In today’s harsh economic climate many organisations are looking at their suppliers and considering how they can get the same goods but cheaper! This is especially true in the laser cutting market where cost plays an important role in supplier selection. But cost is only one factor you should consider, here are five others that you should also think about:

1. Location

The location of your proposed laser cutting supplier is something that can be easily overlooked. Are they able to get goods delivered to you on time if they are using their own Best laser engraver transport? Are they close to an airport if you are looking for an international supplier?

2. Quality Department

You may have found the cheapest supplier but it’s important to ensure they have the correct quality policies in place prior to you placing the work. Ask the supplier to provide you with some product samples or place them on a months trial so you can ascertain the quality of their product.

3. Storage

If you are supplying free issue goods to  then you need to ensure that they have enough storage capacity to process the parts. For example, if you need to supply 1000 parts per week can they handle this or will you need to increase transport capacity and cost to alleviate the storage problem?

4. Secondary Operations

Is your current laser cutting supplier providing ancillary services such as machining You may want to check that your new supplier can also carry out any ancillary operations either in-house or has decent relationships with sub-contract suppliers.

5. Financial Stability

Although most companies credit check customers how many credit check suppliers? Checking the financial stability of key suppliers is important as you will need the reassurance that they are going to support you long term and not leave you without key materials.

In conclusion, switching laser cutting suppliers can be done relatively painlessly as long as you follow all or some of the guidelines mentioned above.