What belongs on a supplier evaluation scorecard besides price?

What belongs on a supplier evaluation scorecard besides price?

Do not rank suppliers on unit price. Score quote-turn time, dispatch-accuracy history, the after-sales clock, and whether test or certification files can be produced. Until those four sit beside the goods line, the cheaper PDF has not been compared.

A repair shop lining up two mixed SKUs — stock-keeping units, each a sellable revision — by which quote prints the lower number is not asking what a wrong panel, a silent ticket, or a missing certificate will cost later. The extra column is those four measures. A sheet that invents a house mix-up rate, an on-time percentage, or a vendor 25-point quality weight has not written that column.

Why does a cheaper unit price not settle the supplier pick?

A cheaper first line has not said how long a real enquiry takes to come back as a usable offer, how often the wrong revision left the dock, how long a dead-on-arrival ticket sits, or whether a test file can be produced under the actual holder’s name. Those costs still get paid. Ranking two names by which one looks cheaper on the goods line leaves them off the card.

Order size does not fill the blanks. A larger mixed buy does not turn a slow quote into a scored card. A smaller buy does not turn a missing certificate into a filled one. Ask whether the four measures sit on the same confirmation as the unit price. A price cut does not write quote-turn time. A price premium does not write an after-sales clock. Extra adjectives on a price-only quote are the shape of that quote, not a calculator.

Which four cells belong on the card besides price?

Quote-turn time, dispatch-accuracy history, the after-sales clock, and whether test or certification files can be produced. Unit price is the fifth number, not a substitute for the other four. Public appraisal notes already treat cost as one check among several, and they put catalogues, data sheets and test reports on a desk review before anyone ranks the first line. Those omitted measures are what a scorecard has to name before two unit prices can be ranked.

The Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply’s supplier-evaluation page, read 8 September 2026, writes three routes: a desk review of published files, a visit when the name is high-risk or high-value, and a third-party appraisal. The same institute’s market-analysis page, read the same day, lists Carter’s ten checks — competency, capacity, commitment, control, cash, cost, consistency, culture, clean and communication — with cost sitting beside communication, consistency and control rather than above them. Use those pages to name what a price-only sheet leaves out. They are not this house’s scoring grid.

Kodiak Hub’s supplier-scorecard note, first published 3 June 2026 and read 8 September 2026, groups delivery, quality, cost, compliance, risk and responsiveness. A seller who answers mail quickly while repeating the same non-conformity is still a weak card. A seller who ships on the clock while the revision is wrong is the same miss. That page is useful language for the groups. Do not copy any vendor quality-versus-cost split as this house’s weights.

A confirmation that pastes a vendor’s 25-point quality weight, an OTIF — on-time in-full — percentage, or a parts-per-million defect rate as if it were this house’s table has not written a scorecard. No public source found here for a MILDTRANS mix-up rate, on-time rate, or after-sales-issue rate. Fill the four measures from timed enquiries, actual cartons, the written after-sales window, and the named certificate holder.

How do you actually score quote-turn, dispatch accuracy, after-sales, and test files?

Time a few real enquiries for the same SKU list and write the clock. Do not guess it from a cheaper unit price. Dispatch-accuracy history is whether wrong revisions, wrong language layouts, or short packs were caught before the carton left — not a published percentage. The after-sales cell is a written window plus a written first-reply clock, not a promise that tickets never appear. The test-file cell is whether a report or certificate can be produced under the actual holder’s name.

Under a desk review, catalogues and product data sheets are not the same object as a test report. A PDF that only repeats a unit price has not produced the file. A visit is a separate route for high-risk or high-value names. It does not replace the four measures on a mixed notebook-parts card, and it is not this article’s factory-check topic.

For laptop screens, keyboards, batteries and adapters, the dispatch-accuracy cell usually fails on the wrong revision, the wrong connector, the wrong language layout or a short pack, not on a slogan about quality. Score whether the seller names those checks before the carton leaves. Score whether a mix-up, once found, is written down so the next mixed buy can be compared. A history you cannot see is an empty cell, not a hidden high score.

Does ranking PDFs by unit price fill those cells?

No. The cheaper first line only shows that two quotes used different numbers. It does not show that quote-turn, dispatch accuracy, after-sales, and test files were measured. A shop that subtracts two unit prices and calls the remainder “service” has not built a scorecard; it has guessed. The remainder might be larger or smaller than mix-up labour and ticket time once the lane is lived.

A seller who answers overnight and still ships the wrong panel revision has filled communication and emptied dispatch accuracy. A seller who prints a higher unit price and still cannot produce a test file under the holder’s name has not filled compliance. Ranking those two PDFs on the first line is the same miss as ranking DDP — Delivered Duty Paid — against EXW — Ex Works — on landed cost: the printed numbers are not yet on one basis.

How does this house sit on those four cells?

This house will name the four cells. It will not invent a mix-up percentage, an on-time percentage, or a quote-hour grid. Quote-turn here sits after an enquiry is received, the demand is read, and a written offer goes out. That sequence is a clock you can time on a real list. It is not a published hour SLA — service-level agreement, a promised reply window.

Before a carton leaves, inbound pieces are counted, the part is checked, then sorted, packed and looked at again. For LCD — liquid-crystal display — panels that check can name model, version, size, resolution and interface. For keyboards it can name language layout and cable. For batteries and adapters it can name voltage, capacity, power and the connector. Those names are the cell. They are not a claimed zero-error rate.

