Why Vendor-Manufacturer Partnerships are Important to End-Users - HECO

You’re trying to select a vendor to perform some repairs (and possibly a rebuild) on one of the critical yet problematic motors in your facility. You’ve received some good bids and are reviewing the vendors under consideration when you notice that one says they have a good relationship with the vendor of the motor you have. In fact, they have a service agreement with them. Their bid isn’t necessarily the lowest, however.

How important is such a partnership?

HECO’s Partnerships

HECO is already partnered with leading electric motor manufacturers like Siemens, Dynamatic, TECO Westinghouse, and ABB. Our manufacturer service partnerships mean that companies like these have personally evaluated our facility and repair/rebuild procedures — and feel confident that HECO will repair the motors they’ve made to their already high standards or better. And not only that, but HECO can use our connections with these manufacturers to help you, too.

Negotiate Pricing

We at HECO can help negotiate pricing for you by bidding projects out to different vendors. Suppose you need an 340T ANEMA frame electric motor with an TEFC (Totally Enclosed Fan Cooled) motor enclosure. You also need some additional customizations to ensure that the new motor fits where the older motor did. We can help you negotiate the best price for your motor by bidding out your project to several of the high-quality manufacturers we have solid relationships with. Not only can this save you money, it also saves you significant lead time as we handle the communications on your behalf. Our experts also make sure the manufacturers have the right information to bid as accurately as possible so there are no surprises.

Grid Pricing Opportunities

Also, working closely with vendors manufacturers can lead them to develop grid type pricing arrangements for you. Grid pricing is another term for fixed, matrix-type pricing where a price matrix is used to establish the markup a vendor or manufacturer charges for parts or items using a simple cost multiplier. Strong business relationships have lead to better fixed pricing opportunities that HECO can pass on to you.

Onsite Recommendations

Having a partnership with a vendor/manufacturer also means we can have them come onsite to look at your applications. At HECO, we have found out that we can make better recommendations about troubleshooting, repairs, and replacements in certain instances by paying a visit onsite, as was the case for a particular 5,500 hp 13,200 V synchronous motor. A picture is worth a thousand words, as the saying goes An onsite visit can provide far more information that can be conveyed in a typical email or phone call.

At HECO, we can learn much more about the working environment, the common issues shared by equipment, and make better quotes and estimates for replacement motors. And when we have strong relationships with other vendors and manufacturers, we can use those connections to help you make arrangements for an onsite visit — especially if you are replacing a custom motor or need manufacturer-specific advice.

Having a Good Relationship with Vendors

It’s also important that you have a good relationship with your vendors, as well. A good partnership creates a long-term relationship where your vendors will often go above and beyond for you. But that cannot happen if you don’t treat your vendors with respect, be honest with them, and be willing to discuss pricing openly.

Conclusion

Here at HECO we have excellent relationships with manufacturers and vendors, which means we have even more to offer customers like you, from new motors, repairs, rewinds, surplus motors, maintenance, and storage management. In addition, we are EASA accredited for high quality motor repairs you can depend on and our team will not stop until we find the source of your motor problems and fix them right.

Posted in Product Sales