When is the Cheapest not the Least Inexpensive?
What? Is the above headline, further evidence that I have slipped into early onset senility?
Not at all. Let me explain.
Presco recently reestablished a relationship (i.e. we got some orders) from a customer who had left us several years ago for an offshore supplier. Although happy to have regained the business, I wanted to understand more about how this came about. My inquiries led me to uncover what I would characterize as a perfect storm for Presco. Turns out that a former production manager had made his way up the ranks into a purchasing position. Seeing very high scrap rates and erratic supply (and remembering how great it was to run Presco’s film in the past), this purchaser was able to convince his bosses that although the foreign film was cheaper than Presco’s engineered film it was actually costing them more money to process the film when the higher scrap rates and scheduling problems associated with erratic supply were taken in to account.
Presco’s Presco Engineered Film division custom formulates our product for every customer here in the United States. We look forward to hearing from you when you learn that the Cheapest is not always the Least Expensive.