Supplier Documentation Spreadsheet

Good Morning All,

Myself and the quality manager are looking at improving our Supplier Documentation spreadsheet (where we store all the food management, standards, testing documentation)

We currently have a very basic excel spreadsheet which I have attached an example of, the supplier is hyperlinked to their individual folder where all the documents listed are stored. 

As you can see the more supplier you get the more 'busy' the spreadsheet looks and doesn't look the most organised.

Does anyone have any examples or guidance in regards to organising our spreadsheet better?

Your example, while not my preference, isn't that bad. Unfortunately the non-standardized nature of supplier approval and the documents they provide makes for messy systems. It's one of the reasons supplier approval is such a timesink.

Hi Josh,

The way we work is:

Separate tabs for each type of supplier (raw materials, warehouse/distribution, services)

Single row for each supplier with columns for each accreditation and a master column to list the major accreditation held. Also columns for review dates, contact info, product and location.

Separate tab for supplier risk analysis. We have an analysis based on our audit report, GFSI grade, location (based on corruption/slavery) weighted.

It's not that difficult to do. We even have formatted colour coding to highlight special information.

Josh,

A few quick suggestions based upon what you have provided;

• The current format is not allowing you to utilize the full benefit of excel and you might as well keep your supplier document list in Notepad or Paint for what you can do with this. Switch it to a single table 'database' format which will allow you to filter, sort and pivot to your hearts content.
• Use a document pick list to avoid people adding random and irrelevant documents to the list. This will also ensure conformity in naming.
• Consider hyperlinking each individual document as appose to the document folder. This would be handy because if you want to view a document you just need to click on it.
• Add a Material column so that you can distinguish between supplier (facility) documents and material documents.
• Make sure there are no gaps (empty cells or empty rows) in the table. Fill them with N/A or copy the value from above (in the case of the Supplier Name for example).

I could go on and on if I spent some more time on this but hopefully this will be enough to put you in a more organized place.

I have attached some of the above.

Regards,

Philip.

Thank you all for you helpful information, I will take all into concideration upon reviewing how we store supply documentation.

Hi Josh,

I've attached our suppliers monitoring record example, it's complicated ,but in this way I can keep all information in one place for all my 50 suppliers=) Also suppliers are split into food and non-food(packaging) .

Hope it will help you=) 

Josh,

 

A few quick suggestions based upon what you have provided;

 

• The current format is not allowing you to utilize the full benefit of excel and you might as well keep your supplier document list in Notepad or Paint for what you can do with this. Switch it to a single table 'database' format which will allow you to filter, sort and pivot to your hearts content.
• Use a document pick list to avoid people adding random and irrelevant documents to the list. This will also ensure conformity in naming.
• Consider hyperlinking each individual document as appose to the document folder. This would be handy because if you want to view a document you just need to click on it.
• Add a Material column so that you can distinguish between supplier (facility) documents and material documents.
• Make sure there are no gaps (empty cells or empty rows) in the table. Fill them with N/A or copy the value from above (in the case of the Supplier Name for example).

 

I could go on and on if I spent some more time on this but hopefully this will be enough to put you in a more organized place.

 

I have attached some of the above.

 

Regards,

Philip.

I agree with all of this. One of the best things about Excel is being able to sort through lots of data. We have over 100 suppliers so it is nice to only display a certain company etc. I also have audit expiration dates color coded (you can look up an easy tutorial for this on Google) so that if something is yellow it expires within 30 days, if it is red it is already expired and I need to request new documents. 

I recommend hyperlinking individual pieces of information. For example in one column I have the product code we use internally, this is hyperlinked to our approval sheet from R&D (this may not apply to you), then I have the name of the ingredient which is hyperlinked to a picture (the receiving clerk looks at this to make sure we are getting what we are supposed to be getting, if it is different I am alerted). Next I have the name of the vendor listed followed by the address and an audit certificate if applicable. Then I have the manufacturer name, address, and the date of the audit certificate expiry hyperlinked to the audit certificate itself. I have other documents in this row as well such as Kosher certificates, Allergen information etc, mainly things the receiving clerk uses to identify the product, see if it is approved, and label it with the correct allergen sticker if applicable. 

Google is great at helping you through any Excel question you have. The program really does do a lot. Good luck!

Hi Josh,

All the comments look great and are very informative. I am sure you got all the information that is required. However, I see that you are still operating with your very traditional approach, with word documents and spreadsheets?Have you thought about streaming your workflow with a more digital approach? Just an idea, this will also allow you to adapt more effectively and efficiently for future audits.

I hope I have helped.  

Regards,

Rich

AuditComply

Thanks for the informative responces.

We have slightly updated the document to summarise areas of product use, no gaps (easy filtering) be it minor changes.

I would definitely like to use Excel in more depth but its something I'll have to take time to learn, as said it's a very basic format.

I'm sorry Richard, I'm not sure what you mean regarding the digital approach, is it possible you could explain further?

Thanks