What we learned running these searches, written down.
26 articles and 13 templates on finding, verifying and comparing suppliers. The counts below are the part that matters: every campaign we have run is published here in full, rejections included.
170 suppliers from one published campaign, "Folding carton packaging, food grade, low minimum order, direct converters", searched worldwide. The biggest file of the eight, and the clearest picture of what a worldwide search returns when nothing is excluded.
77 suppliers from one published campaign, "Catering partner for a 400 guest product launch in Chicago, full service", searched the United States. A city level search that came back with the actual Chicago catering scene rather than a national directory filtered by a word.
67 suppliers from one published campaign, "Scaffolding contractor for a commercial site, certified crews, insured", searched the United States. Sixty seven contractors and almost no published credentials, which is the honest shape of this trade.
58 suppliers from one published campaign, "Medical disposables, FDA registered manufacturers, single use, sterile", searched worldwide, excluding China. What regulated single use manufacturing looks like outside Asia, with China excluded on purpose.
39 suppliers from one published campaign, "Deep groove ball bearings 6204, ISO 9001 manufacturers, direct producers only", searched worldwide, excluding China. A part number search that keeps the makers and drops the thousands of distributors selling the same part.
31 suppliers from one published campaign, "Industrial spare parts for plant maintenance, distributors holding US stock", searched the United States. What happens when a brief names a department instead of a category. Useful as a warning as much as a list.
23 suppliers from one published campaign, "Cold chain 2 to 8 C pharmaceutical transport, validated lanes, own fleet", searched the United States. A domestic service search where the rejections say more than the shortlist.
7 suppliers from one published campaign, "Commercial kitchen equipment dealers with installation and service coverage", searched the United States. The weakest run of the eight. Seven suppliers, one email address, and a brief that needed rewriting rather than repeating.
Comparing supplier offers side by side. 10 comparison fields, scoring formula built in, exportable for stakeholders.
The 20-point supplier risk verification checklist used to prevent supply chain disruption. Financial, operational, geopolitical, ESG, cyber.
Reveals the true total cost of ownership of an offer. Goes past unit price into logistics, duties, quality cost, payment terms, switching cost.
A defensible 10-criteria scoring framework with weighting logic, ready for a procurement audit.
Step by step for diversifying from China to European alternatives. Country comparison, sequencing strategy, board-ready business case.
Take a real supplier file instead.
8 campaigns published in full, 472 suppliers, 300 of them with an email address, rejections included. The spreadsheet below is the largest of them, unedited: 170 rows on one brief, no form in front of it.
Download the run, .xlsx →