by Charlie Harte

New SupplierThere are approximately 25,000 machine shops in the US. When combined with all the other metalworking job shops, there must be on the order of 50,000 such businesses available.  This is the most common type of outsourced manufacturing we work on, so you may be one of those who’s looked for a machine shop, fabricator, spring/wire former, or extruder source in the past 5-10 years.  If so, how’s your decision working out for you?   How do you determine good or bad with so many available choices?

With that large a population, how does anyone know their source for machined or other work is the best available?  Of course, location, certifications, size limitations, and specific equipment requirements disqualify very many of your possible choices.  But whether the subject is machine shops or other types of suppliers, the question remains:   how do you determine if you’ve got the best choice available to you?  And then what to do if you have concerns?

We’ve written extensively on various considerations of a good supplier.  Beyond price, the possible factors are quite numerous.  You can find these articles in our blog history, and we hope you’ll find something helpful there.  Here’s a link.

It’s likely some of your really good potential choices never get the opportunity to compete for your business.  After all, none of us has access to every possibility.  But since all of us try to do the best we can with available information when choosing a supplier, do we then have a good method for judging the effectiveness of our decisions if the supplier performs satisfactorily?  Are we missing something?  And, perhaps just as important, what are the chances that conditions today are the same as those whenever you chose your supplier?  If there has been significant change, what does that mean for your original selection criteria now?

For example, what happens if your choice turns out badly?  Or just disappointing?  What’s your strategy for dealing with such situations that must be costing you valuable time, let alone money.  You’ve probably issued a PO, and for some reason or another, the results have not met your expectations.  Now what?

Here’s our advice.  If you are pleased with your suppliers, don’t change.  If, however, you have doubts, why not check out alternatives?

Proficient Sourcing exists to help you do just that.  We have extensive experience with matching candidates to requirements, and do so without obligation.  Our mission is to assist people seeking supplier improvements and we have a very large and extensive network of potential candidates just waiting to try to satisfy you.  These companies were chosen because they have a history of on-time delivery of things built to spec with good service and value.

So again—if you are happy with your supply chain, congratulations.  Don’t change.  On the other hand, if you’d like to see what else is available we are ready and willing to help.  (513) 489-5252 will start that process, and you can expect a candidate or two within just a few days.  After that, it’s entirely up to you what to do and there’s no cost, obligation involved until you decide to issue a PO.  We are ready whenever you are!

About the author 

Charlie Harte

I’ve built this business based upon my 30+ years in manufacturing sourcing and productivity improvements, where I’ve developed strong relationships with a network of local and global suppliers who’ve demonstrated on-time delivery, parts built to spec, excellent service and value. This means HAPPY CUSTOMERS!

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