Particularly in smaller businesses, I think partnerships with suppliers are what make the business. We have some incredibly long relationships. There is more to it than price. Service and know-how are big things as well. However much information is on a drawing for a machined part, processed component or even in a description on a manufacturing system, often there is more to it than that. Manufacturing can be very subtle, especially if you have been making something for many years.

Anyone who just chops a long term partnership and expects there to be no hassle or risk in building a new relationship can be incredibly misguided. If you throw into this extra consideration such as know-how in doing a job or process or tangibles such as recovering and using tooling, you can be in a very difficult place. A hasty decision can be regretted.

 

Having built our business over 30 years on the back of partnerships with suppliers, there is some real continuity there. Look at our gear on www.sarum-hydraulics.co.uk or buy on line on www.pump-shop-pro.co.uk to share our know-how.

 

Needless to say, if a three hundred year old partnership comes to an end today, that will take quite a bit of adjustment. We hope it isn’t taken too lightly!