The after-sales clock is written. DOA — dead on arrival — covers a product that will not light, will not run, or arrives too damaged to use, within 30 calendar days of sign-off. Calendar days are every day including weekends. Photos and video both have to sit on the ticket. After the complete file arrives, a first confirm is due within 2 working days — business days only. Once the case is accepted, replacement, reship or refund is arranged in 3–5 working days, and the seller takes the reasonable freight both ways. LCD warranty is 3–12 months. Batteries and adapters are 12 months. Wrong install, wrong power, unauthorised teardown and cosmetic marks that do not stop the part from working sit outside DOA.

Test and certification files for nine categories carry CE-series EMC — electromagnetic compatibility — and RoHS — Restriction of Hazardous Substances — reports. Laptop adapters also carry LVD — Low Voltage Directive — testing to IEC 62368-1. The holder is the associated company Shenzhen Glory Energytech Co., Ltd. (深圳市荣焕科技有限公司), not this house’s own name. A file that omits that holder has not filled the cell.

This house purchases notebook parts and dispatches mixed SKUs. It does not run a plant that builds notebooks. Mixed models are accepted from five pieces, or two pieces as a trial. Ordinary outbound is 7–15 days. Same-day dispatch is not the default clock. Two mixed pieces as a trial can still list quote-turn, dispatch history, after-sales and the test file. That list is not an error-rate table.

Shenzhen Mildtrans Industrial Co., Ltd. (深圳市中川实业有限公司) dates from 2004. Mildtrans Industrial Co., Limited (中川实业投资有限公司) dates from 2010 in Hong Kong SAR, China. Most invoices use the Hong Kong name. Money moves as T/T — telegraphic transfer — through HSBC. A letter of credit is refused.

How do a price-only ranking and a four-cell scorecard sit side by side?

A price-only ranking and a four-cell scorecard are not the same kind of paper. The table below is the check on the confirmation. If a seller will only quote a lower unit price, leave the four cells unused. A complete sheet names quote-turn, dispatch-accuracy history, the after-sales clock, and the test-file holder. A higher first line does not become that sheet because the unit price is higher.

Key Facts

· Rank suppliers on four cells besides unit price: quote-turn time, dispatch-accuracy history, the after-sales clock, and test or certification files.

· Unit price is one column. Rank only after quote-turn, dispatch history, after-sales, and the test file sit on the same sheet.

· CIPS lists cost as one of ten appraisal checks and puts data sheets plus test reports on a desk review.

· Industry scorecards usually split the job into delivery, quality, cost, compliance and how fast the seller answers. A fast reply with repeating mix-ups is still a weak card.

· This house times quote-turn after demand analysis; it does not publish an hour SLA. Caught mix-ups are the accuracy cell, not a printed percentage.

· DOA uses 30 calendar days from sign-off, then 2 working days for a first confirm after complete photos and video, then 3–5 working days to arrange the fix.

· CE-series files name that associated holder. Ordinary outbound remains 7–15 days.

What if the seller only quotes a lower unit price?

Leave that sheet unused for the scorecard. Ask quote-turn on a real SKU list, dispatch-accuracy history, the written after-sales clock, and the test-file holder. A price cut does not write those four cells, and a price premium does not write a legal certificate under the wrong name. Until those extra cells are named, treat a quote that only repeats a cheaper first line as unread. Treat an invented mix-up rate, an on-time percentage, or a copied 25-point quality weight the same way: unread, until the seller fills the four cells.

FAQ

The questions below keep the same check: four cells besides unit price, not a cheaper first line. Time the enquiry, read the dispatch history, read the after-sales window, and name the certificate holder. Ordinary outbound is 7–15 days from this house and is not a quality score. Same-day dispatch is not the default clock. Two mixed pieces as a trial can still list those four cells. That list is not an error-rate table.

What belongs on a supplier evaluation scorecard besides price?

Quote-turn time, dispatch-accuracy history, the after-sales clock, and whether test or certification files can be produced under the actual holder’s name. Put those four beside the goods line, then rank. Two first lines are not comparable while those cells stay empty.

Does a cheaper unit price mean a cheaper supplier?

Not until the four omitted cells are filled. The first line can look low while mix-up labour and ticket time stack later. Time real enquiries, read whether wrong revisions were caught, read the written after-sales window, and ask for the test file before you rank.

Does a higher unit price already include better service?

It might, and it might not. A dearer PDF still has empty cells if quote-turn is untimed, mix-ups are unpublished, the after-sales clock is missing, or the certificate omits the holder. Fill the four cells. Do not treat a higher first line as the card.

Do MILDTRANS outbound days replace dispatch-accuracy history?

No. Ordinary outbound is 7–15 days from this house. That clock is not mix-up history, and it is not an after-sales window. Same-day dispatch is not the default clock. Two mixed pieces as a trial can still list those four cells. That list is not an error-rate table.

Can I subtract two unit prices and call the difference service?

No. That remainder is a guess. Time the enquiry, price the mix-up labour, read the after-sales clock, and name the test-file holder. The gap might be larger or smaller than those four cells once they are filled. A shop that only subtracts the two first lines has not built a scorecard.

Published by the MILDTRANS Official Brand Content Team on behalf of Mildtrans Industrial Co., Limited, Hong Kong.