When Outsourcing is The Best Choice

Kevin Pierce

I am a weekend warrior (both in sports and other projects).  With ANX as the largest EDI vendor to the Automotive Aftermarket, I decided to embark on a project over my Thanksgiving holiday that would support both items.  This project would not only feed my inherent love of challenges, but it would also allow me to support the Automotive Aftermarket in a tangible manner by buying parts from numerous vendors.

 

Replacing the Full Suspension on a Four Wheel Drive Truck

My project for the holiday was simple.  Replace the suspension on one of my cars (an FJ Cruiser), turning it into the ultimate all terrain vehicle.  My initial plan was to replace the shocks and springs on the truck, giving it more articulation when encountering deep ruts or large mounds during cross-country adventures.  From this humble beginning, my plans grew to include replacing:

 

• Upper control arms in the front.
• Coilover, adjustable reservoir shocks.
• Rear shocks and new, stiffer springs.
• Rear lower control arms.
• New wheels and tires.

 

To justify buying the other components, I decided to install all items myself (aka in-sourcing).  By putting in a little sweat equity, my total cost would be the same versus paying another person to do the install.  I came armed to this project with good mechanical abilities, related experience, appropriate tools, a couple of instruction manuals and Internet forums with posts by others who previously installed similar items.  The only benchmarking I had, regarding the length of time and complexity, was an Internet post indicating that replacing just the shocks and springs (not all items on my list) was a “3 out of 5 wrenches” task and took two people 6 hours to complete.  I knew I was embarking on this project solo and had more items to install, so I allotted 1.5 days. 

 

The Point When One Thinks, “Outsourcing Was A Better Option!”

I work on my cars and other mechanical items frequently, and while related, this project is definitely a new endeavor.  When at the end of the first day I had only removed the existing hardware, and none of the new components was installed, I realized a couple of truths.  (1) This project is going to take me several days, likely spanning multiple weekends.  (2) I am 100% confident the project would have been completed faster, with lower cost (considering the time I will spend) and in a more professional manner if I had outsourced to a local, professional mechanic who specializes in suspension work!

 

EDI Managed Services    

 As I was discovering these “truths” about my project, I realized that many of our customers discover similar truths daily about their EDI operations.  ANX has several existing and new EDI clients who inquire about more efficient and lower cost strategies to run their EDI operations.  As you can imagine there is not a rote answer for all client situations; however, we do encounter many clients who are considering outsourcing their EDI operations to a “professional,” like ANX, whose focus and specialization is 100% B2B collaboration.  Clients considering outsourcing do so for various reasons.  Some include:

 

• The need to comply with new EDI standards (XML, EDIFACT, etc.) or communication protocols (AS2, SFTP), but no significant experience with these standards.
• The desire to upgrade infrastructure and technology capabilities, but a constrained budget that limits spending.
• A business that is growing internationally and will face new, complex regulatory requirements for international e-commerce.
• Constraints in personnel applied to EDI operations, but ever-increasing requirements to onboard new trading partners, enable new transactions, and meet service levels.

 

While these companies have knowledgeable associates, good tools, training, manuals, etc. (similar to me with my project), they are realizing that outsourcing to a professional EDI service provider frequently lowers total cost, while providing better service and significantly increasing capability.  If only I had this realization four days ago! 

 

Oh well, back to the garage for me.