By communicating expectations clearly, everyone wins by getting it done right the first time.

For example, we do a great deal of custom parts for our distributors. If a distributor needs something non-standard, it is crucial that we understand what is expected on our end.

Sometimes these custom parts are for an ongoing production situation, and sometimes they're only for a single-use application. For custom jobs, there may be one-time setup or tooling costs.

Typically, a distributor calls or faxes in the blueprint for a special order. To develop an accurate quotation and produce a part that meets the customer's specifications, we need a readable print.

Sometimes the issue is simply that the blueprint has been faxed and re-faxed so many times, we literally can't read it. Other times, we can read the drawing but we're not certain it will really meet the customer's needs.

The blueprint may reference a dimension, part or tolerance that is technically possible, but cost prohibitive. An engineer may specify that they want the tolerance of a certain part out to three decimal places, not realizing that extra precision will cost 10 times more.

We need to know how critical certain dimensions are so we can make the product as efficiently as possible. If a distributor specifies something that isn't practical, we'll go back and say, "You asked for it to be done that way, but if we do it this way, it can be much faster and more cost effective. How important is this to your customer?"

For example, we have an annual order for five different parts from a manufacturing company in the Midwest. Since it is a repeat order, drawings are not necessarily updated for every production. One year, we received a revised set of drawings that were simply filed. Later in the year, when we received the annual order, we thought it would be wise to check all the drawings, just in case.

It turned out we only received revisions on four of the parts—we were ready to manufacture the fifth part off the original drawing from eight years before. If we hadn't caught this, the situation would've gotten messy.

When communication is incomplete, we can end up with bad parts, lost time, all kinds of paperwork—just a whole mess. It's not like you can say, "Just pull the mushrooms off the pizza and keep going. It's okay, it's still a pizza."

For the customer, if the parts aren't made exactly right, they're useless. Then there's a lot of finger-pointing and everyone usually ends up sharing the cost to re-make them.

Clear directions mean that we don't have to rework parts, ship product back and forth or send field salespeople to investigate the matter. Doing the job right means the distributor has gained credibility and trust with their customer.