Supplier qualification and development in Brazil and China
Identify, audit, and formally approve suppliers against clear technical and commercial criteria. Rekowsky Serviços structures your supplier base with the same rigor in the domestic market and in China, removing single-source dependency, quality drift, and pricing with no reference point.
Resumo do serviço
- Service
- Supplier qualification and development
- Markets assessed
- Brazil and China, on the same scorecard
- Deliverables
- Scorecard · audit report · approved base
- Typical scope
- 3 to 5 suppliers per critical category
- Segments
- Electronics, mechanical, and industrial maintenance
- On-site coverage
- Santa Catarina, Paraná, and Rio Grande do Sul
The risks of running without qualified suppliers
A supplier base that grew without criteria is a quiet source of cost and risk. The four symptoms below tend to show up together.
Single-source dependency
One source for a critical item turns any supplier problem into a production stoppage. With no approved alternatives, the company loses negotiating power and takes on operational risk.
Quality that drifts between lots
A supplier with no evaluation criteria ships lots that vary. Without a scorecard and a documented history, the company only discovers the variation on the production line.
Prices with no market reference
Without a base of qualified suppliers to compare against, there is no way to know whether the price being paid is competitive. The annual increase gets accepted for lack of an alternative.
Unknown suppliers in the master data
Supplier lists grow with no approval process: vendors get added under pressure, stay out of inertia, and were never assessed technically, commercially, or financially.
We qualify suppliers in Brazil and China with the same rigor
The scorecard is the same; what changes is how each criterion gets verified in each market.
| Criterion | Domestic supplier | Supplier in China |
|---|---|---|
| Integrity check | Tax ID lookup, tax standing, and financial health | Chinese business registration, export license, and shipment history |
| Technical assessment | Regional plant visit and review of internal quality control | On-site factory audit, on a dedicated trip or during Canton Fair |
| Product validation | Sample and pilot lot followed through production | Approved sample plus lot inspection before shipment |
| Commercial terms | Price, payment terms, freight, and escalation policy | FOB/CIF price, MOQ, Incoterm, currency exposure, and landed cost |
| Main risk mitigated | Single-source dependency and pricing with no reference | Fraud, product substitution, and quality drift between lots |
The five stages of supplier qualification
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Defining the evaluation scorecard
Before assessing any supplier, we work with your team to define the criteria that matter for each category: technical capability, required certifications, financial health, lead time, volume capacity, and service level. The scorecard turns a subjective decision into an objective, auditable comparison.
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Mapping potential suppliers
We survey the options available domestically and, where it makes sense, in China. The mapping draws on a network built over more than 20 years in industrial procurement, complemented by active research and verification of business registration and supply history.
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Technical and commercial audit
We assess the supplier against the scorecard: production process, internal quality control, installed capacity, commercial terms, and standing. For domestic suppliers that includes a regional plant visit; for Chinese suppliers, an on-site factory audit or a structured remote verification.
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Formal approval
An approved supplier enters the qualified base with a record of what was assessed, when, by whom, and under which negotiated commercial terms. Formal approval is what makes internal audit, traceability, and compliance with ISO 9001 customer requirements possible.
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Ongoing performance monitoring
Approval does not close the matter. We track real supplier performance against quality, lead time, and service level indicators, reassessing periodically. Suppliers that slip below standard are requalified or replaced before they become a production problem.
What you have at the end of the project
A complete supplier evaluation scorecard
A criteria matrix with weights set per purchasing category, applied repeatably by your internal team after the project ends.
An audit report per supplier
A document covering what was assessed, the evidence collected, points of concern, and a reasoned recommendation: approve, approve with conditions, or reject.
The approved supplier list
A qualified base with contacts, negotiated commercial terms, declared capacity, and the categories each supplier serves.
Common questions about supplier qualification
What is the difference between qualification and approval?
Qualification is the process of assessing whether a supplier meets the technical, commercial, and integrity criteria the company has set. Approval is the formal act of accepting that supplier and recording them in the official purchasing base, along with the conditions under which they were accepted. In practice, qualification is the analysis; approval is the documented decision that comes out of it.
How many suppliers get assessed in a qualification project?
It depends on criticality and how many categories are involved. A typical project starts with the highest-spend or highest-disruption-risk categories and assesses 3 to 5 suppliers per category — enough to ensure real competition and a qualified second source. Scope is set during the initial assessment.
Does the process work for any industrial segment?
The method is the same for any segment; what changes are the scorecard criteria. Our experience runs deepest in electronics and mechanical segments: electronic components, printed circuit boards, power supplies, machined parts, tooling, and industrial maintenance items.
Does this replace or complement our purchasing department?
It complements it. The goal is to leave the structure running independently: the scorecard, the approved base, and the reassessment routine stay with your internal team at the end of the project. Companies without a structured purchasing department often combine this with the procurement department setup service.
Shall we structure your supplier base?
In a 30-minute call we identify which categories carry the most dependency or quality risk, and how to structure a qualification process suited to your segment. Free, with no obligation.