RESOURCES

Choosing between off-the-shelf and custom parts is no easy decision. While opting for standard parts may mitigate some risks, it’s not always the best or cheapest solution for your particular application.

Traditionally, the role of procurement has essentially been to cut down costs. This makes sense in a commoditized market where price is the ultimate differentiating factor. But today’s industry trends have forced manufacturers to provide more advanced glass products.

Supplier consolidation is a great way to reduce costs and improve supply chain effectiveness, but it doesn’t come without risks. Disasters around the world often expose the global supply chain to risks and threats.

Ask any engineer in the glazing industry their main criteria for selecting suppliers and the answers are likely to be along these lines: “We only work with innovative suppliers. We have to be ahead of industry trends. Product quality matters, and it has to meet the specs.”

Any manufacturing organization knows that keeping excess inventory is costly. A proven way to keep it low? Just in time (JIT).

As more and more manufacturers struggle to survive, this white paper reviews the challenges of competing on price while maintaining acceptable profit margins, and explores the benefits of active collaboration between engineering, manufacturing, and procurement.

The greatest misconception about cost management in procurement today is that price reductions equal cost savings. To help you make better informed sourcing decisions, this white paper reviews the danger of placing too much importance on unit costs and the benefits of working with a supplier who truly understands all the factors that influence the supply chain’s effectiveness and efficiency.

As worldwide competition intensifies and more and more manufacturers try to compete on price, this white paper reviews the impact sourcing decisions can have on a company’s bottom line and explores the benefits of working with value-added suppliers.

The push for standards in today’s marketplace certainly does have its advantages. Using standard components makes it easier to manage inventories, and helps facilitate technical support and customer service.