A large share of what a welding customer buys is predictable. A production shop burns through roughly the same amount of wire every week. Contact tips, nozzles and liners wear out at a steady rate. Flap discs, cut-off wheels, gloves and anti-spatter go out the door like clockwork. The shop uses about the same amount every week or month, and someone still has to remember to order.
When they forget, the shop runs out of .035 wire on a Thursday afternoon and you get a rush order, or worse, they grab a spool somewhere else.
Three ways to reorder
Reorder lets the customer buy a past order again or order from saved items. The foreman who places the same Monday order does it in a few taps, with exact wire diameters, tip sizes and grits already filled in.
Blanket orders handle contract buying. Manufacturers and larger contractors often set up a blanket PO for welding consumables and release against it. The app lets them release against the contract, so every order lands on the right PO without a phone call.
AutoPilot reorder orders the customer's usual items on a schedule so they never run out.
The AutoPilot dial
Customers are rightly careful about anything that spends money on their behalf. AutoPilot works on a dial each customer sets:
- Suggest: the app suggests the usual reorder, and the customer decides whether to place it.
- Ask first: the reorder is prepared on schedule and waits for the customer to confirm.
- Run on its own: the customer's standing order for the items they picked goes in on the schedule they set, like a blanket release, and they can change or stop it any time.
Most customers start on Suggest or Ask first. Once the foreman trusts the quantities, some move their steadiest items, like wire and gloves, to Run on its own. The items, quantities and schedule always belong to the customer.
Fit it to the work
Welding work goes up and down. A fab shop with a big structural job welds far more in one month than the next, and a contractor's needs follow whatever project is running. The dial handles that: a customer can stay on Ask first during an uneven stretch and adjust each reorder, then let it run on its own when work is steady.
If a customer lists gas fills or cylinder exchanges as items in their account, those can be on their reorder list too, alongside the hard goods. And if they use monthly budgets, scheduled reorders count against them like any other order, so an order that would push the month over can be held for the manager.
What it does for your business
Scheduled reorders smooth your demand. Your buyer's desk can reorder wire and consumables from your vendors with minimums and free freight in mind instead of reacting to rushes, and delivery routes can plan around orders you can see coming.
It also protects the account. A shop that's on a reorder schedule for wire and tips isn't shopping them every week. A competitor has to convince someone to turn off a routine that works, which is much harder than quoting a lower price on one spool. And your counter gets time back for the questions that need a welding expert.
Want to see it with your own welding catalog? See how it works.