In this challenging business environment, a solid PCB buying strategy is more important than ever. Do you have one?
PCB buyers need to stay competitive in the face of increased raw material and precious metal costs, rising freight prices, and the dwindling number of available vendors as board suppliers consolidate.
Those who don’t routinely review their vendor base are too comfortable in their jobs.
Buyers should always be working to keep vendor pricing in check. They should regularly seek offerings from other vendors to compare with the prices they’re getting.
And it’s not an excuse to say board buyers are overwhelmed with too many other responsibilities. Keeping the vendor base on its toes is a core responsibility.
It’s also the job of upper management to ensure that buyers and PCB salespeople are incentivized to bring prices down.
I understand and appreciate vendor loyalty. But are you leveraging your vendor, or are you being leveraged by your vendor?
Supplier diversification is vital to success.
Unfortunately, many OEM and EMS companies have invested too much of their annual PCB spend with only one vendor. That could prove to be a costly mistake.
The truth is, companies that stick with this one-vendor approach will have a hard time remaining competitive.
“We have used this vendor for years” is not a viable strategy.
I can help with managing your vendor base and with PCB pricing! Reach out to me at greg@directpcb.com.
Click here to get a free copy of my book, PCB Basics for Buyers.