Wafer-thin market for suppliers of graphite wafers
A procurement manager at a multinational conglomerate corporation, which has a significant presence in the medical technology sector, was searching for suppliers of premium graphite wafers for use in MRI / MRT devices.
The procurement manager was not having an easy time of it. For several weeks, he’d been trying to find these specialized suppliers, ideally located in Asia, but kept coming up empty handed. His organization was hoping to leverage the region’s expertise, cost efficiency, and strong supply chain for high-quality graphite. Additionally, Asia’s manufacturing capabilities often aligned with global standards for medical technology production.
However, it turned out that, while Asia is a major hub for manufacturing and raw materials, finding premium graphite suppliers in the region that also met medicalgrade standards, as well as his organization’s stringent customization requirements, was a challenge.
On top of that, even if these suppliers existed, shipping delays, export restrictions, or raw material shortages could complicate sourcing from Asia, particularly for a highly specialized product like premium graphite wafers. Because of the importance of these medical devices, he really needed to be sure that these suppliers were reliable and could deliver.
As if all that wasn’t enough, his company was placing an increasing focus on sustainability, so he was looking for suppliers who could provide ethically sourced and environmentally friendly premium graphite. Given that mining and processing graphite can have environmental impacts, the suppliers needed to adhere to strict environmental and ethical sourcing practices. This was making his job even trickier as, especially in Asia, environmental regulations can vary.
The procurement manager was starting to realize that he really had his work cut out for him with this sourcing project. He’d already exhausted all of his previous methods, like going through internal supplier databases, doing Google searches, and asking his network for recommendations. So far, he’d gotten nowhere and he was running out of time if he wanted to meet the looming internal deadline.
Despite his colleagues not having any recommendations, per se, one of them had mentioned a new supplier scouting solution the organization had recently licensed - Scoutbee Discovery.
Since he was having absolutely zero success using his traditional methods, he thought he may as well give it a go!
He opened up Discovery and was pleased to see that the search form looked really user friendly. More than that, it was specifically designed for procurement’s needs so maybe it would succeed where more generic search tools like Google had failed.
He entered his search criteriapremium graphite wafers to be used in the medical sector, key terms like MRI and MRT, and the preferred geographic location of Asia. He also entered the required certifications the suppliers would need. And search!
Scoutbee Discovery informed him that it would return a list of suppliers that matched his criteria in a day or two.
The next afternoon, he received a notification that Discovery had found 24 previously unknown suppliers in Asia, the US, and Germany. 24! This was so much better than he had been hoping for! Upon closer inspection, he saw that the suppliers were ranked in order of relevance, their profiles enriched with information on revenue, employees, and certifications. He would definitely be taking his colleague out for a slap-up lunch to thank him for recommending Scoutbee!
After meeting with his team, they decided to shortlist 11 suppliers from China, Japan, the US, and Germany. With that, they had significantly grown their supply pool, ensuring supply chain continuity, increased cost efficiency, and compliance with strict regulations regarding medical devices.
In addition, sourcing sustainable graphite materials would align with the company’s broader corporate social responsibility goals and enhance its reputation as an environmentally responsible player in the medical device industry. This might be worth more than just one lunch…
If you’re looking for a way to save costs and increase sustainability in your supply chain, get in touch with us today to see how we can help.
