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W hen it comes to finding some- one to do business with in the industry, there's no shortage of options—so why settle for a bad partner. At least that's Central Restaurant Products thinking. For years, the Indianapolis- based distributor has used performance scorecards to pinpoint choice partners, keep a close eye on key drivers and, more importantly, build relationships with likeminded suppliers. Keeping score also helps Central be a good partner, says Chief Marketing Officer Keith Kidwell. What's a good partner? Well, it depends on who you ask. For Kidwell, a good partner provides meaningful feedback. "That's what a sup- plier scorecard is, good communication," he says. "You're placing your cards on the table, face up, and sharing with your partner what your specific needs are and how well they're performing at meet- ing your expectations. That's my phi- losophy on working with manufacturers and being a good partner. They're not mind readers. They need to know what's important to Central because no two dealers have the same model and needs. And if they care, want to grow the busi- ness, and it's in their power, they will use the information to grow the business together." In theory, that's the objective. However, many have questioned whether the par- ticulars garnered from scorecards are truly helpful in pointing suppliers in a direction that actually leads to improved performance—or contributes to dis- tributors meeting their goals. According to research by procurement and supply chain analyst Spend Matters, one of the missteps linked to lackluster results was a lack of consequences or rewards tied to performance measurements. Simply put, if there's no motivation to follow through, suppliers are less likely to take the feedback seriously. Neglecting to make a sturdy connec- tion between the distributor's goals and the metrics also can be problematic, reports Spend Matters, and often leads to confusion on the supplier side. Lakeside Manufacturing's President Joe Carlson agrees. Without objective scoring crite- ria, he says, "you don't know the purpose of the metrics, you don't know what effect it will have moving forward and you can't track it throughout the year. That's the key to effective metrics. They have to be transparent and both sides have to be able to track them." Take Central's scorecard, which is dis- tributed to Lakeside and its other buying group vendors twice a year. Basically, they're graded on four major criteria, sales growth, stock outs, lead time, and web portal usage. Is there an increased demand for the supplier's product? How often do they use Central's web portal to expedite orders? What is their average lead time to fulfill an order? Did a pro- longed lead time result in a stock out? How often? The heavy emphasis on the transac- tional side of the business coincides with a companywide mandate to focus on where the customer is most likely to feel the pain—particularly when criti- THE MERITS OF PERFORMANCE SCORECARDS Continuing the Dialogue Consider Including This on Your Scorecard Some of the most valuable feedback on Central's sup- plier performance scorecard comes from the remarks section at the end, where individuals from each of its departments— Merchandising, Procurement, Customer Care, Sales, Logistics, and Accounts Payable—are allowed to include handwritten notes to suppliers. There's also a general remarks section. "Our manufacturers really like hearing directly from staff mem- bers because it gives them a more rounded perspective of the total business," says Central's Chief Marketing Officer Keith Kidwell. "Now, each depart- ment has a voice. "At the very beginning, when we started with the comments, there was limited participation because I think people weren't sure their feedback was going to be taken seriously. The response was just the opposite. A lot of our manufacturers listened and were responsive. The result is we're now seeing more mean- ingful feedback from other departments." continued on page 18 Making the Most of the FEDA Convention