I had gotten a PO for a new customer for some blocks with a female brake fitting machined into them. I did at that time, and still doo tyo this day run the same style port, but a diff size on another job. I knew how to run them! It would have been a big job as I remember, but I don't recall how big. Maybe 6 digits? Prolly more actually. ??? I recall that it would have been at least a ton truck full of complete parts/week anyway. I thought that it would justify a new truck that I needed at the time anyway....
One week after PO cut they cancelled it. Called it "Vender Consolidation" and turned around and gave it to a current supplier. I am sure they were higher priced than I was. I was going to run in a transfer machine. They liked my price for the one blind hole that they had in the block. But I asked them what else gits done to these. It's an awfully large block to be used as an end cap - there MUST be some intersecting hole in this somewhere, and likely some mount holes maybe?
Turns out that the part was to go to the next sister company where THEY put another hole or two in it... AND THEN delivered it to yet another sister company for assy.
"Tell yuh what... What say I put ALL the holes in it for you in one sh-bang on my transfer machine, and deliver it to the assy plant?"
And there's no way they could have done eny differently on the susequant holes for anywhere's near the additional costs since I was already in the machine. A cpl more spindles don't cost that much more...
"Well gee - that sounds like a swell deal!"
Then I fell victim to "Vendor Consolidation". I'm thinking there was more to the story than VC, but ....
They were willing to pay me for my tools that I already had ordered and cancelled. (Cancelation costs) But it was only a $100 cancelations, and it wasn't worth that to me to show my cards to them.
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FFWD about 4 yrs and we had a $250K job for 3 diff parts that needed to be all wrapped up in about 3 months.
These were parts that we had already been running in smaller lots, so the learning curve was already done and we could jump ratt into production really.
We were about 1/2 way through and I had JUST gotten the second half of the material in, forty-leven skids of WIP all over the place... and I git the call to shut down the fire. The end customer cancelled the order...
They did take whatever WIP that we had done, and after about 2-3 more yrs they had taken delivery of enough parts to close that order, so it wasn't a huge loss in the long run, but it sure didn't feel none too good at the time!
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Think Snow Eh!
Ox