During development of a delivery solution for a complex engineering project, the project manager discovers that a single supplier provides a specialized alloy that is on the project's critical path. An interruption at this supplier would halt work for at least four weeks and jeopardize the schedule baseline. Which action is the BEST way to address this risk within the delivery solution?
Continue using the single supplier but add extra quality inspections upon delivery to catch defects sooner.
Negotiate a price reduction with the primary supplier in exchange for a longer-term contract.
Increase communication frequency with the existing supplier to weekly status meetings to ensure earlier visibility of potential delays.
Qualify and contract with an alternate supplier for the alloy and include a contingency plan that shifts orders to the backup supplier if the primary one fails.
The most effective way to protect the project from a single-source supplier failure is to qualify and contract with an alternate supplier and create a contingency plan that defines when and how orders will shift if the primary supplier cannot deliver. This approach (a) reduces dependency on one vendor, (b) provides a clear fallback trigger, and (c) aligns with PMBOK guidance on multi-sourcing and contingency planning for procurement risks. The other options either treat symptoms (extra meetings, added inspections) or pursue cost reduction without addressing supply continuity, so they do not adequately mitigate the risk.
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