Shipping Times

[vsquizz]

I'm not against customers keeping their suppliers on there toes. If you don't give em feedback then they wont know how to pick their game up. However, I am increasingly appalled at the way manufacturers fail to support their agents.

I was recently involved with a breakdown where the customer just expected that a $20,000.00 crankshaft would just be sitting on the shelf at the WA distributor. he was a bit, shall we say, unamused when he found out it was six weeks away, coming from Europe. When the ruckuss died down and we pinched a crank out of another donk I asked the WA agent what support he got from the factory for holding such a piece of kit on the shelf...about five eights of automatic editing was his reply.

The crank had a stock history of 1 every three years other than those ordered for routine re-builds. So do you stick it to the small guy who is holding the baby or is it the manufacturer's deal??. Not sure on that one.

Supply lines are dictated by financial policy. Some companies have worked good supply routes in reasonable time frames without leaning on people's credit but others don't seem to want to improve. My choices about WW machinery these days are more dictated by the service and support and less about the brand.

If a supplier doesn't have the basic consumables on hand, he's likely to end up being a loser. If your local Ford/Holden/whatever dealer doesn't have a clutch for a late model motor vehicle in stock or 24 hrs away he's a loser but he may be getting screwed by the factory, who expects him to have one but gives him no support to do so. Bain of small business is having a zillion tied up in stock that don't move.

Its a balancing act. I do me nut if the local hardware doesn't have 1200 grit W&D . When I really get the crankies on is when I order something and they don't bother to ring and tell you straight up that things have gone pear shaped.


Cheers

[outback]

My choices about WW machinery these days are more dictated by the service and support and less about the brand.

I place a large amount of emphasis on service and support for nearly everything nowadays.