How do you calculate a supplier risk score?

Multiply severity by occurrence by detection. Each factor is rated on the same scale, and the product gives a single risk priority number you can rank suppliers by from highest to lowest exposure.

What do severity, occurrence, and detection mean?

Severity is how bad the impact is if the failure reaches a machine, occurrence is how often the failure happens, and detection is how hard it is to catch before shipment — a high detection score means it's easy to miss.

What is a good supplier risk score?

Lower is better. There's no universal threshold, but risks that rank in the top tier of your supply base relative to peers deserve mitigation first, regardless of the raw number. Consistency of scale matters more than the absolute value.

Why is detection weighted the same as severity?

Because a severe, frequent failure you cannot catch is far more dangerous than one you reliably screen out at incoming inspection. Multiplying all three ensures a poor detection capability drives the score up even when severity is moderate.

How do I reduce a high supplier risk score?

Attack whichever factor is largest: improve detection with incoming inspection, cut occurrence by working the supplier's process, or reduce severity through design changes or redundancy. Detection is usually the fastest to move.

Can I compare scores across different suppliers?

Only if every supplier is rated on the same anchored scale. If one engineer's '4' means something different from another's, the products aren't comparable. Lock down scoring definitions before ranking the supply base.

Vending, Kiosk & Self-Service Equipment calculator

Supplier Risk Calculator

Supplier risk scoring is an FMEA-style method for ranking how dangerous a supplier or component failure is before it reaches a deployed machine. Quality engineers and procurement leads for vending and kiosk fleets use it to triage which suppliers of payment modules, dispense mechanisms, and controllers deserve audits, dual-sourcing, or tighter incoming inspection. By multiplying severity, occurrence, and detection into a single score, you can compare risks on one scale and put attention where the exposure is highest. It turns a vague sense that a supplier is shaky into a defensible, prioritizable number.

What this calculator does

Estimate supplier risk for vending, kiosk and self-service equipment using production-ready inputs so teams can rank risks and decide which issue needs containment, controls, or escalation first.
Use it when supplier risk in vending, kiosk and self-service equipment needs a defensible ranking against other vending, kiosk and self-service equipment risks for the next review.
It multiplies severity, occurrence, and detection scores into a single supplier risk priority number for ranking and comparison.

Formula used

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

Inputs explained

Component Failure Severity:
Failure Occurrence Likelihood:
Detection Difficulty:

How to use the result

Use it during supplier qualification, PPAP review, or a periodic supply-base risk assessment to prioritize mitigation.
The score is only as good as the scoring scale behind it; different raters or inconsistent 1-10 anchors make scores non-comparable across suppliers.

Current U.S. benchmarks

Global copper trades at $13,484 per tonne (IMF via FRED, May 2026), up 41.5% in a year, and U.S. industrial electricity averages 8.66 cents per kWh. Both feed electrified-hardware unit economics.
Steel mill PPI stands at 348.53 (BLS, May 2026), up 6.7% from a year earlier. New factory orders are up 2.3% year over year (Census).

Common questions

How do you calculate a supplier risk score? Multiply severity by occurrence by detection. Each factor is rated on the same scale, and the product gives a single risk priority number you can rank suppliers by from highest to lowest exposure.
What do severity, occurrence, and detection mean? Severity is how bad the impact is if the failure reaches a machine, occurrence is how often the failure happens, and detection is how hard it is to catch before shipment — a high detection score means it's easy to miss.
What is a good supplier risk score? Lower is better. There's no universal threshold, but risks that rank in the top tier of your supply base relative to peers deserve mitigation first, regardless of the raw number. Consistency of scale matters more than the absolute value.
Why is detection weighted the same as severity? Because a severe, frequent failure you cannot catch is far more dangerous than one you reliably screen out at incoming inspection. Multiplying all three ensures a poor detection capability drives the score up even when severity is moderate.
How do I reduce a high supplier risk score? Attack whichever factor is largest: improve detection with incoming inspection, cut occurrence by working the supplier's process, or reduce severity through design changes or redundancy. Detection is usually the fastest to move.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.