The right goals for your business depend on your industry, individual organization, timeline and many other factors. You need a metal manufacturer that works with you, fine-tuning its value offer to help you meet your unique objectives.

While this list probably doesn’t encompass every goal you’re working toward, some common OEM objectives that are likely important to you include:

• Growth
• Profitability
• Satisfied customers
• Fewer warranty claims
• Streamlined production
• Supplier reliability

Many companies also value flexibility. In today’s fast-paced market, you need the ability to add parts, adjust models, customize machines and manage complexity in a short time frame. You need your OEM parts made right and delivered on schedule.

In the past, OEMs used to focus on meeting two of the following three priorities when working with a supplier: quality, delivery and cost.

If quality and on-time delivery were your goals, you would have paid more for a supplier’s services. However, many OEM suppliers today meet all three of these criteria with more advanced infrastructure and a process-based approach.

8 Indications Your Supplier Helps You Meet Your Goals

Supplier reliability can be gauged on many factors unless you know what you’re looking for. If you need a dependable partner, choose one based on these factors:

1. It doesn’t make mistakes that interrupt your production or jeopardize your final product’s quality.
2. It doesn’t go over budget with hidden supplier costs.
3. Your parts arrive on time, and you don’t need to pay extra shipping charges.
4. Your supplier has adequate floor space and invests in new equipment.
5. You receive assistance designing parts for lower metal manufacturing costs.
6. Your OEM supplier has the infrastructure to manufacture parts of varying size and complexity.
7. It offers flexibility to meet your seasonal demand.
8. Your supplier works proactively with you before making capital decisions.

How An OEM Supplier Helps You Grow

Many OEMs value growth as a primary goal. Sometimes in order to grow, you need to work with new contract manufacturers. Manufacturing an additional 4,000 units to meet your demand is vertical growth, but you may also need your OEM supplier to add different parts or models. To grow alongside one another, OEMs and suppliers need a clear, strategic view.

Relationship management is important here. Your supplier needs direction to make decisions about new equipment or expansions.

Otherwise, it may decide to buy one piece of machinery only to discover your new orders need entirely different equipment. Similarly, your supplier must keep you informed of what it’s doing so you can accurately plan your demand.

An OEM supplier should be interested in helping you meet your goals because your success is also its success. Rather than just working to keep your business, the right supplier is focused on making strategic decisions together, so you can both improve your market share. Whether that means enhancing the value it offers, increasing efficiency or handling higher volume orders, continuous improvement is vital for a supplier.