How a Global Retailer Reduced Supplier Onboarding Time from 6 Months to 2 Months
Supplier Evaluation & Qualification
Project Type
Furniture & Home Furnishings
Industry
Vietnam & Asia
Sourcing Region
Project Snapshot
A global B2B outdoor furniture manufacturer had compliance, QA, technical, and supply chain teams each evaluating suppliers separately, with separate trips and separate checklists. Rockhill Asia built one shared evaluation framework and a desktop diagnostic process, cutting supplier onboarding from around six months to roughly two.
From 6 months to 2 months
supplier onboarding
28 Comprehensive Reports
Delivered across full supplier portfolio
The Client
A global outdoor furniture manufacturer managing a complex supplier network
Our client is a leading global outdoor furniture manufacturer supplying products to some of the world's largest retailers and consumer brands.
Because of its scale, supplier approval involves multiple teams: compliance, QA, technical, sourcing, and supply chain. Each has different priorities and evaluation criteria that must be addressed before a new supplier can be approved.
This multi-team oversight protects quality and brand reputation, but it created lengthy onboarding processes and duplicated effort when teams worked independently.
The challenge wasn't finding suppliers. It was evaluating them efficiently and consistently.
The Challenge
Multiple teams were evaluating the same supplier from different starting points
For a global manufacturer, supplier qualification extends beyond production capacity:
Compliance teams assess certifications and social responsibility.
Quality teams focus on manufacturing controls.
Supply chain teams evaluate capacity and traceability.
Technical teams assess production capabilities.
Suppliers were assessed multiple times by different stakeholders, often requiring separate factory visits, separate reports, and separate decisions. Over time, these evaluations had developed into separate processes with different checklists and timelines.
The process produced lots of information but lacked a unified framework. This created longer onboarding timelines, duplicated effort, and slower decisions.
The real question was whether all stakeholders could evaluate suppliers against the same baseline before investing months into approval.
What We Did
Creating One Evaluation Framework for Better Supplier Decisions
Conducting desktop diagnostics before site visits
Before scheduling factory visits, Rockhill Asia performed an extensive desktop review of supplier documentation, certifications, production history, organizational structure, and available compliance records.
This allowed potential risks and information gaps to be identified early, ensuring site visits focused only on questions that could not be answered remotely.
By improving preparation, teams arrived on-site with clearer objectives and more targeted evaluation criteria.
Mapping supply chain visibility
The assessment extended beyond the factory itself.
We reviewed material sourcing practices, traceability processes, and subcontractor involvement throughout the production process.
This provided greater visibility into where raw materials originated, how production activities were managed, and whether outsourced processes introduced additional quality, compliance, or supply chain risks.
These areas are often overlooked during traditional supplier assessments but can significantly impact long-term supplier performance.
Evaluating beyond certifications
Supplier certifications were reviewed as part of the assessment process, but they were not treated as the final answer.
Our evaluations examined supporting documentation, historical records, management systems, corrective action processes, and operational controls to understand how suppliers actually managed compliance and quality requirements.
The objective was to understand the strength of the supplier's systems, not simply confirm the presence of certificates.
Scoring suppliers across business-critical criteria
Each supplier was evaluated using a structured scorecard covering operational capability, quality systems, compliance readiness, management commitment, production controls, traceability, and overall business fit.
While production equipment and certifications can often be improved, management attitude toward transparency, continuous improvement, and customer requirements frequently determines long-term supplier success.
This created a more complete picture of supplier suitability and supported faster, more confident decision-making.
Results
Faster supplier decisions with greater confidence
By establishing a shared evaluation baseline before any travel took place, the client reduced supplier onboarding timelines from six months to two months while minimizing duplicated effort across departments.
6 Months to 2 Months
Onboarding Time
Factory Visits
Reduced
28 Supplier Portfolios
Assessed, scored, and reported