Supplier On-Time Delivery Process Summary. The supplier's delivery process in response to Lewis-Goetz purchase orders was generally the same for each of the five suppliers except Supplier "E". Since Supplier "E" is a much smaller organization than the other four suppliers, a customer service department does not exist. All orders received from customers are handled directly by the Supplier "E" General Manager from which point scheduling and fabrication are directed. The elements and sequence of the supplier delivery process for Suppliers "A" through "D" are summarized below:
a. Receipt of the buyer's requirement - All suppliers except Supplier "E" required that purchase orders be transmitted via facsimile for accuracy and completeness. This procedure usually eliminated interactive communication at order entry to provide real time delivery feedback before the required date was established by the buyer.
b. Acknowledgment of purchase order - None of the selected suppliers were consistent in providing acknowledgments to the Lewis-Goetz buyer.
c. Shipment from inventory or production scheduling - Only through expediting of open orders by the Lewis-Goetz buyer was there any indication of whether orders would be shipped from existing inventory or future production.
d. Internal expediting to meet established required date - None of the selected suppliers demonstrated any internal process for expediting Lewis-Goetz orders and communicating the resultant status to the buyer.
e. Responding to buyer expediting requests - Supplier response to expediting requests was generally good when the contact was made verbally by the buyer rather than by facsimile transmission of open order lists.