Audit yields unexpected benefits: People & Companies

“We’ll need to send our national QA director to your facility to conduct a supplier audit.” National QA director?! Audit?! It’s not the IRS, but when you’re working with a growing international OEM that’s attempting to establish your shop as a key supplier, it’s nearly as stressful. That’s not because we didn’t expect to pass it, but because of the magnitude of business this new customer represents—it’s absolutely critical we exceed their expectations.

This relationship started simply enough. The purchasing guy at an old customer mentioned this company to us and said they were expanding and needed suppliers with our capabilities.

After the initial contact, we set up a meeting to review their situation and assess whether we were a good fit to pursue their business. We eventually snagged a couple of small orders, which we delivered on time and to the expected quality. This led to another meeting where they wanted more information about our capabilities.

Not sold but sufficiently impressed, they soon sent us 50-plus pages of drawings with some professional communications along the lines of, “OK, let’s see what you can do with this mess.” Upon receiving the package, the magnitude of this opportunity was explained to me: They manufacture a variety of heavy equipment and industrial products that are sold internationally, they’re consolidating other operations into a new facility near our shop, and they like us. Nice combination so far.

We knew we had to get this package reviewed and quoted ASAP. Everyone dug in and spent a few days reviewing drawings and crunching numbers. As is common, the company needed it yesterday and were eager to see what we provided so they could make a decision.