. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PurChasing POints
Saving Your Suppliers Bob Mueller Jr., P&H Mining Equipment, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
with your suppliers. While a majority of these are quickly corrected, there is always a supplier that consistently fails to meet expectations. So what do you do to restore the relationship and help your suppliers get themselves back on track? The process can start right at your desk. A major problem I see in the
A
metalcasting industry is suppliers that take on work that does not fit their capabilities or agree to aggressive delivery or quality requirements they are not prepared to meet. The sup- plier thinks “we will secure the work and then figure out how to make it,” especially in a depressed economic market like the one we have recently been through. You must understand your suppliers and their capabilities so you do not become part of the problem and give them work they can- not complete on time.
On Time Every Time? Delivery is likely to be the number
one problem facing most metalcasting facilities, and these problems can take the longest to turn around. When deal- ing with a delivery problem, examine the role you are playing in it. Is the volume of work you are placing too large, creating a capacity issue? Are the requested lead times within the capabilities of the casting source? Is the on-time delivery window large enough to give the supplier a reasonable op- portunity to succeed? To honestly give your suppliers ev-
ery chance to be successful, you need to put in some work to discover where the problem lies. A method that has worked
48 Metal Casting Design & PurChasing
s a procurement profession- al of heavily engineered cast components, you un- doubtedly have run into delivery and quality issues
for me is to develop a spreadsheet that tracks all open orders. The sheet can be used jointly by you and your supplier to track the weekly progress of the orders via conference call. The weekly report should track progress throughout the casting process, including all the op- erations from molding and pouring to cleaning room and shipping. In a short time conducting these calls, you and your supplier will discover
In the end, regardless of what is causing the issue between you and your
supplier, an open and honest line of communication is the best medicine.
where the reoccurring problems are taking place. In many cases, the pro- cess can provide insight to the supplier, making the correction that much easier. In the event the delivery issue can-
not be solved by examining process flows via conference call, I recommend demanding a formal recovery plan that is signed and delivered by a senior member of the supplier’s executive staff. The formal recovery plan should include the root cause, action items needed to solve the problem and a timeline to complete the items. This level of ownership in the problem will assure the issue has reached the highest levels of the organization and offer the best chance for success. Another benefit to this auditing pro-
cess is that you will learn more about the metalcasting process by discovering
how your part progresses through it. This can be helpful to those without an existing sound knowledge of the casting process.
Consistent Quality? Quality issues are a completely dif-
ferent problem. Every metalcaster has its share of quality issues, but some simply do not go away. Again, make sure you are not contributing to the problem by placing work with sup- pliers that do not have the technical expertise to properly manufacture your components. Metalcasting fa- cilities are not one-stop shops. Each has its particular niche that you must understand to ensure your work is with the correct supplier. Even when you do your home-
work and select the correct supplier, quality issues will still play a role in the relationship. The ability of the metalcaster’s engineering and quality departments to properly diagnose and establish the root cause of the prob-
lems will dictate if the problem is short lived or a constant thorn in your side. In the end, regardless of what is
causing the issue between you and your supplier, an open and honest line of communication is the best medicine. Sugarcoating the problem benefits no one. Working together with your sup- pliers to identify what is causing the problem will help demonstrate how to correct them. Solid, long-term vendor/supplier
relationships are not created overnight, and all will have their bumps along the way. But a majority will be successful if you do your homework and source products from the correct suppliers.METAL
Bob Mueller Jr. is casting procurement specialist for mining equipment produc- er P&H Mining Equipment, Milwaukee. He has 23 years of casting experience.
sePteMber/OCtOber 2010
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