Supply Chain
2021-07-26
Some of our supply chain from a Canadian company perspective.
Distributors
Common: HOME DEPOT, BESTBUY, BHPHOTOVIDEO
Mech Common: GRAINGER CANADA, MCMASTER-CARR
Elec Common: MOUSER CANADA, DIGIKEY CANADA, ARROW
Elec Equipment: TEQUIPMENT, RCC ELECTRONICS, MLTEST
Materials: METAL SUPERMARKETS
Other: ATLAS TOOLS, ANDYMARK
PARTS MFG DIRECT
Electronic Parts MFG
HARDWARE DIRECT
DIGITAL TOOLS DIRECT
OTHER
SHIPPING
We love shipping companies that save us time. We do not want to spend hours calling customer support or driving to a warehouse or waiting in-line or investigating payment errors.
DHL (our favorite) (the best cross-border shipping experiences we have had, due to their time-efficient online interface) (no domestic service, at least in Canada that we know of)
UPS (same-day shipping available via UPS Express Critical, good customer support, recently launched a simple-ship interface for normal-expedited services)
Purolator (drivers show up on time)
Canada Post (balanced back-up option)
Fedex (enough issues in the past so we do not proactively use them currently, but most of the time have good incoming shipments from other vendors)
TELECOM
One of the only pro-consumer telcos in Canada, actively trying to reduce prices while improving service.
Good value prepaid plans. We like the 179 CAD/year (15/mth) for unlimited nationwide calling/texting and 5GB/yr.
Notes
Find good local suppliers and commit to them. Lowest transport risk and associated losses (language barriers, shipping, import fees, FOREX, legal, leadtime coordination).
Guide Tags
TAG:SUPPLIERS