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Two things jump out at me: 1. Having to order parts yourself and send them to a factory is something I’ve done a few times and still baffles me. It was easier f
by simonbarker87 5y ago
Two things jump out at me:
1. Having to order parts yourself and send them to a factory is something I’ve done a few times and still baffles me. It was easier for me to buy some parts from the US, ship to me in the UK and then send to China than for the Chinese factory to do it. All totally legit and about a 95% time saving.
2.
> I finally do the “unthinkable” in the web age – I pick up the phone, and dial in hoping to reach a real human being to plead my case. I dial the extension for the custom department sales rep. It drops straight to voice mail. I call back again, this time punching the number to draw a lottery ticket for a new sales rep.
He should have done this at the start. When it comes to supply chain problems it’s usually always a people problem. The first thing you do as soon as you get an undesirable result from email is pick up the phone and have a conversation.
It works pretty much every time.
- InitialLastName 5y agoThis exactly. The difference between the faceless monoliths of the FAANG customer support world and those of the electronics distribution world is that in the latter case there is a sales rep behind the monolith who stands to get a substantial commission for making sure you can successfully get parts. If there's anything I've gained from this hellish year+ of building hardware, it's a much more frank and open relationship with our various CMs and distribution reps. These problems are none of their faults, and in many cases they've gone to ridiculous lengths to keep us (a relatively small fish) afloat.
- simonbarker87 5y ago100% my default was to just pick up the phone and call a supplier - then when you’re in a bind you have a personal relationship that goes a long way to smoothing out issues (in both directions)