Susan Welsh (asker) Jul 4, 2017:

other questions asked of the referer There are only 2-3 general questions about whether the contract with the supplier was fulfilled properly, on deadline, without defects in the merchandise or problems with the service.

Björn Vrooman Jul 4, 2017:

PS It would also be good to know whether "Absprachentreue" even shows up somewhere else again. Sometimes, it may not (as odd as that may be), so you could just omit it. The sentence really could do without it, IMO.

Björn Vrooman Jul 4, 2017:

Hello Tony Yes, it may not always be clear. I may be influenced by my experience with business software programs - AFAIK, they always separate those two.

That's why I have strong reservations about "reliable" and would certainly favor your "performance" or something similar. If it's not entirely clear from context (I took "Fehllieferungen" to mean it's about quantity only here), then one should translate as "faithfully" as possible. Some suggestions may seem like neat solutions at first, but they can result in overinterpretation.

I think it'd be best if Susan were to answer your query about what other questions there are.

Best wishes

TonyTK Jul 4, 2017:

I take your point, Björn, but there are other vaguer occurrences of "Absprachentreue" (e.g.
https://www.lifepr.de/pressemitteilung/12snap-germany-gmbh/1...

It would of course be helpful to know what the other questions are. Perhaps they include questions on quality, quantity, punctuality etc.

I'm not a native speaker of German, but if someone asked me if a supplier "sich an dem gehalten hat, was abgesprochen war", surely two possible answers would be: "Yes, he delivered the 10 ordered bacon butties, but he was 15 minutes late" and "Yes, the butties were there on time but he forgot the brown sauce (arrrgh!).

Björn Vrooman Jul 4, 2017:

@Tony Wouldn't that include both time and quantity again (much like reliable)?

Here's what I had intended to link if there would have been any questions from Susan:
http://www.logisticsbureau.com/3-practical-metrics-for-suppl...

It's "key performance metrics": one of them is "Quantity Ordered versus Quantity Received", another "Delivery On-time."

Two individual metrics; same in German.

I really think that the German source already sounds - no offense - quite clumsy. I thought something "simpler" in English might do the trick?

Best

TonyTK Jul 4, 2017:

"Performance" ... ... might fit here. "Was performance as promised?"

Björn Vrooman Jul 3, 2017:

PS Just ask yourself this:
If you always deliver the right quantity, but never on time, will you be considered reliable?

To confirm that this is about quantity/content only:
"Unbedingte Termin- und Absprachentreue"
http://biz-hannover.leb.de/attachments/article/56/LEB_Flyer_...

Björn Vrooman Jul 3, 2017:

I think you misunderstood me, Susan. I meant "in this kind of context," but added "not to say that I haven't" - in fact, I have (e.g., business software programs might use it for quantities, too).

However, reliability and compliance are equally murky. Typically - speaking from my experience with business software - you have two separate "Treue" statements: Termintreue and Mengentreue ( http://www.mtu-online.com/uploads/media/Handout_Lieferantenb... ). Additionally, you have so-called "tolerances" (+/- 5% or 10%) before shipments are rejected/returned.

I think you need to account for that somewhere.

Best

Susan Welsh (asker) Jul 3, 2017:

adherence Although I'm by no means defending my turgid translation, "adherence" is not particularly about time. It can be about all sorts of things:
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/adherence?s=ts

Björn Vrooman Jul 3, 2017:

@Susan "Adherence" is about time, usually:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delivery_schedule_adherence

Not to say that I haven't seen it in connection with quantities before. I do think this should help you:
http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Tr-Z/Vendor-R...

One of the items:
"Quantity. Does the vendor deliver the correct items or services in the contracted quantity?"

You'll just have to change the word order a bit, as "not the correct items" are "Fehllieferungen."

Like:
Please check if vendor...

I don't see why it needs to become any more complicated than that.