Overcoming Supply Chain Hiccups with Creative Alternatives

[Counterman]

We all experience supply chain issues now and then. Back-ordered parts, delayed shipments and even material shortages can affect our ability to provide the parts and services our customers have come to expect from us. Our collective experience during COVID highlights just how interconnected we are with each link in our supply chain. As wholesalers/retailers, we maintain a particular stocking inventory of parts, supplies and accessories based on the needs of our customer base.

As manufacturers, our vendors also maintain inventories of the raw materials, components and subassemblies that go into creating the products that we sell each day in finished form. Any hiccup in their production process can snowball into a shortage or delay if an alternate solution cannot be found in time. The semiconductor “chip shortage” of 2021-’22 effectively crippled the auto industry, preventing some 12 million vehicles from being completed on schedule. In this example, there were no alternative parts available to fill the demand for specialized semiconductors. 

In the manufacturing world, alternative parts are a way for a supplier to meet production schedules and keep an assembly line moving along uninterrupted. If a previously sourced component becomes obsolete or otherwise unavailable, another vendor or supplier might be contracted to fill the order. If a raw material is out of stock, another material with similar properties might be substituted in its place. For those of us behind the counter, sourcing alternative parts is what we do best. Our parts and supplies are already an alternative to the OEM components they are designed to replace, so what happens when our own alternative parts are backordered, delayed or otherwise unavailable?

Our first instinct, in most cases, is to outsource the part from another supplier, or even a competitor. We are lucky to have a great diversity of options in most aftermarket categories, so if our preferred solution isn’t available, there’s a good chance that an alternative is out there… somewhere. 

For obsolete, discontinued or otherwise hard-to-find parts, the search often leads us to specialists in NOS (new old stock) or reproduction parts, or even the used market. Just as we have come to know which of our vendors offers a particular product, it is also in our best interest to know where to obtain those things that we don’t have ready access to. When it comes to finding needles in haystacks, your networking skills can be just as important as your catalog proficiency. Over the years, I’ve built up a mental index of industry contacts, former coworkers and clients, and general “know-it-alls” whom I can turn to for help when I’ve hit a dead end. Sometimes another set of eyes on a problem is all it takes to see the answer!

We can’t possibly fulfill every customer request, but even when an elusive part isn’t available to us, we are still uniquely positioned to suggest alternatives. As customers, we all hate to be told “no,” but we can better accept that moment of disappointment if the person across the counter from us cares enough about our needs to point us in the right direction. Be that person.

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