Difference between a Supplier and a Vendor as defined in API RP 588 Source Quality Surveillance

[Colcav]

API RP 588 defines Supplier/Vendor as the following: The entity that is responsible for the actual manufacturing and fabrication (M&F) of the material, equipment, or components and that is responsible for meeting the contractual requirements. As the Corporate Quality Director for my company I am the administrator for the Approved Supplier/Vendor List (ASVL)and I get asked repeatedly what is the difference between a Supplier and a Vendor as they relate to the industrial industry (ex. Pressure Vessel Fabrication shop). I do not have a solid answer as I can ask 10 colleagues and I get 10 different answers. Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[SWComposites]

Presumably no difference. Like a lot of English language things, there are more than one word with the same meaning (or very near same meaning).

 

[JohnRBaker]

If there's any room for nuance, I would say that a 'supplier' is the company that both manufactured and delivered an item, while a 'vendor' only delivered an item that they purchased from a manufacturer. In other words, when dealing with a 'supplier', you'll more likely be dealing directly with the manufacturer, while a 'vendor' is just a middle-man. But again, as previously pointed out, English doesn't always provide sufficient differentiation/specificity in cases like this.

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

 

[Colcav]

SWComposites and JohnRBaker thank you both for your replies as it makes sense that API combined the two terms (S/V) in their definition such that they can be interpreted as interchangeable