"Out of sight, out of mind!"

A company’s supplier-base seems to be one of those areas that receive the least amount of attention, and then only when things become problematic for the company. This is due to a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the constraints on a firm’s resources. The ability of potential suppliers to meet your needs is crucial and should be adequately assessed prior to any purchase commitment being made, whether your purpose is to receive quick-turn, consignment prototypes or high-volume turnkey production assemblies.

Additionally, try to assemble a team having a core-knowledge of the commodity that is of particular concern to you (e.g.: PCB/PCBA, electronic components, plastics, metal fabrication, disposables, contract assembly, packaging, etc.). This is especially important for your "key suppliers". Your objective here is to try and make sure that the candidate-supplier has the capability and where-with-all to meet your needs and expectations for the amount of time you require them met.

After your supplier-base has been established, try to plan and adhere to performing scheduled audits with some regularity - again, focus first on your key suppliers. This will help to keep you up-to-date with their business activities and, possibly, help to prevent problems from occurring in the first place. Regularly scheduled audits (or "visits") should be scheduled and include a plan – they should not be a "surprise" for your supplier and neither should they delve into areas your supplier is not prepared to address or discuss.