You’ve been looking for a new tooling supplier, and you think you may have found the right company for you. You hope you won’t have any issues, but you won’t know for sure until you give them a try. Here are five problems you may face, and how you can mitigate them.
Their price is too low.
The adage ‘you only get what you pay for’ is usually pretty accurate. When quoting potential new customers some companies will submit an irresistibly low price to start with, knowing that they will need to add cost after securing the order. Their quote will be intentionally vague, to give them licence to bump up the cost. Additional clamps required on fixtures? Extra cost. A few more corebox vents? Extra cost. Larger gas struts on a PU mould tool? Extra cost. You get the idea.
To avoid these issues there are steps you can take to prevent this from happening.
- When issuing your RFQ, make your requirements crystal clear. Define what you want to achieve and stipulate your required tolerances and specifications (but be realistic of what is physically achievable).
- Make sure that the resulting quotation expressly addresses all your requirements. Ask for additional clarification if anything is vague.
- Reference the quotation in your purchase order and be sure to state that you will accept no costs in addition to the purchase price stated.
Quality assurance (or lack of)
Some companies can do excellent work without having an official, recognised quality accreditation. In choosing to use them you run the risk that they can talk the talk but can’t walk the walk when it comes to quality assurance. Others may carry an accreditation, but simply pay lip service to it and do the minimum required of them. Being able to differentiate between a company that can give you exactly what you need (and maybe even exceed your requirements) and one that is not at your level can be difficult. Get it wrong and you’ll be out of pocket, behind schedule and regretting your choice.
Here are some points to bear in mind.
- Does the company have an ISO accreditation? If it’s from a body that is itself accredited by UKAS, such as NQA or Lloyds, then you can be fairly sure that it takes its quality assurance seriously. A certification from a body such as QMS (not UKAS accredited) is not the same.
- No accreditation? Then it would be a good idea for you to take a look at the company’s quality procedures yourself. You can issue the supplier with a simple questionnaire, and then take it from there. Here's one you can use.
- Talk to the personnel responsible for quality assurance. And to those who will actually make your tooling. You’ll soon get a feel for how good it will be.
- Ask for references. A potential supplier with proven confidence in their quality will have no hesitation in providing you with one or two.
- Start small. A simple, low value initial order to get the ball rolling is always a good idea.
Late deliveries
It is not unknown for companies to promise a delivery date that is not realistically achievable. It may secure the order, but that false promise will cause you much stress, and prevent solid relationships based on trust developing. You’ll never know if you can rely on what you’re being told. And your tool will not arrive on time. A late delivery due to unforeseen circumstances can happen to any company but should only be once in a blue moon. You don’t want deliveries to be consistently late, causing supply chain issues and constantly requiring re-scheduling. You can avoid this problem by:
- Asking if the company monitors its delivery performance. If they are ISO accredited, the answer will be yes and they’ll be able to provide you with evidence – graphs, tables, percentages etc. If the answer is no….
- Requesting delivery updates during manufacture. What stage are they at? Is it where you expected them to be? Can they send you some pictures, please? If all is going to plan, they’ll be happy to discuss with you, and give you the assurances you need. If not, then you may need to arrange a visit (or request a video or a mobile Zoom review).
- Building some overrun into your delivery date. They may be late, but it won’t cause you a problem if you’ve pre-empted it.
Limited aftersales support
You hope that there won’t be any major issues, but bespoke tooling will always need fine tuning. Whatever the outcome of your trials, your supplier should expect, and be ready, to support. Here’s how to make sure that they are.
- Get them to confirm their post-supply support in their quotation. Let them know what you expect and have them confirm that it’s not a problem.
- Ask for examples of previous after sales service issues, and how they resolved them. Confident answers will induce confidence in you. As will that all-important reference.
- Establish who your single point of contact will be, talk to them and satisfy yourself that you can trust them to look after you. They may not have the answers you need when you ask questions of them, but they’ll be able to get them for you.
Poor communication
Good, honest, open, two-way communication is essential if a business relationship is to develop and trust is to grow. Poor communication is a big no no when sourcing bespoke tooling, and you can make sure you avoid any problems if you:
- Consider how communication has been prior to order placement. If you haven’t received a response to your RFQ as promptly as you would have liked or struggled to get hold of your contact (even on their direct number), then you’re not going to see any improvement once they have secured your order. Frustration awaits.
- Request a timing plan. Your chosen supplier should have no issue with this, nor with your request for regular updates.
- Ask your referee. Any issue will soon become apparent.
Sourcing bespoke tooling from a brand-new supplier always carries some risk. You’re committing thousands of pounds of expenditure, and your stress levels are high. Follow the advice above, and you’ll have a much better chance of working with a new supplier who really is a good fit for you.
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