The Supplier column in a SIPOC diagram lists the important suppliers, both internal and external to the organization, that provide the necessary process Inputs. Here are a few supplier examples –
- A medical records database supplies patient prescription records as an input to the nursing health assessment process.
- A sales organization supplies new customer contact information as an input to a customer ordering process.
- An external regulatory agency supplies regulations as an input to a product registration process.
- An SAP report supplies data as an input to an inventory reporting process.
Customers as Suppliers
It is common for customers, showing up on the right-hand side of a SIPOC, to also be suppliers on the left-hand side of the SIPOC. Here is an example from the customer service SIPOC on the templates page:
In the above case, the Customer Service team not only receives corrective action information as an internal customer but also provides information on product issues as a supplier to the process.