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Reading a supplier claim
Awards, fair attendance and country counts are evidence of different things, and a date on a certificate is part of the claim.
Supplier credentials come in several kinds and they are not interchangeable. A quality certification says something about a management system. A trade fair attendance says the company exhibited. An award says a body assessed the company at a point in time. None of them says the product meets your specification.
Dates matter more than the credential itself. An award with a validity period printed on it is a statement about that period, and presenting it years later as a current rating is a small dishonesty that tells you something about the rest of the catalog.
Country counts are the weakest kind of claim and the most common. "Exports to more than 20 countries" is unfalsifiable and tells a buyer nothing actionable. It is worth noting when a supplier publishes it and worth nothing when comparing two suppliers.
The useful things to ask for are specific and boring: the certificate with its scope and dates, the specification sheet for the item you are buying, and a reference to a shipment of that item to your market. A supplier that can produce those three is easier to work with than one with a wall of awards.
Specifications
| Certification | Says something about a system |
|---|---|
| Award | A point-in-time assessment, read the dates |
| Country count | Unfalsifiable, not comparable |
| Ask instead for | Scope, dates, spec sheet, a reference shipment |
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