Streamlining Supply Chain Operations in a Progressive Die Metal Stamping Company

For many companies, the most advantageous cost-savings efforts during a recession are within their supply chain operations.

But leaders know these types of changes can be the most challenging to implement. Talan Products CEO Steve Peplin joined with Patrick Lo, CEO of NETGEAR to create the PNC- sponsored webinar: “How to Drive Immediate Supply Chain Cost Savings.”

Below are some excerpts and a link to the webinar and transcript.

Given the truly global nature of today’s economy, the U.S. slowdown had serious impacts on businesses and nations around the world. Rapidly declining customer requests began to catch up with companies that had stocked inventory to meet previously high demand. Business leaders everywhere quickly found themselves pondering their companies’ futures and facing tough choices – such as which operational changes to make to help their companies survive.

In 2008 and 2009, Peplin’s progressive die metal stamping company was faced with a convergence of no sales, high-cost inventory and plummeting product value due to record-low commodity prices. The only thing to do was to explain the situation and ask for help. “It felt like we were looking into the abyss,” recalls Peplin. “When we called our vendors to ask if they were willing to work with us, to extend terms, they were concerned that we might go under, but that wasn’t an issue for us. We went into the recession with a very strong balance sheet, which helped us convince our suppliers that we weren’t going anywhere.”

Creative Strategies for Cash Flow

Peplin says that, in order to survive, his company had to become more proficient in commodities metals management. His progressive stamping company partnered with its materials suppliers to blend in spot market, low-cost metals with its existing contracts.

“We already had metal to stamp, so we had to negotiate extended deliveries on the high-priced material, and blend in some lower cost material to offset it,” Peplin says. “We asked for special terms. We also had to get people to believe in us, to know that we weren’t going anywhere – and to know that the situation was temporary until we could get back to some longer term business.”

To soften the blow, Peplin says that he pushed out the higher-priced materials, in some cases by an entire year. Because steel prices had dropped by about 65 percent, many Talan customers only wanted to pay the market price.

For the webinar and full transcript see www.pnc.com/manufacturers

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Talan Products is a progressive die metal stamping company based in Cleveland, OH.  Talan Products has the stamping machinery necessary to stamp high-volume orders of various metal products.  By utilizing progressive die stamping, Talan Products is capable of stamping parts requiring a complex series of bends and perforations.

Tags: High-Volume Die Metal Stamping, Progressive Die Metal Stamping, Progressive Stamped Parts

Posted in: Blog, Metal Stamping