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DVIRC Supplier Scouting Team Finds Unique Suppliers for Benjamin Obdyke
With the help of: Pennsylvania Manufacturing Extension Partnership
About
Benjamin Obdyke Inc., located in Horsham, Pennsylvania, is a manufacturer of roof and wall moisture management product systems sold globally. The company, founded in 1868, has been under its current ownership since 1975. Benjamin Obdyke Inc. employs 32 people.
The Challenge
Benjamin Obdyke, a leading manufacturer of moisture management building materials, was faced with the challenge of finding a unique supplier to meet a specific need. Recognizing the complexity of the task and the time it would take to identify and vet potential suppliers, Benjamin Obdyke turned to DVIRC's Supplier Scouting team for assistance. Chief Operating Officer George Caruso partnered with DVIRC, part of the Pennsylvania MEP and the MEP National Network™, to locate and evaluate new suppliers.
Look at DVIRC as an extension of your own in-house resources and capability. It just felt like there was a multiplying effect by working with DVIRC. They had a team approach and were able to cast a pretty wide net out there in the industry and have a far greater reach, a lot quicker reach than we could on our own.
MEP's Role
Benjamin Obdyke sought DVIRC's services due to their reputation for supplier scouting, a service offering leveraging the Center's extensive resources and network. DVIRC's Supplier Scouting team acted as matchmakers, diligently searching for companies that aligned with Benjamin Obdyke's predefined criteria. Caruso emphasized that the amount of time and effort required for Benjamin Obdyke to achieve similar results independently would have taken up to a year, whereas DVIRC's expertise and network expedited the process significantly.
“Supplier Scouting is matchmaking,” says Caruso. “Basically, it’s using DVIRC’s resources and network to find a company that meets certain criteria that we laid out. It would probably take us a year to find all the contacts that DVIRC was able to dig up over the course of a few weeks.”
DVIRC's team demonstrated exceptional organization and thoroughness throughout the collaboration. They went beyond expectations, providing a shared spreadsheet containing the names of potential candidates along with insightful details for each supplier. The front-end vetting process, including initial contact, profiling, and information gathering, was expertly handled by DVIRC. Furthermore, the team facilitated ongoing communication and negotiations, lightening Benjamin Obdyke's workload and streamlining the supplier selection process.