Wholesale operations and vendor evaluation

Abstract A set of contextual variables affecting wholesalers' evaluation of vendors is examined empirically. The study is conducted on 148 U.S. and Canadian wholesalers that participated in a survey, with an overall response rate of 5.5%. The wholesalers in the sample vary considerably in terms of size and primary industry. Five factors that impact wholesaling logistical operations are identified: 1) forecasting/efficiency, which addresses regularity of demand; 2) supplier/internal communications, which addresses inbound intrafirm shipments; 3) computers/measurement, or the internal communications linkages of the operations subsystem; 4) leveling, which is concerned with the irregularity of demand; 5) transportation, which addresses outbound shipments to customers. Transportation is the most important factor, since it is related to 12 of 17 supplier evaluation criteria, including price, service quality, and on-time delivery.