What should you look for when choosing a subcontract laser cutting company? We list the top 6 things:
Choosing any supplier is always difficult, sometimes the cheapest isn’t the best and sometimes the biggest supplier can’t offer you the flexibility you need to satisfy your customers. Hopefully the list below will help you choose a sub contract laser cutting company that meets your needs.
1. ISO 9001:2008 approved:
Any subcontract laser cutting company that does not have its systems approved by a third party should be avoided. If they haven’t gone to the effort to make sure that their internal systems are fit for purpose you may find that they cannot perform adequately.
2. Costs:
Are all the costs outlined to you up front? Make sure you clarify the delivery costs or whether there are any additional costs for producing CAD from drawings.
3. Lead Time:
Make sure you specify the lead time prior to ordering, sometimes the cheapest company might have a two week lead time which will not help if like most companies you need your laser cut parts within a few days.
4. Delivery:
Will you be expected to collect the parts? Most decent subcontract laser cutting companies will have their own delivery vehicles or a retained courier.
5. Ancillary operations:
Although you may need just a laser cutting service this time, what if you need some additional services such as Press Braking, Machining or Painting in the future? Try to choose a subcontract laser cutting company that offers you multiple services. This will save you time and money when shopping around and remove the headache of sourcing multiple operations.
6. Existing Customers:
It’s always worth finding out who the existing customers are when you choose a subcontract laser cutting company. If they are happy to give out names of existing well known or similar customers then this generally means that other companies like you are happy with the service.