Whereas the initiative to develop supplier performance measures at Companies A and D
came mainly from the logistics departments, the initiative to develop a comprehensive supplier evaluation tool in Companies B and C came from the purchasing department in the beginning of the 1990s, when the companies tried to
cut cost but wanted to maintain quality. These companies seem to use performance measurement less enthusiastically, mainly as a reporting and exception management tool. This would explain why both companies have considerably fewer
suppliers rated ‘‘unsatisfactory’’ (less than 5%). Companies A and D, on the other hand try to use performance measurement as an instrument for their day-to-day work and use it in order to frequently interact with the suppliers.
They use the whole range of supplier ratings and do not show any reluctance to downgrading suppliers .