Where the
world gathers for metal finishing
Q&As since 1989


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The lacquer we buy is now-a-days inferior

I would like to know why the suppliers of lacquer change the colour of the lacquer, and now-a-days even the solids content is very much lower than the previous supplies. Is it common to all the companies or restricted to some, like the one we are dealing with?

Jeevan Prashanth
plating - Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh, India
2004

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Symbolically speaking, you are the reason of the decline in quality.

All customers want cheaper goods. All suppliers want greater market share. The supplier with the lower price leads the pack. As prices go down, quality goes down. No supplier will sell goods in which he does not make a profit.

Unfortunately, this fact is not recognised in business to business selling. And the end result is before you.

Gurvin Singh
Mohali, Punjab, India
2004

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Sometimes prices go UP and the quality goes down, whats unfair is when you are not informed of the change. Your supplier should have made you aware, or perhaps you requested a price break and when you got it thought you would end up with the same quality material as before. I don't know who you are dealing with, but they might have assumed they were doing you a favor by giving you an inferior product rather than a price increase. Either way, business is business and it sounds like you need to let your supplier know that you didn't appreciate the surprise.

Sheldon Taylor
supply chain electronics
Wake Forest, North Carolina
2004

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Corporations are run by accountants, and if they can source a component that may or may not fall within certain specifications 1c a lb cheaper from a different source they buy it. It may not sound like much but if you are buying 100 tons a month it adds up. unfortunately what the end user has to do is adjust accordingly. A large volume user who has paint manufacturers tender to supply and has testing labs generally adjusts the price paid the manufacturer.

Standard Business Practice.

Luke Speer
- Safety Beach, NSW, AUSTRALIA
2004