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“Great machine shop, clean and has a great working environment. Owners seem to really care for employees and everyone seems really friendly.”

– Dusty –

Count the Cost

What do you look for when choosing a Dallas machine shop contract manufacturer? What is important to you? Should price be the only deciding factor when it comes to choosing a premier contract manufacturer? Here at 7D Manufacturing we have found there are 3 major factors to consider when choosing a contract manufacturer that you can trust to deliver on their promises: Quality, On-Time Delivery and Price. Of these 3 critical components to consider when choosing a premier contract manufacturer like 7D Manufacturing what are your 2 must have criteria? Price & Quality, On-Time Delivery & Price, Quality & On-Time Delivery? It is worth saying that some people may be offended by the mere thought of only having the option to choose 2 of these very worthy criteria when it comes to making a procurement decision for their facility. As you will soon see, getting ALL three of these criteria Quality, On-Time Delivery and Price is akin to finding a unicorn or the proverbial needle in a haystack. I am not saying it’s not possible or even unlikely but the odds of getting struck by lightning are more in your favor.

First let’s define what we consider to be Quality, On-Time Delivery and Price, remember the adage comparing apples to apples and apples to oranges.

Quality – meeting and/or exceeding technical requirements and specifications called out by the Customer. These requirements and specifications can be physical dimensions, material type, material origination (Country of Smelt), material chemistry, cosmetic look of finished product, plating and heat treatment specs, hardware, assembly to name a few.

On-Time Delivery – receiving quality acceptable product on or before the date required by the issued and approved purchase order. Unfortunately, some contract manufacturing companies believe that delivery of the parts in the same month, quarter or year of the issued purchase order is the same as on-time delivery.

Price – the value placed on a product or service. Most only think of price in terms of a monetary measurement. As you have most likely heard, time is money, so price can also be a measure of time.
Now we will look at the 3 different scenarios of: Price & Quality, On-Time Delivery & Price and Quality & On-Time Delivery

1. Price & Quality, On-Time Delivery is not met

Pros: Price meets or exceeds expectations or is simply the lowest received Quality meets or exceeds expectations
Cons: Product delivery is long or worse yet late

2. On-Time Delivery & Price, Quality suffers

Pros: Price meets or exceeds expectations or is simply the lowest received Delivered on-time
Cons: Quality is acceptable at best and un-acceptable at worst.

3. Quality & On-Time Delivery, Price is higher

Pros: Quality is stellar, meeting and exceeding all expectations Delivered when expected or earlier in most cases
Cons: Product price is higher for a premium experience

What is the TRUE cost of a product? Is it simply the price? If it is simply the price, then it would be much easier to choose a contract manufacturing company that can be trusted to fit the desired price range. What if it is more than simply the monetary value attached to the product? Are you considering the hidden costs? What hidden costs need to be considered? What do the hidden costs truly cost an organization?

Scenario 1 – Price & Quality has the hidden cost of long and/or late delivery times. A customer once bragged about the incredible price and quality they were receiving from their supplier but when quizzed on the lead time the conversation fell flat. Turns out this customer was receiving an excellent product for a cheap price, yet the problem was delivery. The supplier lead time had grown to many, many weeks and even into months. Each time the customer contacted the supplier the lead time kept moving…it is very difficult to plan for your business with delivery as a moving target that seems to be just out of reach. Based on the conversation it seemed as though the supplier had under quoted the job and was simply moving other jobs in ahead of it causing the lead time to move out further and further away. It is great to receive a quality product for a cheap price WHEN it is delivered. It is devastating though to plan to receive a quality product for a cheap price and it never arrives.

What are On-Time Delivery issues COSTING your organization?

Scenario 2 – On-Time Delivery & Price has a hidden cost of POOR Quality. Receiving a cheap product on-time that does not meet the quality requirements should not be considered as being received ‘on-time’. What good is a cheap component received on-time if it is not acceptable? The next step will be to have the current contract manufacturer re-make the parts hoping, praying and possibly wishing upon a star that their quality will somehow improve. Having the parts remade adds to the lead time not to mention the hassle and cost of going thru the process of sending the product back to the contract manufacturer. This scenario is riddled with many hidden costs from receiving a POOR quality product.

What Quality issues COSTING your organization?

Scenario 3 – Quality & On-Time Delivery has NO hidden cost. The true cost of the product is the price itself. There are many benefits such as immediate use of the quality products received, dependability of product being delivered on or ahead of schedule, less Quality Control time needed to screen parts before approving for production, returning poor quality parts is a thing of the past.

What is one of the first questions to ask when vetting a potential contract manufacturer? Request the contract manufacturers On-Time Delivery and Quality metrics. A premier contract manufacturer such as 7D Manufacturing will be tracking On-Time Delivery and Quality as a standard practice of excellence.

7D Manufacturing is a premier contract manufacturer that will meet and/or exceed your expectations for Quality and On-Time Delivery saving you those countless hidden fees that erode the bottom line. Excellence is OUR business. Send your RFQs today.