Purchasing Springs and Wire Forms from Distributors vs. Direct from Manufacturers

The spring and wire form purchasing landscape is constantly changing. Buying from distributors can reduce costs for companies, because the distributor will stock spring and wire form items that are purchased in volume, releasing only what their customers needs, holding down inventory costs for the customer and managing paperwork flow.The Internet is allowing greater access to spring and wire form product information thus making buying those products direct from the manufacturer even easier in today's purchasing world.So, do buying springs and wire forms from a distributor still make more sense than buying directly from the spring manufacturer, like Katy Spring?There are pros and cons. The first pro (some say the only pro) about buying direct from a spring manufacturer is the cost savings. Distributors must mark up the manufacturer's price in order to make a profit. A typical distributor mark-up on springs and wire forms can be 25-30 percent above the manufacturer's price.There are hidden costs that many distributors can justify to their customers for the additional mark up. One is service. Many distributors have sales reps, assigned to customers, that can service all the needs of their customers. This streamlined service approach allows the customer to get information and questions answered quicker and easier because of the business relationship established between the customer and rep.Another hidden cost benefit by using distributors is storage. Distributors many times have large storage space and are willing to store their customer's spring and wire form products. Distributors also have the capability to ship smaller quantities of product, and they can drop ship to multiple locations.But what if a spring manufacturer, like Katy Spring, can provide the best of all the above to a customer? Cost savings by buying direct, direct streamlined service to not only general service questions, but also technical expertise, over ten acres of storage space, ability to drop ship to multiple locations and flexible container quantity shipments?Buying from distributors can offer distinct advantages over buying from manufacturers. However when manufacturers, such as Katy Spring & Mfg., offer the same advantages as purchasing from distributors, it makes good business sense to buy from the manufacturer.