Assassin
Well-Known Member
Its a sad fact of life that boating (and classic cars and lorries) are expensive and in many instances there are other solutions to a problem if people look for them.
Manufacturers of many marine and other components operate by not manufacturing them themselves and buy them in, with any OE supplier to a specific company, there has to be at least two OE suppliers of most components in the majority od cases for there to be no cartel, and to remain competitive in the supply chain.
If anyone with a problem with a specific component which is, or was bought in by a manufacturer of something such as an engine for example, and they can research the suppliers of that component and source one directly from either the OE supplier for a fraction of the cost, or use the second OE supplier and compare prices as there is generally a predominant supplier who generally supplies around 90% of the components and the secondary supplier supplies the other 10%.
In some cases there will be multiple suppliers and they will all bid for the supply contract, and two suppliers will be selected and the remaining suppliers may have a small number of compatible components lying around in their stores which meet and exceed the OE requirements for quality, and will be a direct replacement as they periodically clear this stock out; some use different suppliers for different world markets, so a little research can yield huge savings.
In some cases something may be able to be fabricated, and fabricated locally to a higher standard then the OE specification for a fraction of the cost and a few E-mails may yield a quality product at a much lower price; while many items may be remanufactured or reconditioned locally with a huge cost saving.
Some companies also offer direct replacement parts even though they were not an original OE supplier and electrics and electronics are a prime example of this and it is perfectly possible to get a direct replacement component from a different manufacturer for a fraction of the cost. Many suppliers of standard items may tweak a stock item for a specific application and a recent example was a hydraulic ram (sorry Bruce) which was a stock item except for the hydraulic fittings and they replaced the original BSP fittings with metric fittings for that particular application and simply bought in the sockets with metric fittings and welded them on, exactly the same hydraulic ram except for the weld on sockets.
Research can often yield excellent savings if you can find the OE supplier and cross reference components and any savings can go towards filling your fuel tanks or bar.
Manufacturers of many marine and other components operate by not manufacturing them themselves and buy them in, with any OE supplier to a specific company, there has to be at least two OE suppliers of most components in the majority od cases for there to be no cartel, and to remain competitive in the supply chain.
If anyone with a problem with a specific component which is, or was bought in by a manufacturer of something such as an engine for example, and they can research the suppliers of that component and source one directly from either the OE supplier for a fraction of the cost, or use the second OE supplier and compare prices as there is generally a predominant supplier who generally supplies around 90% of the components and the secondary supplier supplies the other 10%.
In some cases there will be multiple suppliers and they will all bid for the supply contract, and two suppliers will be selected and the remaining suppliers may have a small number of compatible components lying around in their stores which meet and exceed the OE requirements for quality, and will be a direct replacement as they periodically clear this stock out; some use different suppliers for different world markets, so a little research can yield huge savings.
In some cases something may be able to be fabricated, and fabricated locally to a higher standard then the OE specification for a fraction of the cost and a few E-mails may yield a quality product at a much lower price; while many items may be remanufactured or reconditioned locally with a huge cost saving.
Some companies also offer direct replacement parts even though they were not an original OE supplier and electrics and electronics are a prime example of this and it is perfectly possible to get a direct replacement component from a different manufacturer for a fraction of the cost. Many suppliers of standard items may tweak a stock item for a specific application and a recent example was a hydraulic ram (sorry Bruce) which was a stock item except for the hydraulic fittings and they replaced the original BSP fittings with metric fittings for that particular application and simply bought in the sockets with metric fittings and welded them on, exactly the same hydraulic ram except for the weld on sockets.
Research can often yield excellent savings if you can find the OE supplier and cross reference components and any savings can go towards filling your fuel tanks or bar.
