| ??? 04/25/06 17:14 Read: times |
#115009 - problems have solutions Responding to: ???'s previous message |
Erik Malund said:
I once worked in a company that used this practice and happened to look up a part by the part no. It turned out that, because the partno was entered, I guess, 10 years ago, that part was now 4 times more expensive than another equivalent part. This led to an investigation that eventually saved more than $1 per unit on 500.000+ units. True, although one hopes that the purchasing dept. informs engineering that certain parts are "difficult" and that substitutions are available. Another obstacle I see, which is restricted to places like here that use contract manufacturers, is that some CMs have their preferred suppliers, some have others.
One more, when we build prototypes, we buy from digi Key for the convenience of one stop shopping, I would hate for production to do the same if a cheaper vendor is available. True for both, although one solution is a database that can provide acceptable part substitutions. There are no easy solutions, but I suppose the point here is that you want as little human intervention/hand-changing-of-part-#s as possible. -a |
