Thread: Extra parts, give to customer or throw it in the bin?

I machine most of the time assemblies for customers.
These are a bit complex and I always make a few extra. So that if I screw something up or a tool brakes I don't have to go back to operation 1.
This cost me a few minutes extra. But if I have to start from the beginning it will cost me a couple of hours.
On a good day I don't have any scrap parts and I have a few extra good parts. Or parts with very small imperfections.
But what should I do with them? Give them to the customer as extra? Just throw them in the bin? These are not repeat jobs

It depends on the customer, but as a rule I don't give away free parts. I have had jobs that I didn't expect to repeat come back, and I have been asked for replacement parts when the end user damages something.

I'd stick them in a box and hang onto them for a while- if it's for sure they are not going to get used, chuck'em in the bin.

Sometimes a job comes back and it's nice to have the spare parts for setups or extras.

I routinely offer them to a customer at a reduced price. The material and set ups are already paid for. Most customers take them.

Originally Posted by FredC

I routinely offer them to a customer at a reduced price. The material and set ups are already paid for. Most customers take them.

Every single damn time I tried that it always resulted in "why isn't that just the regular price?!" So, I have not done that for many years.

I hang on to them just in case the job repeats, for a while. If I get super slow? First thing I do is throw all that shit away.
Because, you know as soon as it is gone, you will need it, LOL.

Originally Posted by tcncj

On a good day I don't have any scrap parts and I have a few extra good parts. Or parts with very small imperfections.

Do you charge by the piece ? If so, I usually just ask, "I ended up with two extra, do you want them ?" and charge the quoted price. Haven't had anyone say no yet, make a few extra bucks.

If they are seconds, I might just give them away for good will. That's worth something too.

Originally Posted by tcncj

I machine most of the time assemblies for customers.
These are a bit complex and I always make a few extra. So that if I screw something up or a tool brakes I don't have to go back to operation 1.
This cost me a few minutes extra. But if I have to start from the beginning it will cost me a couple of hours.
On a good day I don't have any scrap parts and I have a few extra good parts. Or parts with very small imperfections.
But what should I do with them? Give them to the customer as extra? Just throw them in the bin? These are not repeat jobs

As others have said, it depends on the customer. Me, if I have a couple of pcs over the lot size and they're good, I might just pack them and send 'em off.

Thanks for the replies.

It's a good customer
Good drawings, no issues, always pays within a day! So I give them for free I think.

It depends on a few things, the customer and if the job will likely repeat anytime in the near future. I have a customer that I have had for 10 years, but originally he wanted me to match prices of vendors who were either out of business or had quality issues. He will never get an extra part out of me, I don't care if they were 35 cent parts. If I know something will probably repeat I hang on to the extras for next time. If it is a good customer and I know they are not going to repeat I toss in the overage for no charge.

We ended up with bins and boxes of useless parts taking up space we could have used for other things. Some 20 years old and for machines the customer had long since scrapped for newer versions. I finally started going through them and throwing out what I knew would never be used again. I even found parts for customers who had gone out business years earlier. Made the shop look better also.

When we quote we put quantity variance + 5% so we can ship any xtra parts we may have . Never discount some customers will figure it out and start to ask for them and expect a discount . Better to just ship the overage and get paid for them . Unless their PO staes no overage you should be covered .

Originally Posted by wheelieking71

Every single damn time I tried that it always resulted in "why isn't that just the regular price?!" So, I have not done that for many years.

I hang on to them just in case the job repeats, for a while. If I get super slow? First thing I do is throw all that shit away.
Because, you know as soon as it is gone, you will need it, LOL.

Every single time?!? Wowsers, your customers are different than mine. Many times on my quotes I mention that I will have to order x number of bars to fill the order and I could make this many parts with the left over material if I do not scrap many in set up. I then ask if they want them at this price since the set up and material are already paid for? Most will say yes. Once in a while I have a customer send a PO for 10 parts with the price they paid for 100 pcs last time. The answer is no, and I explain why, never had anyone get mad. Since I have the tools and process down, they will not get it cheaper elsewhere. Unless your customer is the American military. A friend related a story to me of what can happen there.

In the area I am in and the shops we deal with there is a general +/- 10%, (to a point) so we will send the parts along at billed pricing. Most will not argue and extra piece or two, but if you have a 1000 piece run and try to shove another 100 on them , there would be resistance . So as long as its good faith we have not had issues.

Now we do have a couple of customers that state on their PO exact quantities only. We still run a couple of extra for the exact same reason you do . On those ones we will throw them in a drawer ( where we can find them again ) and use them on the next run or for replacements.

I ship what the customer ordered. I used to do the "couple extras" thing in various forms, but I found that it caused a lot of confusion. Bigger customers have a hard time dealing with extras, owing to significant overhead -- do they submit a revised PO, do they need to generate a variance doc or tracking form to account for the extras, etc.

I always (unless material cost is high) make extras. I just put them on the rack and mark them with customer info and date. Once a year or so I go through and toss everything more than a year or so old in the scrap bin. Once in awhile a customer asks for another 1 or 6 of something, and then then it's a good day since I have the parts made already.

Just this morning I tossed what could have been ~$10,000 worth of extras in the scrap bin. But if the customer hadn't asked in the past 12 months, they probably will never ask so out they go.

Regards.

Mike

Originally Posted by tcncj

Thanks for the replies.

It's a good customer
Good drawings, no issues, always pays within a day! So I give them for free I think.

Timely thread, I was wondering the same thing. The bold portion is what I do.

After a year, toss.....

I would recommend the same with with bar stock under a certain length/size.

I have a couple of customers that will ask for parts that I have not run in over 10 years so for them I save them . When they call for 5 or 10 or what ever that is the price I work up for them . They never complain . Every one else 3 years and off to the scrap.

Cust always buys the overrun...Phil

We make ship and bill up to 10% over but never ship under.

If the material was certified be sure to keep the certs also.

The thing I most like about being owner/boss is I can do anything I want. And I will give the customer extras free of charge. On low dollar parts we always made extras as an insurance policy anyway. My experience has been some will thank me, some will insist on paying for the extras, others will repay in loyalty and some don't notice the extras.

My philosophy and practice has been to treat customers well and they'll return the favor.