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Costing, negotiation and supply chain, explained.
Practical guides for procurement, engineering and finance teams.
8 articles
Costing 4 min read Procurement 3 min read Costing proprietary and sole-source parts
With no second quote, a should-cost is your only independent reference. Two routes to it, supplier data or teardown, plus a market benchmark.Read the articleSupply chain 3 min read Delivered cost: packaging, freight and duties
A part's real cost is what it costs at your dock. How packaging, freight, duties and tariffs fit into a should-cost and change sourcing decisions.Read the articleCosting 3 min read Design to cost: savings that start at the drawing board
Design choices shape much of a part's cost. How design to cost and DFM use should-cost early to question tolerances, features and materials.Read the articleNegotiation 3 min read Negotiating with a supplier using a cost breakdown
Compare the supplier's quote with a should-cost line by line, find where the gap sits, and turn each difference into a question the supplier can answer.Read the articleNegotiation 3 min read Preparing negotiation levers before the supplier meeting
A negotiation lever is a specific, evidenced reason a price can move. How to find levers, rank them by evidence and impact, and prepare the questions.Read the articleSupply chain 3 min read Raw-material index pricing for part prices
How to link part prices to raw-material indexes: calculate material content per part, choose the index, set the review period, and adjust both ways.Read the articleProcurement 3 min read Spend stratification: grouping parts into kitties
Split spend by product line, group parts into commodity kitties, should-cost each kitty and negotiate one supplier and one kitty at a time.Read the article
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Start with three of your parts.
Plastic, sheet metal and PCBA. Cost report, gap analysis and levers in four weeks.
