We regularly field requests to source new products for our customers. Reasons include facing increasingly long lead times, rising prices on top of what already feels too high, product quality issues, or a combination of all three. This is really why Packers Supply exists: we provide high quality products, competitive pricing, and carry stock of nearly everything so we can ship them when you need them.
In most cases, a customer reaches out either with a phone call or an email, or works with one of our field sales reps during a plant visit. We examine the item in question and determine whether we think it is something in our wheelhouse. This is usually pretty straightforward and deliberately not exciting.
But there are some days that are certainly more interesting than others! My favorite story goes back to 2023, when I had only been with the company for a few months. I was out on the road visiting customers in Kansas one day, and there was a plant with whom we did not work at the time. The plant engineer agreed to meet with me, but he only had a few minutes.
We chatted for a bit and I gave my spiel – he was fairly new to his role, and he said, “We are having a problem with these knives for a packaging machine. If you can help me with these, then we will look at other products and do a lot of business together.”
Music to my ears, yet work must be done!
So where did we go from there? Straight out the back of the plant to the dumpsters. He and I rummaged around through jagged and rusty metal to find the blades in question, shook hands (we were both filthy at that point anyway), and then parted ways for the time being.
Our team then took the knives, analyzed the metal composition, reverse engineered the design, and developed a prototype with our manufacturing partner. We ran a head-to-head test with our product against the OEM and another supplier. Not only were we at the best price point (by far, as I understand it), but our blades were of higher quality and outlasted both competitors.
The process from beginning to end took about three months. We are still providing those blades today and have since found dozens more products to help this plant save money and reduce frustrations with OEM products and supply chains.
I love happy endings. Although, we are far from the ending here – our relationship with this plant, along with hundreds of others, grows stronger with each passing month and new item we provide for them.
We understand and appreciate the importance of relationships in this business. There is much more than just the lowest cost product at play – we must build trust, good processes, positive relationships, and from time-to-time create some lasting memories together.