Approved Vendor Lists: Part 2

Using Sourcengine & Sourceability to Find Alternate Vendors

As we briefly mentioned in part one of this blog, if you don’t have time for expanding your AVLs on your own, consider using the BOM analysis tools at Sourcengine or, for more complicated items or full-service sourcing, Sourceability’s sales team.

Sourcengine Brings the Tools for Customers

Sourcengine’s BOM analysis tool allows you to upload a BOM of any length and instantly get back offers for every part. The offers are chosen from globally sourced vendors and selected based on a combination of price and lead time (you can choose to prioritize one or the other if you prefer). You can then look at any individual parts and make specific choices from the vendors if you like. It really can’t get easier than that.

Sourceability's Experienced Sales Staff Bring Custom Solutions

If you’re looking for a more personalized option tailored to your projects’ needs, however, using Sourceability’s sales team is a guaranteed way to make sure you have the most options possible when it comes to meeting your needs. The team boasts traders with decades of experience, on-staff engineers, and manufacturer direct lines.

How does it work? For the customer, very simply. You let the sales team know you’re looking for a certain part or parts or perhaps an entire BOM. The team researches each part and comes back with suggestions for different vendors (for the same part from the same manufacturer) or “direct crosses” (equivalent parts from different manufacturers). You review the suggestions, approve the ones you like, and bam! Your AVLs just got longer and you only need to go through one source(ability).

“We can find alternates for even the most challenging devices, like batteries or cables,” says Vice President of OEM Sales Josh Pucci. “There have only been a few rare cases where we couldn’t find at least two alternates for supply or price.”

“Sourceability is young and hungry,’” says Pucci. “We’re smaller and more aggressive about getting the best prices for our customers. We consider all projects worth our time and customize our approach to each. Being part of our customers’ supply chains is really important to us.”

Gerard Antonellis, Senior Sales Representative, agrees. “We don't just look for easy projects.” He likens seeking out AVLs to fishing. “Sure, you can set up one pole and wait for fish to bite and if there are a lot of fish you’ll be fine. But if you need more fish, or a lot of other people have poles out too, you need to get more poles of your own.” Using the sales team, he says, is not just like adding more fishing poles, it’s investing in “a chartered boat with advanced fish radar.”

Looking to get started now with Sourcengine or Sourceability? Visit www.sourcengine.com or contact sales@sourceability.com and tell them you saw this article.

After you’re done with that, come back here for Part 3: #AVLstories to read and share entertaining and surprising stories about sourcing components from across the globe.