Quick answer
Measure a few things you can verify from actual orders: whether deliveries arrive in the agreed window, whether ordered goods arrive correctly, and how unresolved issues are handled. Keep the raw counts and examples behind any percentage. Use the scorecard to discuss a specific improvement or buying decision, rather than produce a decorative ranking of suppliers.
Choose measures that change a decision
A café depending on daily milk deliveries may care most about timing and complete quantities. A gift shop buying fragile stock may care more about defects and replacement handling. Start with the failure that currently costs your team the most time or disrupts customers, not a universal list of procurement metrics.
NI Business Info lists measures including received versus ordered units, delivery performance and price accuracy. You do not need all of them. The approach below is an original small-shop version: a simple record that one manager can update from information the team already collects.
Further reading: NI Business Info: supplier quality management
Define the denominator before using percentages
Suppose eight of ten deliveries arrived within the agreed window. That is 80% on time, with ten deliveries observed. Write both numbers. Another supplier with one on-time delivery out of one has too little history for a confident comparison, even though its percentage is higher.
For quantity, choose whether you are counting complete orders, complete product lines or individual units. Do not switch between them. One missing item in a 40-line order can mean the order was incomplete while most lines were correct. Both are true, but they answer different questions.
| Measure | Record | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| On-time delivery | 8 of 10 | Within the agreed window |
| Complete orders | 9 of 10 | Every agreed line and quantity arrived |
| Open claims | 2 | Agreed remedy not yet verified |
| Oldest unresolved issue | Claim date and next step | Keep its actual history |
| Price discrepancies | 1 invoice line | Compared with a current written agreement |
Keep severity and context beside the number
A missing promotional leaflet and an unsafe food delivery should not become equivalent marks in a combined score. Record serious incidents separately and act on them immediately. A monthly scorecard must not delay a safety response or become an excuse to accept unsuitable goods.
Add a short explanation when the facts are disputed or the arrangement changed. If your shop was closed during an agreed delivery, do not automatically label it supplier lateness. If you accepted a revised date, retain that agreement. Fair records make the discussion more credible and help you identify your own process failures.
Use the review to agree one change
Bring the relevant examples to the supplier: “Three deliveries arrived before a receiver was available; can the transport instructions be changed?” is actionable. “Your score is bad” is not. Agree an owner, a practical change and a point to review whether it happened.
Before changing supplier, consider available alternatives, product fit, costs and contractual commitments. A reliable supplier with a higher unit price may still be worth keeping, while unresolved serious failures may require prompt action. Keep your conclusion tied to the evidence rather than claiming a score proves one business is objectively best.
Keep the system small. If staff spend longer maintaining the scorecard than resolving the problems, reduce the fields. It should help you decide which conversation or order needs attention this week.
Unpickle’s delivery checks and problem records can provide evidence for your supplier review. The scorecard and commercial decisions remain yours to manage. Build the review from real delivery records.