I see this all the time (and lose work to them because of price cutting). They go out of business quickly in most cases, problem is there is usually another jackass takes their place - such is life

I had a seminar on this very issue. It was put on by the former owner of the Macinac kite company. He bought and sold of all things YoYo's in addition to making and selling kites, the YoYo supply company was on the east coast a serviced all the big chains Kmart, toys R us etc. He said I always got my Yo Yo's even when the larger companies didn't. Because there was a certain person who was in charge of distribution and every day she got beat up by Mr. Almighty purchasing agent for " insert problem here". But the Macinaw kite company always got their orders on time, why. Because we treated that person like a part of our team I needed most. I never bitched as their customer when my order was late I sent flowers, then fruit baskets etc. One day she called and said you made your point please stop sending gifts. The biggest mistake made by a customer today is treating a vendor like a piece of dirt and not an integral part of your team and success. The Macinaw kite company sold millions of YoYo's when no one else had them on the shelf. Just food for thought, treat them like you want your customers to treat you.

Jeff,

We are new to this site but send us your requirements and we will be very interested in quoting for you. We are a small shop, opened in 2000, with a great attitude, we will work to help you become successful, because when you are succesful so are we.

Thanks
Bob

I think I've got one part of it figured out. I've been accepting bids that were *too* low. The job shops bid low as they aren't busy, but as soon as better paying jobs come in, they ignore me, and my parts never ship.

Of course, I can only know it's too low when I'm working on a part or process where I know roughly what it should cost

The learning continues...

-Jeff

I have a machine shop here in Indiana. I cannot believe the way some shops treat their customers. The worst part of that is, the customers will stay with them for the price. I've actually pointed out stress cracks in a part for a passenger bus ( a passenger bus!!!!!!!!), but the customer was not willing to pay the 2% higher price of my part. Go figure!!!

It's not a matter of accepting bids too low. It's a matter of screening your vendors better. I can say there are low priced shops out there that can produce very well. I spend a few calls talking to the vendors and getting a feeling for their ethics. You don't have to bring it all in house, in fact I like the crappy shops out there. They generate a grateful attitude in the customers that have moved to our shop.

Try increasing your lead time where ever you can. On small quantity items, stock them in house. This isn't ideal for JIT manufacturing but it's better than delivering late. Switch to PO arrangements that carry price penalties for each day delivered late. Use test and see purchases for trying out new vendors, these would be items where the delivery isn't critical (they don't know that). Be vigilant searching for new vendors. I've seen tons of purchasers that stop looking after 2 or 3 quotes are returned. There are good shops out there, once you find one treat them well and in will be recipicated. Use shops that invest in good equipment, old WW2 surplus equipment doesn't cut it anymore.Production designed machines and you have a better chance at getting parts on time. They are faster producing.

Pay promptly, be courtious, make communication easy, don't try to beat them up on price with every order, most importantly try to be flexible.

As a plug for me -> 2 man shop, 6 years in business, only 3 orders were delivered late due to customer changes, several of our contracts were pulled back from China because we were cheaper. Our downside for many is that we specialized in swiss turning only.

Dale Swind
D&L Maching
DLMACHINING@frontiernet.net