Empirical study of supplier selection practices in supply chain management in manufacturing companies

Supply chain management has seen a wide application since the 1990s in satisfying diversified customer demands. To remain competitive on a global scale, manufacturing companies greatly increased the scope of their outsourcing activities. Consequently, supplier selection has become a highly prioritized activity with major significance to companies. Previous studies of supplier selection show that there are commonly accepted supplier selection criteria. However, there are insufficient studies on the association between the manufacturer's criteria of supplier selection and why it wins orders from its customers. Studies on the differences of supplier selection criteria among manufacturers from different countries are insufficient either. Through empirical study this paper tries to find out the association between manufacturer's criteria in supplier selection and how it wins orders. Considerations of supplier selection criteria in different national background are compared and the consistency of supplier selection criteria and competitive priority is analyzed.