SSAD.SP 3.2 Establish the Supplier Agreement
Summary
Establish and maintain the supplier agreement.
Description
The agreement can be either a stand-alone agreement or part of a master agreement. When part of a master agreement, the project agreement can be an addendum, work order, or service request to the master agreement.
Example Work Products
- Supplier agreement (including terms and conditions)
Subpractices
1. Establish the supplier agreement.
- The statement of work, specification, terms and conditions, list of deliverables, schedule, budget, and acceptance process
- Product acceptance criteria to be satisfied by the supplier
- Mechanisms and deliverables that provide sufficient data to allow the acquirer to evaluate and analyze acquired products
- Which acquirer and supplier representatives are responsible and authorized to make changes to the supplier agreement
- How requirements changes and changes to the supplier agreement are determined, communicated, and addressed
- Standards and procedures to be followed (e.g., configuration management, escalation, nonconformances, conflicts, issues)
- Requirements for the supplier to establish a corrective action system that includes a change control process for rework and reevaluation
- Critical dependencies between the acquirer and supplier
- Documentation of what the acquirer will provide to the supplier (e.g., facilities, tools, software, documentation, services)
- Analysis methods and acceptance criteria for designated supplier deliverables
- The types of reviews to be conducted with the supplier
- The supplier’s responsibilities to execute corrective actions when initiated by project monitoring and control processes
- Non-hire and non-compete clauses
- Confidentiality, non-disclosure, and intellectual capital clauses pertaining to process and product quality assurance, measurement data, and staff who would perform audits or are authorized to validate measurement data
- The supplier’s responsibilities for preparing the site and training the support and operations organizations according to acquirer specified standards, tools, and methods
- The supplier’s responsibilities for ongoing maintenance and support of acquired products and their role as a stakeholder
- Requirements for the supplier to maintain bi-directional traceability to requirements provided in the supplier agreement
- Requirements for the supplier to be involved in deployment as necessary
- Warranty, ownership, usage, and data rights for acquired products
- Schedule for supplier compensation
- Security and legal penalty recoveries
- Dispute resolution procedures
2. Verify that all parties to the agreement understand and agree to all requirements by signing the supplier agreement.
The acquirer should ensure that the supplier makes a commitment in the agreement to execute its proposed processes.
3. Notify the suppliers not selected for the award.
4. Communicate the supplier agreement in the organization as required.
5. Maintain the supplier agreement as required.
After establishment of the supplier agreement, the acquirer can find requirements that are no longer optimal or applicable based on the supplier’s progress or environment changes. Examples include the availability of new technology, overly burdensome documentation, and reporting requirements. Changes to supplier agreements can also occur when the supplier’s processes or products fail to meet agreed-to criteria.
The supplier agreement and project documents should be revised to reflect changes in conditions as appropriate. This includes updating cost, schedule, and budget documents as needed.
All changes are formally documented and approved by both the acquirer and supplier before being implemented by this specific practice. Approved change requests can include modifications to terms and conditions of the supplier agreement, including the statement of work, pricing, and the descriptions of products, services, or results to be acquired.
6. Ensure that all records related to the supplier agreement are stored, managed, and controlled for future use.