DYNAMIC AIRCRAFT - Assignment Example

First and foremost, Mr. Marshall got the wire specifications that the engineering department demanded for. He did this while ensuring that the engineers did not see the move as a way to censure them from specifying only one source. The engineers indicated that they required a special wire that could withstand very high temperatures hence the reason for their choice of Advanced Wire as the most appropriate source. According to Mr. Marshall, it was paramount for the engineers to indicate which type of specification to the supply manager since it was a rule in the company.

Expecting to receive the governing specifications from the engineers, Mr. Marshall got samples of Advanced Wire’s ceramic-coated wire as well as its price quotations. This confirmed his fears as the prices were relatively higher than the industry averages although the ceramic-coating indeed made it be more expensive. The specifications from the engineers were of military standard type but the performance requirements did not particularly specify that the wire had to have ceramic-coating. With this in mind, Mr.

Marshall invited quotations from other suppliers who could meet the performance requirements with emphasis put on their prices and whether their samples met the specifications needed. Some five more suppliers were interested in providing the wire. The other suppliers submitted their price quotations and samples to Mr. Marshall who forwarded the samples to the production development laboratory for evaluation and analysis. The laboratory submitted its findings a week later which primarily focused on the ability of the samples to withstand high temperatures for long periods of time; the fundamental specification required by the engineers.

One of the samples failed to meet the stipulated performance specifications but the other five samples exceeded the minimum performance requirements. The Advanced Wire’s sample was in fact more superior to the other sample in regards to its ability to withstand extremely high temperatures. The tests done on the weight of the samples, which was another important metric, showed that the wire supplied by Advanced Wire was considerably heavier than the other samples. Moreover, the conductivity attributes of Advanced’s wire was also relatively inferior compared to the other wires which exceeded the minimum performance specifications and were therefore acceptable.

Furthermore, the abrasiveness test revealed that the wire supplied by Advanced Wire was less durable than the other wires by the other companies despite it passing the minimum performance tests. Armed with all this information, Mr. Marshall had the belief that indeed the engineering department might have got it wrong by stating that Advanced Wore had the best wire in the market. A fact proven wrong by all the tests performed which showed that other companies had superior products which met the governing military specifications that the engineers needed.

Although the wire by Advanced Wire was the most superior in reference to the ability to withstand heat owing to its ceramic-coating, it still did not justify the higher price quoted by the company. Other suppliers also met the specifications submitted by the engineers with a considerably lower price offered. Easternhouse Electric Company had the lowest asking price for the wire with a difference of $20,346 between it and Advanced Wire’