This past week Senator John McCain expressed his frustration concerning cost overruns and the production delay of the largest and most expensive acquisition program in DOD history, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program. The program promised 1,013 fifth-generation fighter jets by the end of fiscal year 2016, but only 179 are expected to meet on-time delivery. That’s the equivalent of ordering a large pizza with twelve slices, but you only receive two. In addition, the program has doubled in price to $400 billion and the last fighter jet will not be delivered until 2040. Now the $10 cost of your large pizza is $20 for only 2 slices, and that last slice of pie will be delivered in one week, not 45 minutes after you placed the order.
Whether you are a senator ordering fighter jets or an engineer managing new product development, on-time delivery is essential. Here are a few tips from the NPI Services team.
1. Be Prepared
• Take time to review and understand your customer’s order. Sounds simple, but it’s easy for critical details to be missed during the contract review phase.
• When NPI Services receives your BOM (Bill of Materials), our Project Managers conduct a ROM analysis to ensure that your prototype does not exceed cost, and will meet your project deadline.
2. Communicate
• Transparent communication between you and the customer will eliminate customer service issues and increase consumer loyalty.
• NPI Services will provide an Open Issues Report with every quote, listing alternative solutions to component lead-time issues and/or obsolete parts.
3. Satisfy your Customer
• Recognize that your client’s order affects not only your relationship with them but possibly the client’s relationship with their own customer.
• NPI Services consistently achieves 99% On-Time Delivery.
“When Quick Turn Matters”, call NPI Services to quote your next mission-critical printed circuit board assembly requirement.