Sourcing
How to Compare Suppliers Without Getting Lost in Spreadsheets
Spreadsheets fail at supplier comparison for predictable reasons. A lighter method that keeps the comparison honest and the decision explainable.
The supplier comparison spreadsheet starts clean. By the third round of quotes it has merged cells, three currencies, two units and a column called 'notes' that holds the real decision. Nobody trusts it, so the decision is made in a meeting instead.
Why spreadsheets fail here
- Quotes arrive in different units, currencies and Incoterms; the sheet does not normalise them.
- Qualitative evidence (photos, certificates, responsiveness) has no cell.
- Every update is a manual copy — the sheet is stale the moment a supplier replies.
- There is no record of why a number changed.
Normalise before you compare
Ask for the same Incoterm and unit from every supplier. Convert to one currency at one rate. Only then compare price.
Score, don't just list
Five axes — price, delivery, quality, location, trust — scored 0–100 with an explicit 'no data' when you don't know. A blank is more honest than a guess, and it tells you which question to ask next.
Keep the conversation next to the comparison
The reason a supplier's lead time is 8 weeks lives in a message. When the comparison and the messages are in the same place, the decision explains itself.
Decide with a record
Write one paragraph: which supplier, why, and what would change the decision. Six months later this paragraph is worth more than the spreadsheet.
Put this into practice on Suplymate.
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