It can be challenging to select an automotive adhesives supplier for your business if all you have to go off of is sales material. Items like swatch books, price catalogs, and brochures may give you a sense of the choices offered by the supplier and help you anticipate costs, but there’s a significant problem: pricing in the automotive adhesives industry is relatively competitive.
This means that you can’t effectively differentiate potential suppliers of automotive adhesives by price point alone. You are far more likely to find distinctions between their approaches to customer service, the caliber of their materials, and the other intangibles that make businesses both admirable and a pleasure to work with.
Here are three tips for comparing prospective suppliers of automotive adhesives:
1. Compare Reputations For Service
It shouldn’t take too much research to get an accurate sense of how the supplier is viewed by past and present clients. You want a supplier with a reputation for excellence, innovation, and outstanding service.
A “customer first” philosophy has proven far more profitable than profit-driven motivations for companies in today’s market. This is for a good reason: You—as a customer in the digital age—have all the power and information at your fingertips to make an informed decision without relying on a supplier’s sales pitch for details.
Look for an automotive adhesives supplier that strives to exceed their clients’ expectations in every aspect of their business and devotes messaging to their reputation for excellent service.
2. Look For Premier Quality
High value-added products are a huge priority. Do some careful investigation of the unique core technologies or creative solutions a supplier’s product portfolio can offer you. The best automotive adhesives suppliers will be willing to work with you in a thorough RFQ process to narrow down their extensive inventories to a handful of premium quality materials and adhesives that will be reliable, durable, and easy to apply.
Ask what traits set their materials apart from their competitors, and pay close attention to innovative modern offerings like tough ionomer films, blister-free cellular film laminates, automotive protective films, or die-cuttable anti-vibration tapes.
3. Reward Social Responsibility
Many modern businesses invest considerable time and resources into Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). When differences in pricing and quality seem small or hard to discern, it may be a conscientious CSR policy that tips the scales in your supplier selection method. There are many benefits to supporting businesses that invest in renewable energy, green initiatives, and other philanthropic or environmentally conscious goals.
Since the UN adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with 169 targets to be achieved between 2016 and 2030, businesses worldwide have become important players in achieving these common goals for planet Earth. Try to work with an automotive adhesives supplier that discloses CO2 emissions (with a commitment to reduction) and pursues environmentally friendly manufacturing processes. Ask what their company is doing to create a sustainable future.
