All the Right Parts: Is Your Business Losing Out on Great Parts Deals?

Every savvy business owner or manager is great at this one thing: sniffing out ways to save money. It’s not as easy as it sounds, since you don’t want to impact production or make things unnecessarily difficult for employees.

Do you have a nose for deals? When you have to buy parts for your manufacturing business regularly, you can become complacent. But as it turns out, this is an area where you could snap up extra savings.

Time to Change Suppliers?

No matter your industry, relationships are critically important. If you’ve worked hard to build a good rapport with a supplier, you might have stopped paying attention to what else is out there.

There are a few ways to tell whether or not your current supplier is still a good fit. The first is rather obvious, but happens all too often. While there can be costs associated with parts buying that don’t involve the actual sale of the parts, these shouldn’t be out of control. That includes the time you and your employees have to spend dealing with errors, damaged parts, and even handling the way the product is delivered.

Transparency is also a good sign in any healthy business relationship. What do you know about your supplier? Have you ever met any of their associates or employees? Have you seen their warehouse? An on-site visit isn’t feasible for everyone, but if the extent of your knowledge of the supplier is based on the voice you speak to on the phone, that’s not a good sign.

Price consistency can also be a bad sign. If costs remain the same, you’d have no way of knowing whether or not the economical tide has turned in your favor. It’s easy to figure out if something’s up here; call their competition and ask for a quote. Speaking to someone from Plano Power would be a good first step.

Finding a Great Parts Supplier

If you’re just getting started with a supplier, or are playing the field in an effort to find a new one, start off on the right foot. Speak to staff, and get a feeling as to whether or not they have any expertise in their field. A company with a low employee retention rate probably isn’t hiring the most knowledgeable candidates.

If you’re able, now would also be a good time to schedule that visit. Their facilities should be well organized and operational. If you stick around for a bit, try to see quality control in action. Discern whether or not their equipment is up to date.

From there, you need a good, old-fashioned Q&A session. Find out if the supplier has a policy concerning the minimum number of parts per order. Ask about turnaround times for orders, as well as what the protocol is for emergency orders.

Don’t get stuck in a rut. Look no further than your parts supplier if you’re interested in additional savings for your business. A supplier that’s up front about their pricing, transparent with their practices, and has a knowledgeable team is more likely to offer you the best deal.