Park Manufacturing
PRICE VERSUS COST
In a global economy that forces many OEMs to continually lower prices, a lower cost from their vendors is the standard expectation.
HOW HAS PARK MANUFACTURING MET THIS EXPECTATION?
Potential cost savings begin in the design phase of a wire harness. By working with the design and engineering staff, Park can assist in component selection, design and layout so that the cost of manufacturing the harness is minimized.
- Component selection is an important factor in cost containment for two primary reasons. First, by selecting components that are industry standard, costs are kept low because of the economy of Park’s buying power. Often the fit, form and function of several wire connectors, for example, are identical. Selecting the type that Park buys by the million annually ensures the lowest cost.
- Choosing Park standard components also saves cost in tooling as well. For almost every component we have in stock, Park has the application tools to automate the termination process. Automation and the corresponding consistency and efficiency that results, keep labor costs low.
- Planning can also create savings. Specifically, contracts that establish annual volumes can be used in our joint planning process in terms of
staffing, tooling, vendor negotiations, production scheduling and component inventory levels. These contracts can be negotiated with built-in price reductions as certain volume levels are met. These agreements can take the form of a contract or can be as simple as blanket purchase orders. In whatever form they take, visibility of demand helps save cost.
- Production efficiency is a major driver of cost savings. Park’s implementations of Lean Manufacturing techniques have eliminated many non-value added steps. Jobs that typically took two to three weeks to build, now generally are done in less than a week. This allows Park to be very price competitive.
Another factor in process efficiency is that we specialize in wire harnesses, with over 60 years of continuous operation.
Park is the standard by which other harness vendors are measured. By outsourcing harnesses to Park, our customers can concentrate their operations on final assembly, not on the costly reinvention of the wheel.
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