We at Proficient Sourcing live and die with RFQ traffic, and it seems that the buying population would be interested in better responses. Maybe we can help. Most of what we see is an RFQ to manufacture or fabricate some metal or plastic part. The RFQ wants a price and delivery for a stated quantity, and sometimes an “answer by” date is provided. That’s about all we usually see. It’s also useful to note the… Read More
Recently we introduced a potential supplier to an equipment OEM. The OEM has several fairly large machine parts they want to source to new machining sources. The desired vendor will be capable of handling thousand pound steel parts, which require complex machining operations. Not quite 5-axis, but their parts have very intricate details. Typical machine shops do not have the quality infrastructure to be comfortable with such requirements or size, and since the OEM’s parts… Read More
Over the past few months we have had several complex projects. These projects involved are why procurement professionals or project managers to call Proficient Sourcing seeking solutions to their problems. A specific supplier was desired. We were able to quickly provide credible candidates. In every case the project is proceeding and on schedule. The reason this happens is Proficient Sourcing has a very broad and diverse network of supplier job shops. Not only do these… Read More
Proficient Sourcing has a large and thorough network of manufacturing companies available for simple and complex requirements or almost any sourcing issue you might have. An especially good example of the variety of things we can handle occurred recently. We allied with a much larger company that does sourcing for (usually) larger companies and projects than we do. They specialize in finding manufacturing sources in Asia; and recently have done considerable business in Viet Nam…. Read More
Proficient Sourcing has had interesting projects lately that illustrate how we can help OEM’s looking for supplier candidates. Over the past year or so we have concentrated on providing great supplier candidates for equipment builders and machinery OEM’s, and below are 2 projects in our wheelhouse. Some time ago we were contacted by a European machinery company looking for a gantry milling source. This company was in the process of establishing an assembly plant in… Read More
Your suppliers can be a low cost source of ongoing and effective innovation. In fact, in some companies, supplier-initiated innovation happens regularly through such things as suggested design alternatives, different manufacturing approaches, and even ideas on streamlining internal processes. If you are fortunate enough to have such a supplier relationship, you may experience innovation more economical than internal R&D departments and engineering initiatives. But how do you discover such a supplier, and then encourage such… Read More
We at Proficient Sourcing wish all a Happy New Year, and especially to equipment and machinery OEM’s. Our mission is to provide candidates for your outsourced manufacturing, and we have an especially capable group of metalworking companies very experienced in making machinery and equipment parts of all sorts. If you have a serious interest, we invite you to investigate our capabilities. The idea here is to give you a place to go for candidates, without… Read More
We experience new inquiries continuously and believe results for all sides could be improved. People exploring new suppliers with RFQ’s may not get the response desired. Suppliers may no-bid an inquiry, despite the fact that the work would be an excellent fit. Why is this? As the economy improves, it’s a rising tide that raises (almost) all boats. What this means is the potentially new suppliers have less time to fully consider new customer requirements. … Read More
As manufacturing improves across the board in the US, procurement professionals are likely to be seeking new, different, and improved suppliers for outsourced manufacturing. We foresee frustration in the days ahead. Why is this? The answer is prosperity exists within the job shop community as well as with OEM’s. This means the importance of NEW business is lessened. And, companies are working to accommodate their primary existing customers, who’s business is also enjoying prosperity. Proficient… Read More
On rare occasions we see inquiries requiring tolerances that raise questions. Requiring excessively precise work means higher cost and the exclusion of potential suppliers. We recently chose not to bid on a fabrication requiring extreme precision. Perhaps that degree of precision is needed, but it also may be a case of over-engineering. In any case, our potential supplier does this sort of work routinely, so the potential customer missed a relationship with a potentially useful… Read More
