Dragon Sourcing is a well-known name in the procurement industry. It has helped innumerable businesses to fulfil their sourcing needs from established as well as emerging markets globally. The following is a case study that was done to identify competitive suppliers in mainland China for Serpentinite sourcing. The key deliverables of this project included:
- Supplier database
- RFI templates
- RFI analysis report
- Supplier profiles and ranking
Dragon Sourcing started the project by first understanding and analysing the products and requirements of the client including specs, materials, volumes and production technology. We consulted the client for choosing pre-screening selection criteria. Next, Dragon Sourcing conducted a supply market analysis by leveraging B2B websites, DS database, fair catalogues, chamber of commerce, network, magazines, and references to identify potential suppliers.
After completing the market analysis, Dragon Sourcing conducted a telephonic pre-screening, based on agreed simple criteria like removal company size, quality certification, capability to make the product, and interest in participating. 85 potential suppliers were identified and called. Based on the response we eliminated those suppliers who were not able to meet the minimum key criteria and choose 15 suppliers.
The next step was to develop the RFI document with the help of an aligned balanced scorecard that has the objective to prequalify the competitiveness and capabilities of the suppliers. It included financials, background, client reference form of quality certification & processes, product experience, R&D capability, Manufacturing/technology capability, and social responsibility.
The RFI was then distributed to 15 suppliers that passed pre-screening in the previous step and who signed the NDA with telephone follow-up to get maximum participation. After the suppliers responded to the RFI, Dragon Sourcing worked closely with the client to develop another balanced scorecard to evaluate the suppliers based on the RFI response. The RFI responses were further analysed to draft suppliers that objectively ranked them by their capabilities along with recommendations for those to be included in the sampling process.
2 suppliers were recommended. One of them has 13 years of experience and the second supplier has more than 15 years of experience in serpentinite manufacturing. The process ended with managing the sample acquisition and shipping it to the client.