As an aerospace manufacturer, you need more than the right parts. You need them at the right time and at the right cost.
However, many suppliers cannot meet manufacturers’ needs now due to widespread supply chain disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Understanding supplier health and reliability is crucial as manufacturers struggle to keep projects on track amidst supply shortages.
Suppliers that offer vendor-managed inventory services, as New Source Corporation does, can solve a manufacturer’s supply chain issues though, by ensuring that they get the right parts, at the right time, and the right cost.
“One customer has 140 parts on blanket order with us,” said Jamie Barron, Vice President of New Source Corporation. “Whenever they are ready to start machining or they are running low in their supplies on the floor, they tell us what they need and we’re there to replenish their stock.”
Benefits of vendor-managed inventory
Get the right parts
Keeping up with all of the parts you need does not have to be difficult. For example, with vendor-managed inventory, you can trust a single provider for aluminum aerospace extrusions, aluminum drawn and seamless tubing, and other product forms and high-performance alloys.
New Source Corporation stocks a wide range of product types so that it can meet any need. If it does not have an item in stock, it works with its supply-chain partners to get it and ship it with the materials supplied by New Source Corporation so that a manufacturer avoids production delays. “We eliminate worries,” said Barron, noting that New Source Corporation has a quality rating of 99.85%.
Get parts at the right time
When you take on a multi-year project, you want assurance that you will have the products you need, when you need them to deliver on time. With vendor-managed inventory, a supplier will house and manage large volumes of stock for you and ship you what you need before you need it so that production continues without interruption.
Though many suppliers of aerospace metals only stock enough materials to fill orders as they are completed, New Source Corporation keeps as much stock as possible so that it can ship parts quickly. Manufacturers do not have to wait, even when supply shortages would otherwise force them to wait weeks for delivery, because New Source Corporation provides just-in-time shipping as part of its vendor-managed inventory service.
Get the right cost
Managing the inventory of multiple manufacturers allows a vendor to get larger discounts from their supplier. “Then we pass the savings along to our customers,” Barron said.
You also could reduce stocking fees and eliminate big upfront investments in stock by using vendor-managed inventory. “We make the investment upfront and only charge you when we ship,” Barron said.
New Source Corporation constantly looks ahead to ensure that its customers get the right parts, at the right time, and the right cost. “We always have 12 to 18 months of stock from our suppliers and we’re one of the first in the industry to know about any changes so that we can act accordingly,” Barron said. “Our customers don’t have to worry about dealing with any potential disruptions in the supply chain because we proactively intercept complications.”
Even when supplies are hard to come by, you can count on having what you need, when you need it, if you use vendor-managed inventory.