Sourcing Specialist EMF Blankets
When a long-term supplier disappeared overnight, a customer’s EMF blanket order was left without a source. What began as a repeat order became a full sourcing exercise with new materials, anew manufacturer, and a new specification. Here’s how we rebuilt the supply chain and left the customer better stocked than before
Overview
The challenge
The customer’s EMF blankets had originally been sourced using product supplied by a company called Ram Industries. We delivered the first batch of ten, operating from a buy house perspective.
When the customer came back to reorder, Ram Industries no longer existed. The materials themselves weren’t new to the industry, but they were new to us as something we’d need to source and specify ourselves rather than buy in ready-made. That meant starting the sourcing process again with no existing supplier relationship to fall back on.
Overview
How we helped
We treated it as a full sourcing exercise. That started with research into the materials themselves which included specialist EMF blanket fabric, aircraft grade Kevlar, and military grade webbing straps,all of which needed to meet a defined standard.
We found a manufacturer capable of producing the blankets to the required standard, bringing all the components together in one build. We even carried out a site visit to check their capability and confirm they could manage the production process end to end.
Overview
The benefits
The customer received the EMF blankets they needed, produced to standard by a manufacturer we’d vetted directly rather than sourced through a third party. We also ordered above the immediate requirement, which meant we could hold stock and supply future orders faster. Buying at that volume brought the unit cost down too, so the customer ended up with a more resilient supply chain and a better price than the original arrangement.
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Time to talk
If a key supplier disappearing created issues, we can help you rebuild and improve that element of your supply chain. Get in touch to talk through your sourcing requirements and find out how we can help.
Testimonials
What our customers say
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Coburns are a reliable and reactive supply chain partner, always willing and open to discuss and drive change initiatives.
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Highly recommend, knowledgeable, reliable and easy to deal with.
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Working with Coburn Fasteners is a simple and easy process. Whether you send an email or speak over the phone, nothing is inconvenient and they will do their up-most to help you. I would highly recommend Coburn Fasteners for a quote. Their fast and efficient service and delivery lead-time is excellent compared to a lot of vendors.
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Coburn Fasteners is a responsive and reliable supplier that helps SLB efficiently source off-the-shelf and buy-house items. Their support reduces the need to onboard multiple suppliers and simplifies the procurement process and help us improve work efficiency and workload management.
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When Jeremy approached us and said he could help with our kitting, it suddenly dawned on me just how inefficient our existing process had become. As our product range rapidly expanded, the time and effort involved in sourcing, designing and assembling kits in-house was becoming a real drain on the business.
