I want the world, I want the whole world, I want to lock it all up in my pocket… Give it to me now! (Veruca Salt, "Willy Wonka"). The bratty little girl from Willy Wonka sings an over the top song about wanting everything and wanting it now. But is it “over the top”? When you break it down it’s really an accurate portrayal of what our society has become. No, we may not be asking for golden geese or 10 thousand tons of Ice Cream, but we do want what we want and we want it right now. 

The question that we get quite often at MIT Powder Coatings is, “How soon can I get my powder?”. I know the driving factor behind this question is the customer walking into your business with an armful (or truck full) of parts saying, “I need these done by tomorrow”, not realizing or caring that the last 5 customers made the same demand. Now as much as you would like to tell them where to stick their demand, we don’t like to turn away business. So the question that comes to my mind is, how can we realistically address customer’s timeline demands?

Here are a few of my suggestions, but I would love to hear what you have to say:

Keep more colors in stock

The downside to this is that it creates more overhead for you but it would give you full control in regards to turnaround time. You could also offer special incentives for using in house colors.

Premiums for Fast turnaround times

Finishing products fast often requires long hours, late nights, and time away from loved ones. Give your customers 2 quotes, one for expedited finishing and the other for standard finishing time.

Special colors can require special timelines

Colors that are in high demand can take time to get, especially if they are only offered by a few manufacturers. If a customer wants a color you don’t stock, we can check on the availability before you purchase. Then you can pass that information along to the customer, because it’s very difficult to spray powder coating that you don’t have. The equation becomes: Powder Delivery Time + Coating Time = Finished Time. When the customer is presented with an accurate time estimate it could save you the daily phone calls asking, “is it done yet?”.

Quality Work takes time

It’s interesting to read through forums and see posts where you had to redo someone else’s work. Everybody loves the end results of a job well done but many people don’t understand the work that goes into coating a piece properly. Every part that leaves your shop is an advertisement, good or bad, of your work. Does the benefit of a “quick buck” outweigh the cost of sub par work with your name on it?

Like always we love to hear from you. Have a great week!