RUNNING a factory or plant is not an easy task, with all the realities of fixed costs, maintenance, breakdowns and capex expenditure. Helping buyers and project engineers navigate through these issues should be the main focus of every supplier.
A supplier who builds long term customer relationships has to operate as a business partner, understanding issues faced by their customers and offering solutions.
NDE has been in the marketplace for many years and we know a lot about the ‘supplier as business partner’ relationship with customers, so I want to offer some advice in unpacking some of the challenges, drawn from our experience with customers in one of the important industries we serve, the hygienic industry.
Buy cheap, pay later
At the beginning of the financial year project managers and buyers often want to accept and settle on the lowest price. This could simply be the supplier with the lowest price or, in the hygienic industry, an example would be substituting PVC pipe for stainless steel dairy pipe.
Yes, the price of UPVC pipe is much lower than dairy pipe BUT:
- the life cycle of dairy pipe is far, far longer;
- the hygiene of dairy pipe is far, far greater;
- with dairy pipe you don’t have to worry about leaching, discolouration or downtime cost every time that you have to replace the UPVC pipe.
So the cost in the long run will far outweigh the short term saving.
Breakdowns and the value of a committed supplier
Which brings me to the breakdown cost. Stopping a production line is costly. Aside from the lost revenue of downtime, there is the cost of time, parts, petrol and labour to fix the line.
So the fewer the breakdowns the better and the shorter any breakdown even better. Your supplier can offer major support to shorten breakdowns by carrying a wide range of stock that is always available. After hours service is crucial. Back up with technical knowledge is also part of a package suppliers should offer. In fact, if buyers and project engineers could steer away from the urge to buy on cost only up front and take into consideration the technical advice of their trusted supplier, breakdowns could be significantly reduced or even prevented. So suppliers must be vetted by factory buyers and managers to make sure they offer proper support.
When the supplier has insight into your factory they can make recommendations about alternative solutions, guaranteeing less downtime and headaches. This advantage normally comes with years of experience and employing knowledgeable people.
At NDE we pride ourselves on the fact that we have been supplying stainless steel and corrosion resistant solutions with professional service to a wide range of hygienic industries – including wine, food, beverage and pharmaceutical – for the past 30 years. During this time we have forged relationships and participated with our customers in the building of many plants and a lot of equipment that has stood the test of time – which translates into the significant savings for our customers of lower maintenance and minimal breakdowns.
