In response to - and seemingly in complete agreement with - Peter French's article recently published in LFR*, Karen Marshall of Metamark explains why suppliers need to keep their materials in stock...
I read Peter French’s article questioning, ‘Why Is Everything Out Of Stock These Days,’ with interest. From my perspective, as a materials and media manufacturer and supplier, if I were to find myself in a position where I extended to my customers service such as Peter has experienced, I’d be asking questions too.
Peter set about placing his order for an industry staple with the reasonable expectation that he’d actually get the product he wanted. Instead, he was told that it could be placed on back-order and that he may have it in a week or so. Peter’s frustration is vented in his well-reasoned article but the real impact runs even deeper.
Without the materials he needs to print, Peter’s business still has to meet its fixed costs. Wages still need to be paid, something has to keep the lights on, the lease on the printer still falls due on the first of the month. Without materials, Peter can’t produce and he has to let his customers down. Without materials, Peter can’t generate income. What’s Peter to do? Does he need to assume the role of a bulk stockist just to be sure he has the material he needs?
I think Peter’s reasoning about businesses running very tight cash management policies may take him close to the answer his question looks for. The stock’s not there either because the supplier is not spending money replacing it when it’s sold, or the business is badly managed.
Everyone, and we’re no different at Metamark, likes to run an efficient business. There comes a point though where obsessive focus on business efficiencies at the expense of the customer and his needs disastrously undermines the very position you should work to maintain and service suffers. It’s a supplier’s role to keep stock and extend credit. There’s a cost associated with doing that and it’s part of business.
Metamark has what by any standards is an extensive portfolio of media and materials and it sells them in a wide range of formats too. We run our business just a little differently than others run theirs it would appear. If it’s in our swatch or product catalogue, then it’s on the shelves, in depth and ready to supply. We have costs to meet in providing market-wide, timely access to such a large inventory. Whether that makes us more expensive than Peter’s current alleged supplier is a conversation we’d be delighted to have with him. I’m confident that it doesn’t.
Our goal is a very simple one and we’ve been achieving it for years now. We want to give our customers confidence in our ability to supply. We keep huge stocks so they don’t have to. My message to Peter is, you don’t have to put up with poor service - you can change for the better.
About Karen Marshall: Karen is Metamark’s National Sales Manager and has worked for the company for fourteen years. Prior to her appointment as the company’s sales manager, Karen was part of Metamark’s national sales team managing a territory where she gained considerable technical and commercial experience in the materials and print media markets.
[photo shows Karen Marshall, national sales manager, Metamark]
