Comparing lead times?
We recently had a customer inform us that they were trying someone else due to the lead time we quoted them. We understand that from the customer’s point of view that they needed their spindle yesterday, in a manner of speaking. This particular customer did not have a spare and the OEM did not have any in stock. This certainly put the customer in a bind; so they did what they felt they had to in order to minimize downtime. This customer explained to us that they were happy with our quality and prices, and was hesitant to go elsewhere.
From our stand point this spindle had to have a grind chrome plating and finish grind to bring it back to specs; unfortunately this takes some time. The estimated lead time we quoted them was 5-10 business days. We always do our best to get a customer’s spindle back to them as quickly as we can. We understand how important it is to keep their business running smoothly.
They ended up sending the spindle to another vendor, who quoted them a 5 day lead time. This was their lead time for anything sent in regardless of how much work needed to be done.
We received a call from this customer after the spindle had been repaired by the other vendor. The customer let us know the other vendor took 7 weeks to return the spindle. The customer has since sent us another spindle to be rebuilt.
When it comes to turn around time we try our best to get the customer what they want. If we can’t do this we will tell you the truth. The truth hurts sometimes but it is for the best.