Sauza's Supplier Event. Becoming an Alpha Supplier.

Each year Sauza holds a special supplier event. The purpose of this event is to recognize those suppliers that go above and beyond what is expected from them. Becoming an Alpha supplier is not an easy task to achieve and it is not solely done for the unique prize that is given every two years, but also for being recognized with the prestigious Alpha Supplier title in the eyes of Casa Sauza.

How to become an Alpha Supplier?

Our suppliers are evaluated in four different categories.

1) The first category is productivity track. Here is where we record all the good things our suppliers do for us. Here we register any direct savings from the supplier. This can be a discount given or if a supplier did not increase prices even though we have had inflation in the country. Another way in which suppliers can get points added to their evaluation is through trainings, that is, if they come to our plant and train our personnel how to correctly use and apply their materials or invite out personnel to their plant to understand the process. A supplier can also get points added to their evaluation based on procurement strategies, such as having an external warehouse at where we use a Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) strategy to only produce what we need. Finally, another way to get more points is with improvement cases, such as improving a material at no extra cost or helping us improve our storage conditions to maximize the usefulness of the materials.

2) To assure that our suppliers are delivering on time and in full (OTIF), since we work with a Just In Time (JIT) strategy due to our limited warehouse, we penalize suppliers as well. Those deliveries that are not on time or in full get a negative effect on the evaluation.

3) The same happens when we have issues with documents, this situation also takes away points from the supplier's total evaluation.

4) Finally, any quality issues also decrease the supplier's total score.

Becoming an Alpha Supplier

What happens when our suppliers not only have improvement cases, but 100% OTIF all year long, without any document or quality issues? They become an Alpha supplier and have a score of more than 90% in our supplier evaluation. Those fortunate suppliers are not only considered trust worthy suppliers in the eyes of Sauza's procurement but they are also welcome to participate in Request For Quatation (RFQ) for Beam Suntory. Those suppliers are also given opportunities for new developments and are also invited to the supplier event that takes place every other year.

Staying Alpha

Remaining an Alpha supplier is not an easy task. To be considered for the event as well as for the title, those suppliers need to maintain their Alpha status for two years in a row. Here in Sauza, we have three categories of suppliers and are monthly monitored based on OTIF and yearly based on their overall performance.

The lowest category is Gamma. When a supplier falls in this category it means that they are not a reliable supplier for Sauza and we need to take immediate actions for them to remain as a Sauza supplier.

One step above, is the Beta supplier. This means that they have had some issues but are willing to work on them and improve in order to become an Alpha supplier.

Finally, like I mentioned before, making that extra effort is worth it here in Sauza, because those suppliers receive the prestigious title of Alpha supplier.

If you would like to know more about our production processes and administration, you can keep reading our blogs or come to Casa Sauza yourself and talk to our experts. We'd be glad to have you here!