Change can be good for a company – be it small tweaks in the way you do things or big operational shifts. As we said in Part 1 of this blog series, taking an honest look at what’s working for your business and identifying opportunities for improvement is always a good idea. As you approach your annual planning process with an eye on identifying those key opportunities for improvement, one area to consider and assess is the performance of your machined parts suppliers. Switching machining suppliers can be a difficult decision to make, but choosing who supplies your incoming streams of materials, components or sub-assemblies can have a huge impact on your business.
In the first part of this series we discussed two of four key areas of successful supplier relationships – Reliability in Quality & Deliveries (1), and Know-How (2). Now we’ll discuss two other vital areas —Collaboration & Partnering (3), and Geographical Proximity (4). If you find that your machining suppliers are not meeting your expectations in these areas, switching to a new supplier could and probably should become a part of your 2019 continuous improvement plans.
3. Collaboration and Partnering
Market fluctuation and competition, product complexity, or the need to improve your products technologically might require a switch to a new machining supplier. Your commitment to establishing collaborative partnerships with your suppliers should be met by the willingness of your suppliers to invest in developing an understanding of your business so that they can match their strengths to your strategic direction at the product or business unit levels.
At Cass Precision Machining, we want to learn how the parts we make for you are expected to perform and what you would like to see improved so that we can quickly match new things that we are doing to your requirements. Machine suppliers that are willing to share their knowledge and help you develop and process products together as partners will favorably impact both your customers’ satisfaction and your bottom line.
4. Geographical Proximity
Technology has certainly made the world a smaller place, but the truth is globalization has brought new challenges to supplier relationships. Hidden costs, stemming from long-distance supply chains are producing longer transport times, higher transport costs, overly complicated and cumbersome design change management, and inconsistent quality results as part complexity increases. Manufacturers that want to move toward shorter cycle times and JIT availability of parts in their supply chains have strong incentives to switch to local suppliers.
What Should You Do?
Switching suppliers is never an issue to be taken lightly. As you look at ways to invigorate your company and boost your bottom line, examining your supplier relationships to see if you’re getting all you should out of your partnership is always a good idea. Contact us today so we can help you learn how your company can benefit from entrusting Cass Precision Machining to be your key machined parts, supply-chain partner.