Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) are often underused or reduced to routine slide decks and handshake conversations. But in the context of steel procurement—especially when buying flat-rolled products like HRC, CRC, and galvanized coil—QBRs are one of the most powerful tools a Vendor Relations Manager can wield.
Used effectively, QBRs are not just meetings. They’re strategic checkpoints where you surface problems, align on performance, and shape future cooperation with mills and master distributors alike.
Here’s how to turn your QBRs from a formality into a force multiplier.
Start with a clear agenda—and own it
A QBR without an agenda is just another vendor lunch. You should own the structure, not your supplier. Set the tone with a predefined agenda that includes:
Review of previous quarter’s KPIs
Open issues and resolution status
Forecast alignment and upcoming tonnage
Pricing and index movement analysis
Strategic alignment (e.g., new products, capacity shifts)
Send the agenda a week ahead, along with your scorecard. This signals that your organization treats vendor performance with discipline—and expects the same in return.
Build a scorecard that goes beyond on-time delivery
Steel suppliers love to tout their on-time metrics—but a QBR should dive deeper. A high-functioning scorecard should include:
On-time delivery (actual vs. SLA)
Material rejection or rework rate
Responsiveness to escalations (avg. hours to resolve)
Forecast adherence and communication lag
Freight damage incidents and root causes
Add a qualitative rating as well: how would your team rate this supplier’s performance in the past quarter on a scale of 1–10? Collect input from logistics, operations, and quality control—not just purchasing.
Use real examples to drive accountability
General feedback doesn’t move the needle. During the QBR, cite specific incidents:
“On Feb 6, coil PO #38219 was delivered five days late with no proactive notice.”
“We received three consecutive MTRs with missing chemical spec lines.”
“On March 15, your logistics team took 72 hours to respond to a missed dock window.”
Point to actual BOLs, emails, or screenshots if necessary. This reinforces that your expectations are grounded in fact, not just frustration.
Don’t just review performance—track follow-through
Each QBR should close the loop on prior action items. If your last review ended with a commitment to improve shipment tracking updates or tighten gauge tolerances, start by asking:
“What progress was made on the commitments from last quarter?”
“What changes have you implemented internally since our last meeting?”
Hold your suppliers to their own words. This builds a culture of execution—and discourages lip service.
Invite the right people to the table
Don’t let your QBR be a one-on-one with just the sales rep. Ask your supplier to bring their:
Operations or plant manager (for coil output and scheduling)
Logistics coordinator (for freight and shipping issues)
Quality or tech services contact (for spec compliance and claims)
From your side, include not just procurement, but warehouse managers or quality inspectors who deal with the material daily. This multi-perspective setup surfaces cross-functional issues that don’t make it into email threads.
Use QBRs to pressure-test your forecast alignment
Steel mills run on planned tons and production slots. A QBR is the perfect moment to check whether your rolling forecast is being respected—or deprioritized when mill capacity tightens.
Ask:
“Are our Q2 volumes locked in production planning?”
“Have you received allocation pushback internally?”
“Are there any weeks in the next 90 days we should watch for risk?”
This builds forward-looking alignment—and gives you time to adjust if mill priorities shift unexpectedly.
Revisit contract compliance in every session
Many service center procurement issues stem from vendor drift on contract terms. Use the QBR to reconfirm:
Freight terms (are they still honoring DDP as agreed?)
Coil specs (any recent adjustments in chemistry or width tolerances?)
Payment terms (are they honoring net 60, or pushing for early pay?)
This is especially important during volatile pricing periods. If a vendor is unilaterally revising shipment cadences or pushing “temporary” surcharges, a QBR is your chance to call it out—and negotiate structure back in.
Open a window into their world
While QBRs are about supplier accountability, they’re also about relationship development. Make space for your vendor to share:
Operational bottlenecks at their mills
New product capabilities or line upgrades
Staff turnover that may affect your day-to-day contacts
Raw material sourcing changes or geopolitical risks
Understanding what’s happening behind the curtain allows you to forecast risk better—and sometimes even empathize when small slips occur.
Set next steps and document commitments
Before you wrap the meeting, confirm:
Key changes the supplier will implement
Timeline for each corrective action
Date of next check-in or follow-up
Summarize the meeting in a shared document or follow-up email and get written acknowledgment. This isn’t about policing—it’s about creating shared accountability.
Use QBR outcomes to shape your sourcing strategy
Ultimately, QBRs are where you decide: Is this vendor worth growing with? Should they get more tonnage in Q3? Are they ready to handle a new coated product line?
Use QBR performance to inform:
Allocation decisions
Contract renewal terms
Dual sourcing strategies
Vendors who shine in QBRs are rarely the cheapest—but they’re often the most dependable. And in the flat-rolled market, that’s where long-term margin stability lives.
Final thought: QBRs are your supply chain steering wheel
You can’t control steel prices. You can’t prevent mill outages. But you can manage how your suppliers respond to change—and that starts with consistent, data-driven, and well-led QBRs.
Treat every QBR as a board meeting for your supply chain. Walk in prepared. Drive with facts. Leave with clarity. And most of all—hold your vendors to the same operational excellence you expect from your own plant floor.
