Tutorial
Compare two suppliers without fooling yourself
Put two quotes into the same unit, add what the price does not include, and reach a landed cost you can defend.
About 10 minutes. Last reviewed against the product on .
By the end of this you will be able to say which supplier is cheaper for a given item, and say it in a way that survives being questioned.
1. Get both suppliers into the same unit
This is the whole tutorial, and everything else is bookkeeping. Two quotes are comparable only once they are expressed per the same unit.
Open Suppliers and check each item's unit and pack size. Where a supplier quotes per case, the case contents must be recorded before any comparison is possible.
2. Add what the price does not include
Landed cost is the price plus everything it takes to get the goods into your kitchen.
| Factor | Why it changes the answer |
|---|---|
| Delivery charge | A per-drop fee favours larger, less frequent orders |
| Minimum order | A cheaper unit price you cannot reach is not available to you |
| Lead time | A longer one is paid for in waste or in stockouts |
| Fill rate | An item that arrives eight weeks in ten has a real cost in substitutions |
Measured from the supplier comparison surface at /app/suppliers.
3. Compare, then check the date
A quote has an effective date. Comparing a quote from March against one from last week is comparing suppliers to the passage of time.
4. Write down why you chose
The decision is worth more than the number, because in three months nobody remembers whether the cheaper supplier was rejected for lead time or simply overlooked. Record it against the supplier so the next comparison starts from the last one.