Finding the best lubricant supplier requires an honest evaluation of product and service offerings. Avoid judging a supplier by their price tag; instead, gather cost data and compare it to the actual costs of faulty production, equipment repairs, halted output, or other expenses.
Channel partners like distributors and end-use customers need quality lubricants to prevent damage to machines and legal battles over voided warranties. Here are five key factors to consider during the selection process.
Experience
When selecting a lubricant supplier, experience is key. An experienced supplier understands the importance of providing equipment maintenance services for their customers and knows how to avoid contaminating production machinery with poor-quality lubricants.
A seasoned distributor should also have enough warehouse space to store, handle, and dispense their products safely and organized. The distributor must follow the appropriate QA/QC guidelines and practices in their facilities, warehouses, product transport, and bulk storage areas.
Additionally, companies seeking a lubricant supplier VA should ask about private labeling capabilities. It is essential to understand whether the private label fluids are sourced from major oil producers and if the registrations and certifications (such as NSF) pass through.
Reputation
The reputation of a lubricant supplier matters to distributors, equipment manufacturers, and end users alike. Poor-quality lubricants can lead to system issues and even complete machine failures, damaging company reputations and potentially expensive legal battles over product liability or voided warranties.
Finding the best lubricant suppliers for your business requires a structured, comprehensive evaluation process. First, gather a representative group of stakeholders and technical advisors under the guidance of an objective facilitator. Brainstorm to identify criteria critical to the group and then reduce the list of criteria to a small number without compromising content. Then, have each stakeholder secretly rate the condensed list of criteria on a value scale.
Flexibility
In addition to offering quality items, the best lubricant suppliers provide flexibility to help meet the unique needs of companies. This is especially important for large companies that rely on significant volumes of lubricants to maintain production across multiple facilities. A shortage of lubricants can result in production delays or even shut-downs, costing the company thousands of dollars daily.
For these reasons, end users of lubricants must select a supplier offering diverse chemistry options and formulation expertise. However, each company is unique and must determine how essential a diverse toolbox of solutions is to their business and what criteria they will use to evaluate lubricant suppliers.
Quality
Choosing a supplier that offers diverse chemistry options and formulation expertise is essential. Companies must determine their needs concerning lubricant technology and the value of local technical support versus remote consultation services.
Larger companies that require substantial volumes of lubricants across their operations may benefit from a supplier with an extensive network of facilities for manufacturing base oils and additives. This helps minimize potential shortages and lost production risks, which can be costly for these larger OEMs.
A quality lubricant oil distributor must be well-organized and utilize facilities that meet local quality standards. This includes having enough warehouse space to manage, process, and systematically store the lubricants. This prevents lubes from being mixed up and used in the wrong application, which can lead to equipment failure during production hours.
Pricing
If a lubricant costs more than what the lubricant is used for, it can add up quickly in the form of wasted time and equipment damage. Consistent quality lubricants that meet OEM requirements can lower liability and insurance premiums.
Please inquire about the lubricant supplier’s warehousing, blending standards, and pricing structures. Also, please find out about the distributor’s complete product line and how many well-known manufacturers they represent. This helps determine the diversity of the full product range and how much reliance may exist on a single manufacturer. Also, ask about the possibility of a supplier price increase, which is sometimes necessary due to external circumstances such as global oil production and supply, natural disasters, or political unrest. Ask how those increases are reflected in your invoices.