Buyer's guide
When to consolidate your moulding suppliers — and when not to.
Fewer suppliers can mean less admin and fewer gaps. It can also mean less competition and more risk in one basket. Here's how to tell which way your situation leans.
Intro
When to consolidate your moulding suppliers — and when not to.
We're a group that benefits when customers consolidate, so treat this guide with the scepticism it deserves. We've tried to write it as we'd want it written if we were on the buying side.
The short version: consolidation pays when parts interact, when admin is the real cost, or when continuity matters. It doesn't pay when parts are independent commodities and price is everything.
Signs it's worth consolidating
Your moulded parts fit together or share design language. You spend more time chasing suppliers than the parts cost to make. Different suppliers have given you different paperwork for similar parts. A part has moved from prototype to production and changed supplier on the way.
Signs it isn't
Your parts are simple, independent and bought on price alone. You have a strong local specialist for one part who does it well. Your procurement policy requires dual sourcing for critical parts. The consolidating supplier doesn't actually run the process in-house.
What you gain
One supplier record, one quality format, one contact who sees the whole picture, and parts designed together rather than separately. Cross-division jobs stop waiting on each other.
What you risk
Concentration. If one supplier has a bad month, more of your parts are affected. Mitigate it by asking where tools are stored, who owns them, and what happens if you need to move them.
How to do it gradually
Start with one part family, ideally one where parts interact. Run it for a few months. Review delivery, quality and admin effort honestly. Add the next family only if the first one earned it.
Questions to ask a group supplier
Which divisions run in-house and which use partners? Do all divisions share one quality system? Will I have one contact or several? Can I own and move my tools freely?
Quick reference
A one-glance version of the guide above.
Parts interact or share a design
→ Consolidate
Admin costs more than the parts
→ Consolidate
Commodity parts bought on price
→ Keep competing
Dual-sourcing policy on critical parts
→ Consolidate the rest
Unsure
→ Start with one part family and review
Tools must stay portable
→ Confirm ownership in writing first
In closing
One more thing.
If consolidating with us isn't right for you, we'll say so. A customer who buys one part family from us and trusts us is worth more than one who moved everything and regrets it.
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Where to read next.
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The group
Where this fits in the group
Four specialist teams share our workshop, our engineering bench and a single quality system. Pick a doorway, or ring us and we'll route you.
At a glance
The idea in a picture.
Five brands, one team
Swipe to see the whole diagram
Get in touch
Not sure which division? Tell us what you're making.
Send us a sketch, a photograph, or a paragraph. We'll come back with the right division, the right route, and an honest sense of what it will take.
Real people, a real workshop
You deal with the people who make it.
No call centre and no middlemen. When you contact TCI Group, you speak to the team who design, build and check your mould.
- A real Warwickshire workshopUnit 15, Waterloo Park, Bidford-on-Avon, Alcester B50 4JG.
- Real people on the phoneCall the team on 01789 224228, Monday to Friday.
- The same team on every jobDesign, production and aftercare come from the people you see here.
- Five brands, one teamMoulds, culinary, construction and contract products, all run from Bidford-on-Avon. See the divisions.
Thomas LaneManaging Director
George PrestonDesign & Project Manager
Kelly BallingerHead of Partnerships
Jim AndertonProduction Manager
TheodoreEmployee Welfare