Blackmer Pump gets suppliers involved early in product design
New strategy brings purchasing, suppliers further up the supply chain
By William Atkinson -- Purchasing, 10/15/2009 2:00:00 AM
Manufacturers are expected to be experts at what they manufacture. However, the very best ones are those that also utilize the expertise of their suppliers as much as possible for the parts and supplies that they purchase.
Blackmer Pump of Grand Rapids, Mich. realizes the value of getting suppliers involved as early as possible in the new product development process. The company designs and manufactures flow technologies, including pumps, screw compressors, and air elimination systems. Its products are used in a number of industries, including liquid propane gas, chemical and industrial processing, energy, military/marine, mobile transport, and food/sanitary. As such, quality, reliability and cutting edge technologies are critical to success.
To ensure the quality of the technologies being developed and increase the supplier's involvement, procurement's role has been elevated in the design process. "When it comes to new product development, instead of being at the 'end of the whip,' procurement is now at the start," says Mark Dunn, a commodity manager at Blackmer. "In the past, we got information that had been 'floated down' through the organization. At that time, we were simply told, 'Find it and buy it.'"
Because procurement was the last one in the organization to get the information, it had no opportunity to get suppliers involved, so suppliers had no opportunity to provide their expertise or input.
Now, procurement is "involved in the new product development process with engineering, marketing, and sales early on in the process," he reports. "We can now go to the supply base, explain our needs up front, get input and recommendations on the technical advantages that they can offer, and then utilize that in the manufacturing and marketing of new product development." This has turned out to be a huge advantage.
Today, Blackmer depends on its suppliers for quite a bit more than it did in the past, Dunn explains. Blackmer is now able to utilize supplier knowledge as it develops new products. Having procurement involved in the new product design and development process allows suppliers the opportunity to get involved up-front, instead of later on.
How did the transition occur? Internal selling was the start. According to Dunn, they key was for the procurement department to strengthen itself and present a stronger image to the other departments through greater professionalism and more education in the field of procurement. "Once we were able to do this, it showed the other departments that we had the ability to provide strategic input," he explains.
While this type of strategy requires a good deal more trust between buyer and supplier, the results are well worth the efforts, says Dunn. "There is now much shorter time to market, fewer quality issues, and better costing," he says.
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