Vetting Spare Parts Supply Chain Partners: 3 Takeaways to Consider
Vetting Spare Parts Supply Chain Partners: 3 Takeaways to Consider
It takes a united global village to successfully drive a worldwide spare parts supply chain at peak efficiencies. It’s all about building deep and wide relationships that are successful and pave the way for continued growth, scalability, and accelerated revenue. Here are three things you should consider when vetting potential spare parts supply chain partners and making your next move.
1. A Robust Global Footprint is a Must
You need a spare parts supply chain partner who can get you close to your installed base. Serving customers around the world on your own typically requires finding and setting up warehouses in each country where your customers are located. You don’t need that headache or considerable expense. However, the right spare parts supply chain partner will have all areas of the globe covered, even those hard-to-reach places where you need to be.
Keep the cash that would normally go toward leasing a building, hiring staff, and paying other overhead expenses. With the right partner, you can direct those funds back into your core business of manufacturing, research, and development.
2. Spare Parts Supply Chain Partners Have Global Expertise
The best spare parts supply chain partners have such an intimate understanding of your products and business goals that they serve as an extension of your team. They bring extensive in-country expertise to the table as your eyes and ears on the ground all over the world. This plays a crucial role in ensuring the seamless movement of your spare parts across international borders.
It is crucial that your partner can provide Importer of Record and Exporter of Record services in countries or regions where your customers are located. That’s important because you need them to have intimate knowledge of country-specific trade rules and regulations and connections with local officials to prevent delays in customs.
3. Agile and Configurable Technology, Too
No two companies are alike. As a result, each has its own system, processes, and requirements for managing spare parts inventory. Let’s say you have identified the countries where you need to support customers. And you’ve narrowed your list of prospective spare parts supply chain partners to a few that have a strong network of global experts. Next, you need to ask yourself if these potential partners have purpose-built, globally deployed spare parts supply chain technologies to keep the end-to-end process connected and consistent.
Some providers don’t. One provider doesn’t always equate to one system. These can vary, region to region, partner to partner, creating silos of non-integrated data. So, you need a single pane of glass. One source of truth. One integrated, globally deployed system. Because choosing the wrong partner can be costly and time-consuming, and ultimately still be lacking in the consistency and visibility you need for success.
Flash Global: An Expert Spare Parts Supply Chain Partner
When partnering with Flash Global, every single one of our locations, no matter where in the world, uses FlashTrac — our configurable inventory, order, and warehouse management system designed exclusively for spare parts logistics — to support the unique requirements of high-tech OEMs. The advantages of FlashTrac:
Every location, every warehouse follows the exact same processes, globally.
One system, one source of data, in and out.
A single pane of glass providing ultimate inventory, order, and warehouse management visibility to our customers.
FlashTrac easily integrates into your ERP, which has many advantages. For instance, that makes it easy for you to place orders, receive immediate status updates, and stay up to date with all inventory movements from every location in the world, at any time.
Flash has a large global footprint that encompasses the major regions. Our global partners are FCPA-compliant. We have the technologies that provide 24/7 visibility globally. Therefore, make your next move a conversation with Flash Global.
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