The supply chain has always been important, but Covid propelled it into the worldwide spotlight while raising questions about how to prevent future disruptions. The conversations started buzzing, but manufacturers have always known that a smoothly operating supply chain is critical to steady production.
The goals are clear–to have quality assemblies and components delivered on time and ready to be used in your production process. The nuts and bolts of how that happens may not particularly affect you, but understanding some of these practices gives perspective on what to look for in the custom manufacturer you choose as a potential supply partner.
Many ever-changing factors have the potential to disrupt the flow of components and goods that fuel your manufacturing business. Disruptions can result from weather and environmental happenings — hurricanes, tsunamis, floods, earthquakes, wildfires and other natural events. Wars, strikes, material scarcity, labor challenges, and product obsolescence can also affect availability and flow of materials.
Sales Coordinator Vonnie Whiting, and Procurement Specialist Traci Hilderbrand, both at Aurora Boardworks, share insights about the procurement practices that help maintain a healthy supply chain, reducing disruption and ensuring an uninterrupted flow of product regardless of circumstances and events that could interfere.
Planning is the backbone of uninterrupted supply
A strong relationship between the customer and contract PCB supplier, with an accurate exchange of information, creates the foundation. The bill of materials, Gerber files, and any relevant instructions for building or assembly, and clear direction on manufacturer and part specifications provided by the customer guide the procurement process.
Beyond having a firm grasp on the specs, the schedule also needs to be established at the outset, including both timing and quantities, so that this can become part of the negotiations with suppliers.
Procurement expertise helps avoid disruptions
Responsiveness to customer needs and reliability are key attributes to look for in a contract PCB manufacturer. Skills in the following areas help ensure that supplies arrive on time so that production and fulfillment continue uninterrupted.
Sourcing
Modern supply chains are often global and interconnected. Dealing with overseas suppliers can mean long lead times and delays caused by transportation requirements and tariffs. Compounding the challenge with long-distance suppliers, hurricanes, earthquakes, and weather conditions can further interfere with delivery schedules.
Aurora Boardworks chooses to work almost entirely with many domestic suppliers–about 99% are domestic. Consequently, we maintain more consistent supply, shorter lead times, and greater control over costs, benefits we pass on to our customers.
Vendor Relationships
Once again, relationships take center stage. The A-Team makes the effort to meet in person with suppliers and cultivate trustworthy relationships. Working one-on-one with key vendors allows for discussion on the best ways to work together—including negotiations that go beyond pricing alone. Aurora Boardworks collaborates with vendors to secure the best delivery scheduling and reduced freight and shipping charges.
Bulk Purchasing and Proactive Scheduling
Bulk purchases often bring discounts in pricing along with greater assurance of steady supply. Whenever possible, Aurora Boardworks buys in bulk, combining requirements from multiple customer jobs, and schedules deliveries to spread out shipments to match production requirements.
Technological Expertise
New advanced computer systems simplify flagging and tracking high priority parts so that lead times can be tracked and scheduled more easily as part of the procurement process.
Best Practices Lead to Efficient Processes
Put experience and high skills together with consistent application of best practices and the results speak for themselves with satisfied customers and long-standing relationships. Three specific practices help keep customer satisfaction high:
- Keep the Customer in the Loop
The power of clear and effective communication can’t be overstated—it’s a central part of the best customer service experience. The personal relationship with customers is very clear at Aurora Boardworks, Vonnie Whiting notes that some companies who have been customers for decades insist that they don’t want to work with anyone else because she truly understands their requirements. - Extensive and Accurate Record-keeping
Shared experience and long-standing customer relationships lead to better planning through detailed records and the accumulation of valuable historical data over many years. With this information to support the planning and production processes, it’s easier for Aurora Boardworks to anticipate and adapt to customer needs. - Proactively Mitigating Supply Disruption
When manufacturers determine that specific components are slated to become obsolete, it’s important to be prepared to make a change. As that information reaches our team, we relay it to the customers who need to know so that their engineering department—and ours—can work to identify suitable alternatives. Having extensive production and ordering data at our fingertips helps expedite the process of finding components that can be substituted.
Anticipate Challenges
Certain points are especially prone to supply challenges that require distinct expertise in the industry and familiarity with customer and production requirements. Critical times are in new product development, as a product moves from prototype to full production, and then much later in the product cycle, when components needed for mature products become scarce or obsolete.
Prototyping involves limited quantities of components for one-time production. When the assembly moves into production, components are needed in higher volume at and at rates tied to the production schedule. Typically, components for production need to be sourced from different suppliers than the components used in prototypes. This transition then initiates a whole new effort to procure the needed components.
Mature product designs may roll along unchanged for an extended period of time—even 20 years—but often there comes a point when components are suddenly dropped from production and become obsolete. We notify the customer and work with their engineering team to identify qualified substitutes and make that transition as smooth as possible. In some cases, the decision may be to obtain the same part from other sources as long as that can be done. In some situations, we are able to anticipate this change, noting declining component availability.
While none of us can control every circumstance that interferes with an effective flow of materials and components, as a contract manufacturer, we can control how we respond and how we keep you informed.
Knowledge, experience, and deep supplier relationships allow the A-Team—from engineering to procurement—to help you adapt quickly and seamlessly when changes are needed so production lines can keep running without a hitch.