Your company may already have your own, document-based version of a supplier scorecard. This article may help you discover that the process is easier in TraceGains, where you already keep track of your suppliers and have corresponding attributes at your fingertips. Read on to discover how to use this integrated tool.
What is a Supplier Scorecard?
A Supplier Scorecard is a crucial component of supply chain management and plays a pivotal role in assessing and monitoring the performance of your suppliers. Using one can help your business make informed decisions, optimize supplier relationships, and enhance the overall efficiency and effectiveness of your operations.
Benefits of a Supplier Scorecard
Data-Driven Decision Making: A scorecard provides a structured approach to collect and analyze data, enabling informed decision-making based on supplier performance.
Performance Monitoring: A scorecard allows you to continuously monitor supplier performance, identifying areas that need improvement and recognizing top-performing suppliers.
Risk Mitigation: By tracking supplier compliance, performance, and responsiveness, a scorecard can help you identify potential disruptions to your supply chain.
Types of Scorecards in TraceGains
TraceGains currently offers three types of Scorecards, depending on the products you have. All metrics listed in this article have a corresponding numerical value associated with them, which all contribute to the final score. You can find the associated values in the scorecard key, in-app, or pictured in this article.
Supplier Management Only
This type of scorecard solely measures TraceGains Network connectedness and document compliance. This version is intended for TraceGains users who only have Supplier Management (rather than Supplier Management and Supplier Compliance and/or the CARs add-on).
The following metrics are given a numerical value to contribute to the final score:
- Is the supplier connected via the network? Y/N
- Number of supplier-level documents provided divided by number of documents required (% Docs Complete)
- Number of item-level documents provided divided by number of documents required (% Docs Complete)
If there are no document requirements on the item level, full Item Level Doc points are awarded (40 points)
Supplier Management and CARs (SM/CARs)
This type of scorecard measures TraceGains Network connectedness and document compliance, as well as food safety & food quality, measured by number of and response to CARs. It is intended for use by TraceGains users that have both Supplier Management and the CARs add-on.
The following metrics are given a numerical value to contribute to the final score:
- Number of CARs
- Increased severity of the CARs leads to deductions
Plus
- Responsiveness to CARs/SCARs
-
Based on count of records where [SupplierResponseDate] is not null
-
Divided by
- Count of all records
Supplier Management and Supplier Compliance (SM/SC)
This type of scorecard measures TraceGains Network connectedness and document compliance, food safety, and food quality, measured by the number of and response to CARs and COAs. It is intended for use by TraceGains users that have both Supplier Management and Supplier Compliance.
The following metrics are given a numerical value to contribute to the final score:
-
% of in-spec CoAs based on the sum of cases where the action is either 'Accept' or 'Ask'
Divided by
- The count of all cases, regardless of the action
Plus
- Format of CoA based on the count of records where the "CreationMethod" is 'EP Manual'
Divided by
- The count of all records
The Number of CoAs attribute is for visual counting purposes and does not calculate into the total CoA section score. If there are no CoA records, then full section points are awarded (30 points).
How to Create a Scorecard
Step 1: Navigate to the Suppliers Tab. Locate the desired supplier and select the edit icon to enter the TraceStation for that supplier.
Step 2: In the TraceStation, click the edit icon next to the ‘Sections’ heading. This will launch the Configuration options for the TraceStation.
Step 3: In the Configuration page, click ‘Add Section.’
Step 4: Enter a name for the section, such as ‘Supplier Scorecard - Supplier Management.’
Step 5: Scroll to the top of the page and click ‘Save’ before proceeding.
Step 6: Scroll back down to the new section and click ‘Link to Global.’ This yields a modal to select between available scorecard attributes.
The system will present all three types of scorecards, even if you do not possess all the required products. For example, a user with only Supplier Management will still see the Supplier Compliance + CARs scorecard. For best performance, only select the scorecard based on the products you have.
Step 7: Select the desired scorecard. Once the attributes are added to the new section, click ‘Save.’
Step 8: Navigate back to the suppliers’ TraceStation to view the scorecard in action. Or continue on to the next section for more report options.
How to Adjust Which Values Contribute to Docs % Complete
TraceGains' Standard Configuration sets Awaiting Approval and Approved as the sole two document statuses that contribute to the % Docs complete score.
