How do you calculate a supplier on-time quality risk score?

Multiply the three ratings together: severity x occurrence x detection. With severity 6, occurrence 4 and detection 3 the calculator returns a risk score of 4.55 on the normalized scale used here, letting you compare suppliers apples-to-apples.

What is a good supplier risk score?

Lower is better. There is no universal cutoff, but many SQE teams flag anything in the top quartile of their supplier list for action and set a hard trigger on any high-severity item, since a severe delivery or quality miss can stop a line regardless of frequency.

Is this the same as an FMEA RPN?

Yes, it applies the same severity x occurrence x detection logic used in process FMEA, but scoped to supplier delivery and quality failure modes rather than an internal process step.

How is detection scored for a supplier?

Detection reflects your ability to catch a bad lot before it reaches production: strong incoming inspection or PPAP controls score low (good), while dock-to-stock with no checks scores high (bad). Here a detection of 3 indicates moderate catch capability.

Severity vs occurrence — which matters more?

Severity should dominate your decisions. A rare failure that halts assembly outranks a frequent cosmetic nonconformance, which is why you review high-severity suppliers even when their multiplied score looks modest.

How often should we rescore suppliers?

Rescore on a fixed cadence (quarterly or per scorecard cycle) and immediately after any escape, missed ship date, or corrective action, so the ranking reflects current performance.

Supplier Quality, Development & Audits calculator

Supplier On-Time Quality Score Calculator

The Supplier On-Time Quality Score is an FMEA-style Risk Priority Number applied to supplier delivery and quality performance. Supplier quality engineers and SQE/procurement teams use it to rank suppliers by combined risk instead of chasing whoever complained loudest. It multiplies how bad a late or defective lot would be (severity), how often it happens (occurrence), and how likely you are to catch it before it reaches the line (detection). A single number lets you triage a whole approved vendor list and put development resources where the exposure is highest.

What this calculator does

Estimate supplier on-time quality for supplier quality, development and audits using production-ready inputs so teams can rank risks and decide which issue needs containment, controls, or escalation first.
Use it when supplier on-time quality in supplier quality, development and audits needs a defensible ranking against other supplier quality, development and audits risks for the next review.
It computes a multiplicative supplier risk score from severity, occurrence and detection ratings for combined on-time-delivery and quality failure modes.

Formula used

Supplier on-time quality risk score = supplier on-time quality severity score × supplier on-time quality occurrence score × supplier on-time quality detection score
Use the same scoring scale across comparable supplier on-time quality risks.

Inputs explained

Delivery/quality failure severity (impact if a late or defective lot ships):
Failure occurrence likelihood (how often this supplier misses OTD or quality):
Detection capability (chance you catch it before it hits the line):

How to use the result

Use it during supplier scorecarding, annual risk reviews, or when deciding which vendors get source inspection, containment, or a formal development plan.
Multiplicative RPNs can hide a critical severity behind low occurrence and detection, so always review high-severity suppliers regardless of total score.

Current U.S. benchmarks

U.S. manufacturing runs at 75.6% of capacity (Federal Reserve, May 2026). New factory orders are up 2.3% year over year (Census).

Common questions

How do you calculate a supplier on-time quality risk score? Multiply the three ratings together: severity x occurrence x detection. With severity 6, occurrence 4 and detection 3 the calculator returns a risk score of 4.55 on the normalized scale used here, letting you compare suppliers apples-to-apples.
What is a good supplier risk score? Lower is better. There is no universal cutoff, but many SQE teams flag anything in the top quartile of their supplier list for action and set a hard trigger on any high-severity item, since a severe delivery or quality miss can stop a line regardless of frequency.
Is this the same as an FMEA RPN? Yes, it applies the same severity x occurrence x detection logic used in process FMEA, but scoped to supplier delivery and quality failure modes rather than an internal process step.
How is detection scored for a supplier? Detection reflects your ability to catch a bad lot before it reaches production: strong incoming inspection or PPAP controls score low (good), while dock-to-stock with no checks scores high (bad). Here a detection of 3 indicates moderate catch capability.
Severity vs occurrence — which matters more? Severity should dominate your decisions. A rare failure that halts assembly outranks a frequent cosmetic nonconformance, which is why you review high-severity suppliers even when their multiplied score looks modest.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.