Every welding distributor has heard it: "I can get tips cheaper online," or "the big-box store has flap discs for less." Sometimes it's true. A buyer sees a lower unit price and moves the order. But in a welding shop, consumables and filler metal are a small part of what it costs to put down a good weld.
The biggest cost in welding is the welder's time. Anything that keeps a welder from welding, or makes him weld something twice, costs far more than a few cents on a box of tips.
Where the real cost sits
Think about what goes into the cost of welding in a shop:
- A welder stopped because the shop ran out of wire, tips or gas.
- Time spent walking to the cabinet and finding the drawer empty, or swapping parts between guns.
- Rework when a worn tip, the wrong nozzle or the wrong gas mix causes porosity or spatter.
- Extra grinding when spatter could have been prevented.
- Someone driving across town for a cylinder or a box of rod.
- Rush deliveries because the reorder was late.
A cheaper tip that wears faster or a no-name flap disc that loads up halfway through a job can wipe out its savings on the first shift.
Most of those costs never show up on a purchasing report. They show up as overtime, missed ship dates and extra hours on a job, which is exactly why a buyer measured on unit price doesn't see them.
Where the app takes cost out
The app's job is to make sure the right consumables, wire and gas are there when the welder needs them, without anyone spending an hour arranging it.
Bin labels and scanning mean the welder who empties a drawer reorders it on the spot. Counts with suggested orders based on min, max, on hand and on order keep the cabinet right-sized. AutoPilot reorder keeps the steady items, like wire, tips, flap discs and gloves, coming on a schedule the shop sets. My Catalog makes sure each reorder is the exact item, not a near miss.
After the order, customers can track deliveries and look up their own invoices. Shops doing code work can download material certs and C of Cs on the lot they belong to, so the quality manager isn't calling your office for paperwork when an inspector asks for it.
Make the case to the people who feel the cost
Buyers measure price. Shop owners and production managers measure arc-on time, rework and on-time shipments. When you sit down for a review, talk about those.
Use the customer's own reports: spend by category, how often they reordered, what they buy from you and what they buy elsewhere. Bring up the morning the shop ran out of C25 and the welders stood around until the truck came. Talk about how a labeled cabinet and scheduled reorders change that.
Why it wins over price
An online seller can always beat you on a box of tips. It can't help a shop dial in a new wire, keep the consumables cabinet full, deliver cylinders on a regular route and hand over certs when the inspector shows up. When the conversation is about the cost of welding instead of the cost of a tip, you're competing where a local welding distributor wins.
Ready to walk through it with your own accounts? Book a demo.