In some instances, you may wish to customize this calculation and allow other completion statuses to contribute to the completeness score for Item or Supplier-level documents.
Step 1: In your Enterprise site, hover over the Configuration Icon and select 'Status Values' under 'Documents'.
Step 2: Select the edit icon for the status you want to include in docs % completeness score.
Step 3: Toggle on 'Include in Supplier Docs % Complete', 'Include in Item Docs % Complete', or both, if desired.
Step 4: Click 'Save.'
Troubleshooting Discrepancies in Docs % Complete
- Ensure that the recommended script is applied and understand any reasons why the customer may have a different script.
- Manual calculation via the logic
- Count # of required documents as total
- Count # of documents incl. internal in X status contributing to % doc complete
- # of docs in X, X, X status / total required docs
Because Docs % Complete attribute is a computed attribute, it requires a record update by manual re-save or monthly business review (MBR). Only derived attributes do not require an update to recalculate.
How to Utilize Scorecards
Once your scorecard is set up, there are a few options to monitor the results. The first is to view scorecard results on the Suppliers tab using a specific user-defined dashboard (UDD). The second is to view a visual report on the Analytics Dashboard.
View Score in Grid
We highly recommend establishing a scorecard-specific UDD to view multiple suppliers’ scores in a grid. The following steps will guide you through this process:
You must have permission to create and edit UDDs to proceed.
Step 1: Navigate to the Suppliers tab.
Step 2: Select the name of your current UDD, then click ‘Manage’ in the dropdown.
Step 3: Click ‘New’ to enter the Configuration settings for a new User Defined Dashboard.
The following steps will help you create a UDD from scratch, but it can save time by copying an existing UDD with basic supplier information. That way, you do not have to add basic attributes to the new UDD and can instead just add scorecard-related attributes.
Step 4: Name your UDD something easy to reference, such as ‘Supplier Scorecard Information’.
Step 5: Click ‘Add Attributes.’ Add basic information attributes, such as Supplier ID and name, first. Then, filter for scorecard attributes.
It is helpful here to filter the attributes by type of scorecard. To do this, type ‘Scorecard’ in the ‘Group’ field and select the appropriate scorecard, then click ‘Filter’. For example, ‘Supplier Scorecard SMCARs’ may auto-populate and contain attributes specific to the Supplier Management & CARs scorecard.
Step 6: Click the checkbox next to each attribute within the appropriate group. Click ‘Add Selected’ to add the attributes to the UDD.
Step 7: Click ‘Save’ to create the new UDD.
Step 8: Navigate back to the Suppliers tab. Click the UDD dropdown menu once more and select the name of the UDD you just created.
Step 9: Tweak the UDD as necessary. It should look something like the image below when finished.
View Dashboard Report
Another common way to view scorecard results is via the Analytics tab, through a dashboard. The following steps will help you configure the appropriate charts using the UDD you just created.
Step 1: Navigate to the Analytics > 'Dashboards' sub-tab.
Step 2: Click the ‘New Dashboard’ button.
Step 3: Choose a name and which roles can view the dashboard, and then click 'Continue'.
Step 4: Click the ‘Add Chart’ button and select ‘from UDD’. Complete the following information in the resulting popup:
Tab: Select the Suppliers tab.
User Defined Dashboard: Select the chart you just created.
Attribute to Chart: Select the desired attribute, such as ‘Total Supplier Score’.’
Title: Name the chart something easy to reference, such as ‘Supplier Scores’.
Subtitle: Optional, add any specifiers here.
Chart Type: Choose your preferred chart style.
Refresh Rate: Choose your preferred refresh rate.
Step 5: When done, click ‘Add Chart’.
You can return to the dashboard any time to view this data.
Email Blast Scorecards
You can share scorecard reports directly with your suppliers to let them know how they’re doing.
If you are interested in setting up automated scorecard notifications at a set frequency, reach out to Support for assistance in creating the necessary workflows. Before reaching out, work with your internal team to determine the answer to the following questions:
- At what frequency do you want to send supplier scorecards?
- Monthly, quarterly, bi-annually, annually, etc.
- Do you want to send scorecard reports to all suppliers or only select suppliers?
- If select suppliers, how are these suppliers identified? By supplier group?
Always test email profiles by sending them to yourself from a test supplier prior to eblasting in mass to ensure that your email template displays accurate information.