The Cornerstone of Supplier Performance Management
The QBR is a structured, periodic meeting between buyer and supplier to review performance, address issues, and plan improvements.
QBR Structure (Typical 2 Hours)
- Performance Scorecard Review (30 min): Walk through the KPI dashboard. Green/amber/red status. Trends. Celebrate successes.
- Issue Resolution (20 min): Open items from last QBR, new issues, root cause analysis for red KPIs. Assign corrective actions.
- Commercial Review (15 min): Volume vs. forecast, invoice accuracy, payment compliance, price revision triggers.
- Innovation & Improvement (15 min): Supplier-proposed improvements, market developments, technology roadmap.
- Strategic Alignment (10 min): Upcoming changes, forward planning, relationship health check.
- Action Plan & Next Steps (10 min): Confirm all actions, owners, deadlines. Set the next QBR date.
QBR Best Practices
- Prepare: Send the performance scorecard to the supplier at least 1 week before the QBR. No surprise reviews.
- Be balanced: Acknowledge good performance as much as you address poor performance.
- Include stakeholders: Invite end users or quality teams to relevant sections.
- Document: Publish QBR minutes within 48 hours with clear action items.
- Escalate: If a KPI stays red for 2+ quarters, escalate to management on both sides.