As some of you may know, I work on the Board at SMRP and they are currently trying to define what a vendor is for a number of reasons.

It gets kind of foggy when some of the people who are involved on the board work for contract maintenance companies but their job is perform maintenance functions. Someone else who works for the same company may actually be in sales as is charged with selling new maintenance service accounts.

Does anyone want to suggest a valid definition for what or who is a vendor?

Terrence O'Hanlon

Well, everybody is selling something in some form or fashion, so we're all vendors.

I view a vendor should be able to provide resources and/or services such manpower, materials, equipment, tools, management, technical expertise, supervision, coordination, QA/QC plans, HSE plans and the like which are required for satisfactory and successful work completion. The vendor should be able to provide technically sound and cost-effective solutions to customers in the long-term view based on life-cycle profit to both vendor and client. Any deviations from standard definition should be clearly stated in the contract document in advance. TQ

I am wondering if we should not approach it from what company is a vendor - but what job is being performed.

Patrick - you perform as much maintenance service now as you did when you where at a mill. Your job makes you a practitioner.

If your job was new business development - then you would be a vendor.

See what I mean?

If we define it as a company that sells something - then we lump a bunch of people who do not sell into the wrong category.

It makes a difference at SMRP in terms of how you can participate as SMRP is "for practitioners by practitioners".


Terry O

Terrence,

Is there a practitioner vs. vendor barrier? I sell my services to customers that need PdM. I practice Reliability in providing advice to those customers. From Josh's definition, I am clearly a vendor. ... but I practice ...

I see the confusion. I guess I would look at the Vibration Institute's handling of this issue. They classify the certification level AND provide a list of Certified Consultants. That way, "Mike Maintenance" and "Chris Consultant" are both practitioners, but the distinction is made that the consultant's services are being marketed. Excluding vendors from the ranks of reliability professional would be a disservice to the general community.

The old Reliability Magazine boards were frequently marked with "Vendor Disclaimers" when, for example, a vendor was talking about their products or (rarely) the problems with competitor products. The advantage of having vendors participate is that the more information people know, the better decisions they can make.

quote:

Patrick - you perform as much maintenance service now as you did when you where at a mill. Your job makes you a practitioner.

Patrick's Dictionary
Vendor--one who vends or sells.

Sure, most of my job is as a practitioner, but I sell my company's services and our reputation. We sell our services as practitioners. Our contracts won't be renewed if we don't provide. I am about the only perception my client gets of the company I work for. If I'm not selling, there are plenty of other folks who will.

I think a vendor, a company, is one that primarily provides a service or product to compliment that service to someone/thing else. They can't exist by themselves. Sitting around and analyzing the water cooler won't pay the bills. Rewinding motors just for fun won't pay the bills. I think a vendor, a person, is more defined by the corporate structure and function. They also buy lunch.

See what I mean?

quote:

It makes a difference at SMRP in terms of how you can participate as SMRP is "for practitioners by practitioners".

Patrick's Dictionary
practitioner--one who practices

Practicing what? The field is so multifaceted now everybody can practice something different. And do you mean active practitioners or people who used to practice? There are some folks on the SMRP board (I only found the '03-'04 officers on the website) who are pretty far up their corporate ladders and even a couple I would call vendors.

I can see where the discussions would get sticky to say the least. What about a 'code of conduct' for vendors--or anyone with something to sell? It seems silly to exclude vendors since a lot of them were/are practitioners themselves.

Terry,

I would have thought that a practitioner and a vendor were not necesarily different things. it seems a strange agenda item.

I am an RCM practitioner, among other things, and a consulting engineer. This makes me both a seller of services and someone who provides and applies them at the sharp end.

You are a marketer and obviously an interested party, does this make you a non-practitioner?

I would not recognise a clasification of myself as a non-practitioner because my work revolves around providing advanced services rather than the one-dimensional aspect of applying these only. I would also be concerned about an organization of profesionals that would exclude me for this aspect of my working life.

I think that if there is to be any definitions here it would be around what actually constitutes a practitioner. There employment status or the level of experience within a certain field?

My 2 c worth. (And I know I strayed a little, it is late here )

Daryl Mather
www.strategic-advantages.com

Terry
It seems to me that if you are trying to sell an item then you are a vender, but if you are sharing in an area that you are not offering a product then your not a vender. On a board like this I think you can be both a vender and practitioner. But I think it is vital to a discussion to make it known up front that you are bias to a product you are selling -- try to sound unbiased is misleading.

Terry, Chris is right. The more information someone has, the better decisions they can make. However, the "quality" of the information can have a huge impact. In my opinion, it really shouldn't matter where the information comes from, as long as its reliable. Sometimes we know its reliable because its backed up by scientific data or case studies. Other times we know its reliable because the source of the information possesses both intelligence and integrity. If its good information, then it should be used. If its garbage, then it should be discarded. If its somewhere in between (which is were most information lies), then make your best judgement and measure the results.

Well, who is a practitioner then?

I will try to avoid climbing my soapbox...

Are you trying to determine how narrowly or broadly to define a vendor? I would think it depends greatly on how you plan to apply the word and whether you are the buyer or seller or just a worker-bee like most of us. I work for a "vendor" but do not view MYself as a vendor because I provide a service in the field, but the client looks at me and sees..."Vendor"! You might end up with a clearer view if you defined "Practitioner" rather than "Vendor". One should be careful, though about limiting what a "Practitioner" is. Sounds like the question should be: "Who is qualified to be called a Practitioner?". Make it too narrow and you lose quality participants. Make it too broad and you offend the elitists.

You specifically mentioned sales. Can you safely exclude the person who only does sales. How can he or she sell Maintenance & Reliability without having some knowledge of the subject, after all convincing organizations to use RCM techniques or "Predictive Maintenance" often requires a strong seller who knows what they're talking about. Many have been "Practitioners" before they went into sales. Some have to both sell and provice the service. Do those who move up the ladder of success from the field to manager or head salesman suddenly stop being M&R Practicioners? I kind of doubt it. How about college and university professors and instructors? They technically are not practicioners. Do you exclude or include them? Could you really afford to exclude them...they are teaching the future M&R Practicioners. Some even consult in the scads of extra time they all have[NOT!].

Many choices ahead!
Your post reads as if someone there wants to make it hard. I personally think it's probably simple. But...Hey, I'm just a Vendors lowly PdM technician & supervisor. By most definitions only a SEMI-professional.