Initial Sourcing Assessment

Scope

Scope: Every garment manufacturer, fabric mill, washing plant, trim supplier, and service provider considered for SpringNE business. This is Gate 1 of five in supplier onboarding.

Purpose: Gate 1 checks whether a new supplier suits SpringNE before other teams spend time on it. Sourcing verifies who owns and runs the business, what it can make, and who it already works for. Only suppliers with minimum commercial viability and a clear strategic fit move on.

Owner: Sourcing.

Applies to: The sourcing team, with the buying team consulted on pricing and management approving the result.

Process

1. Sourcing — Identify the supplier. Confirm the supplier makes a product or service SpringNE needs.

   • Keep quality, technical, compliance, and buying teams informed that a new supplier is under review.

2. Sourcing — Verify the business structure and ownership. Record who owns the business and how it is run.

   • Ownership structure
   • Organisation structure
   • Management mentality and culture

3. Sourcing — Assess the factory capability. Visit the site and record what the supplier can make.

   • Product categories
   • Machinery and technical capability
   • Workforce size
   • Factory infrastructure

4. Sourcing — Review the customer portfolio and supply chain. Check the supplier's experience and certificates.

   • Existing customers
   • Social compliance certificates
   • Supply chain capability
   • Material sourcing capability
   • Import material experience

5. Sourcing — Evaluate the supplier's prices. Obtain prices for the supplier's core products.

   • Break each price down into fabric, trims, labour, and overhead costs.
   • Judge how competitive the prices are. Consult the buying team.

6. Sourcing — Present the SpringNE business model. Explain how SpringNE works with suppliers, including SpringNE payment terms.

7. Sourcing — Complete the Factory Proposal Form. Record the assessment in the form listed under Forms to be used.

   • Take factory photos and attach them to the record.

8. Management — Decide whether the supplier moves to Gate 2. The supplier needs minimum commercial viability and a clear strategic fit.

   • Approved suppliers go to Quality Capability Assessment.

Workflow

Sourcing — Identify the supplier

Sourcing — Verify the business structure and ownership

Sourcing — Assess the factory capability

Sourcing — Review the customer portfolio and supply chain

Sourcing — Evaluate the supplier's prices

Forms to be used

• Factory Proposal Form

Tutorial

This training video supports the Initial Sourcing Assessment process. It does not replace the numbered steps.

Pending

Training video not linked yet

Admins will add a Microsoft Stream or SharePoint watch URL when the tutorial for Initial Sourcing Assessment is ready.

Exam

Pass mark	Expected duration	Attempts
80%	Admin will provide this soon	Admin will provide this soon

Pending

The exam is not published yet. Admins will add it here when the assessment is ready.

Changelog

Changelog

Date	Changed by	What changed
2026-09-22	Sourcing Team	Article added from Supplier Onboarding Procedure v1.0, section 4 (Gate 1).