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Service Bay
further cull sources until ideally just a
handful remain.
Only then do manufacturers talk
price. And even then, most pricing con-
versations focus much more on delivery
and acquisition expenses than material
costs, McKean says.
"More often than not shipping and lo-
gistics expenses will have more variance
than materials," he says. "And we don't
want to have to ship parts everywhere."
Then it's time to test product.
Every manufacturer actively tests
initial shipments of raw materials against
internal requirements and quality met-
rics provided by a potential supplier. Any
discrepancies between the results of the
test and supplier promises are then im-
mediately addressed, and further testing
is done.
Ideally, this is the step where months
of research comes to fruition, Koller says.
"We take things very seriously when
we are going to bring a supplier in
because we know how important safety
is in our products," he says. "We need to
know a supplier can regularly provide us
with a quality product."
Meyer says testing is a manufacturer's
fi nal chance to ensure quality. Infe-
rior raw materials not only can lead to
inferior product, but also can damage
a manufacturer's reputation and put
customers at risk.
Meyer says those aren't points to be
taken for granted.
Like distributors, a manufacturer's
quality defi nes its brand.
"Our reputation is at stake on every-
thing we ship to our customers. We have
very high standards for ourselves, as our
customers do as well," he says. "We want
to provide the highest quality product
with an excellent return on investment.
If the product doesn't work as advertised
because of quality problems, our cus-
tomers will shop elsewhere."
W W W . T R U C K P A R T S A N D S E R V I C E . C O M A p r i l 2 0 1 6 | T R U C K P A R T S & S E R V I C E
Manufacturers prefer to rely on relationships with
long-term suppliers for as many materials as
possible.
