the performances of SDPs. Practical implications The performance analysis of SDPs would help a manufacturer to know more about the functioning of its SDPs along the timeline and provide the scope for improvement. Originality/value The proposed approach successfully measures and also grades the performances of SDPs. The results enable the supplier development managers to effectively distribute their investments and efforts along the SDPs.