US Glass - April 2008 - USGlass Magazine

theFarnadyFiles
Too Much of a Good Thing
Why Single-Source Shouldn’t Be the Only Option
by Dez Farnady
Once upon a time, a long time
ago—and no, this is not a fairy
tale—I had a customer who
gave me all of his business. We had a
deal where all I needed to do was keep
my price and service competitive and
we both could do well. There were the
occasions when he would ask for a better
price but he often repaid me by
telling me he had some room and
would give me a break by paying more
to keep the deal fair.
Every once in a while, though, the
good thing wasn’t so good. As he came
to rely on me as his sole supplier he lost
his leverage with everyone else—partially
because he was not buying anything
from anyone else and partially
because eventually everyone knew he
was buying it all from me. This is a
small industry. No one was interested
in doing him any favors. He would usually
be forced to look elsewhere when it
was for a product we did not stock or
could not fabricate. When a large job
came by with one of the products I was
not able to provide very effectively we
were both stuck.
Sometimes when he needed something
I could not supply I felt obligated
to try buying-out the product for him.
Rarely was this very profitable. By the
same token, if we ran out of material or
the equipment was down and he
needed product, since he had little in
the way of other options, my problem
became his problem. In spite of all this,
the relationship lasted for many years
but only because it was back in the days
when the product mix was much
smaller. Most commercial jobs were either
cut-size or tempered and either
clear or one of the standard tints. So
how much trouble could we get into?
One Source, No Options
In today’s market with the myriad of
products and options, no one can be all
things to all customers. The singlesource
supplier is barely okay for a small
volume business. If your supplier has a
problem, be it stock or equipment, you
are at his mercy and so is your business.
Glass is glass and storefront, for better
or worse, is storefront, and if you can’t
get what you need from one vendor, you
should be able to find another. Not only
is it unpractical, but with giving 90 percent
of your work to one vendor you will
not make friends with the other three
who share your remaining business.
If your supplier has a
problem, be it stock or
equipment, you are at
his mercy and so is
your business.
There may not be an easy answer for
everyone, but supporting multiple suppliers
is a must for all but the smallest
of customers. One good thing is that
now a lot more suppliers have large
product packages and the same or similar
capabilities as competitors. The
other good thing is that they may not
all stock exactly the same materials.
The temperer who also insulates
would rather have you give the IG
to the insulator who also tempers.
The guy with the big cutting capability
would rather you give the
boxed glass to the guy who stocks
case goods while he prefers the
cut-size orders.
For more examples, think of the
supplier who stocks and cuts laminated
as opposed to the other guy who
has an autoclave and lays it up and laminates
for you. The products may be similar
but they are not quite the same. The
price is not likely to be the same either.
And, of course, all low-E products are
alike except when they are not. Some
suppliers carry the PPG product, some
the Cardinal, some the AFG or Guardian
or whoever. And believe it or not, sometimes
you need one and not the other.
Sometimes different fabricators buy the
majority of their bread-and-butter stuff
from one of the float suppliers and not
much from the others so while they may
have a lot of the Versalux colors they may
not have a lot of the Pilkington or PPG
stuff or vice versa.
All fabricators and vendors have their
strengths and their weaknesses. There
are some things they do better than
others. Some things make more money
for them than others and as a result
they will be more competitive in the
areas where they want the business. If
you know this, you can give them what
they want and what they can do well.
This allows you to balance your purchases
among multiple vendors and
keep them all happy. Well, that may not
be true, only all of your business will
make any of them happy. That is until
you need something they can’t do and
then nobody is happy. ■
Dez Farnady serves as
the general manager of
Royalite Manufacturing Inc., a
skylight manufacturer in San
Carlos, Calif. His column
appears monthly. Mr.
Farnady’s opinions are solely his own and
not necessarily those of this magazine.
10 USGlass, Metal & Glazing | April 2008 www.usglassmag.com