In today's economy, value for your dollar is everything.  And with every hardware store and their cousin selling personal protective equipment, it is easier than ever to find great deals on quality products from manufacturer's you recognize.  A word of caution however; technical products such as respiratory protection and fall protection can be extremely troublesome to end users when they are purchased through wholesale avenues.  My point in these statements is this: not every seller of a given product is an authorized distributor and by purchasing through these two-step suppliers, you are severely shortchanging your safety program.

 There are a number of wholesale suppliers out there injecting themselves between the manufacturer and your local supplier.  There is nothing wrong with this per se; there is a time and a place for wholesale purchases.  Technical products where severe personal injury is the hazard is no place for these groups however.  By utilizing these sources factory support and service on goods obtained through this avenue could not be available to your company.  Especially where high dollar and high liability items such as fall protection or respiratory protection are concerned, technical support and customer service is extremely important.  After all, live are on the line…quite literally!

I recently discovered a large client who had purchased well over $75,000 worth of brand name fall protection equipment from a supplier whom the client assumed was an authorized distributor of the equipment in question.  He had, in fact, sold a large amount of this equipment to another local company in town with no known detriment.  The client got an excellent price and the product showed up as new as promised.

After a few months, I approached him about a new program that would allow this client to obtain free training from this very same manufacturer in exchange for signing up for a rewards program that would cost him nothing extra.  All that was required of this client was to continue to purchase PPE that was required anyway.  Where it made sense, the client would be asked to ensure the products purchased were those made by this particular manufacturer and from and authorized distributor who would track these purchases on the clients behalf.

Many of you can already see where this is going, I am sure.  Suffice it to say, the client felt that his large purchase of fall protection should be retroactively included.  Understandably, he wanted to take advantage of the $4,000 in free training that could have been made available and chances are, these purchases would have been included if they were purchased from an authorized distributor.  Unfortunately, the supplier was not.  To add insult to injury, it was also discovered that the client did not receive the factory training for the units he purchased.  Rather than spend a whole week figuring out how things worked, this client could have received free training from a factory trained specialist who would have flown to his facility to give one on one instruction to the competent persons who would be responsible for the erection and disassembly of this equipment.

Now, before you get upset with the manufacturer in this tale, you should know that they made the situation right for the customer.  His crews will be receiving the training that would have been immediately available had the product been purchased from an authorized distributor.  The point of this little tale is that the client spent more money on this system by not ensuring that his supplier was an authorized distributor.

 Just because a supplier can get a product, doesn't mean they can get you technical support and help when you need it.  We all know being stranded just isn't fun.  When millions of dollars are on the line and your job schedule is tight, authorized distributors are your best friends.  We know who to contact with questions.  We have the pull that gets your problems solved quickly.  Many times authorized distributors also have the aptitude and knowledge that helps you keep people safe while they work.

No matter your industry, be proactive and ensure your suppliers are authorized distributors for the highly technical products your company uses every day.  You will save money in the long run!