Evaluating suppliers “by gut feel” is the most expensive way to make a cheap decision. Mature procurement departments use weighted scorecards: explicit criteria, weights, and evidence. This guide gives you the complete framework for labels — ready to apply at your next procurement meeting.
The ten criteria and their weights
The weights matter because the risk profile rules: a supplier that doesn't stand behind reprints (12%) or sign an SLA (10%) can shed 22 points at once — no matter how brilliant its portfolio. That is the scorecard's structural finding: the quality you can see in the sample weighs less than the invisible quality of the process.
Verdict bands
Score each criterion from 1 to 5, multiply by its weight, and take the weighted average. The bands we use — aligned with procurement practice — interpret the result:
- 4.5 – 5.0 · Strategic partner. Sign with confidence; negotiate term-based volume.
- 3.5 – 4.4 · Competitive. Accept with monitoring of the weak criteria.
- 2.5 – 3.4 · Medium risk. Only with written safeguards and an alternate supplier on standby.
- Below 2.5 · High risk for continuous production. Look for another option.
Red flags that deduct points on their own
- “The defect is within tolerance”: AQL 2.5 means up to 2.5% of major defects counts as an approved batch. Does your market tolerate that?
- A quote with no breakdown of freight, tariffs, or customs fees.
- A “30–45 day” lead time that doesn't clarify whether it includes customs and inland transfer.
- Samples only in digital form or on a generic , never on your container.
- A contract under foreign jurisdiction with arbitration on another continent.
- Nobody available in your time zone for a 15-minute technical call.
Evaluate with the radar, not with a thumb in the air
The table in this guide works as a working template: score each criterion from 1 to 5, multiply by its weight, and add it all up. The weighted average gives you the verdict; the low-scoring cells give you the conversation for your next procurement meeting. Print it, share it with your team, and fill it in with your suppliers' real data.
Total cost and delivery time in a single tool, with editable assumptions.
ETIVAL Editorial Team
We manufacture for all of Mexico · ISO 9001:2015
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