Industrial supplies: know how to choose between quantity and quality

We’ve all heard the saying ‘quality over quantity’ and perhaps come to understand its value over our time in the industrial supplies industry. However, in today’s corporate-minded landscape, it has become very hard to let this rhetoric ring true.

Businesses are built with the goal of making as much money as possible in the shortest timeframe and at the highest possible margins. And as a result, those industrial purchasing supplies are facing an unenviable choice between quantity and quality. Now, here are some things that you should take into consideration before making your decision.

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Quality or Quantity?

Creating single high-quality products with high quality supplies tends to be rather expensive and time consuming as they must be sold at much higher prices, that are not necessarily attractive to the buyer, in order to turn a profit. On the other hand, we have lower-quality products that are produced quickly in outsourced factories with cheaper supplies and the bare minimum amount of time spent per product. This tends to be the far more profitable option as it has higher margins and a lower price point that is far more appealing to consumers. When you think of it like this, it is clear that upholding these high-quality standards could inhibit both the growth and profitability of your business not to mention that it’s far more difficult to keep up with consumer demand. As a distributor, you need to seriously consider whether you want to distribute higher-quality supplies and perhaps risk not turning over as large a profit or, if you are willing to associate your name with distributing sub-par industrial supplies.

You should, however, try not to dismiss the importance of quality over quantity entirely. Thanks to the advent of the internet, online-reviews and the like, word travels fast. More often than not, modern consumers will take to the internet to search for opinions and reviews before even thinking of purchasing goods. Any negative or unfavourable reviews are just a click away so if your supplies are known to be of a poor standard then you could see your overall sales and, perhaps most importantly, your reputation quickly damaged. A damaged reputation has the potential to be detrimental to your business as with today’s technological innovations, consumers can buy from anyone, anywhere with little to no hassle.

When we think about the quality of a product overall, we really must think about how it is designed. A product design team should ideally create attractive designs while keeping costs under control, in other words, creating the illusion of an expensive product which is actually cheap to manufacture. This does not mean cutting corners or decreasing the quality of the product. Instead, the aim should be to decrease the number of necessary components. This means streamlining the design and eliminating redundancies. Not only does this minimise costs but if a customer likes the look of the product and enjoys how it feels to use then, they will naturally come back.

Adhering to at least a basic level of quality standards is vital, otherwise, you could gain a reputation for producing sub-par products with a short lifespan and poor quality. This has the potential to damage your brand image and longevity. The benefits that are brought with having a positive reputation are bountiful and have arguably never been more important than today considering the speed at which word travels as I mentioned previously. So, what should you choose? Quality or Quantity?

Conclusion

Well, like in many areas of life and business, you must strike a balance between the two. A company should never completely forgo quality for the sake of quantity, but at the very same time, it may make perfect sense to slightly lower quality standards in order to make more of a profit when distributing these industrial supplies. In the industrial supplies industry, quality is very much key, a fact which can really not be overlooked.

There you have it! A little lesson in how to choose between quality and quantity. It may seem like a complex decision as you are being forced to choose between the integrity of your business and making an often much needed profit, but it is much simpler than you would believe.

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