Purchasing & suppliers
Dual Sourcing
By the Supply Chain Manager team · Updated October 16, 2026
Dual sourcing means buying the same item from two suppliers instead of one, to reduce the risk of a single supplier failing or running late.
Single sourcing concentrates volume, which can win better prices and simpler relationships. Dual sourcing trades some of that for resilience, and gives you a benchmark to keep both suppliers honest on price and lead time.
Qualifying a second source takes time and often costs some volume discount, so it is usually reserved for items where a supply failure would be expensive: high-volume A items, items with long import lead times, or products from a single region. For many C items, a single reliable supplier and a little extra safety stock are enough.
Dual sourcing example
Illustrative: a distributor buys 70% of a key cable from its main supplier and 30% from a second. When the main supplier's lead time doubles during a shortage, the second can absorb more volume within weeks.
Why dual sourcing matters for distributors
For A-class items with long or variable lead times, a qualified second source is often cheaper insurance than holding weeks of extra safety stock.
Common dual sourcing mistakes
- Splitting volume so evenly that neither supplier sees you as important.
- Treating two parts as interchangeable without checking specifications.
Examples on this page use made-up round numbers to show the calculation. They are not benchmarks or results from real businesses.