Compare/Contrast: Construction Suppliers

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Mom and Pop Shop or the Giant Building firms are plagued with many decisions when taking on projects whether it is planning and estimating, OSHA standards, or even hiring the right people for the job. One question is always a key factor in getting a job done both in a timely manner and as a profitable venture. Where does the firm want to get their supplies? All building firms go through bids with suppliers and weigh all the options before contracting a supplier for each job. The choices basically break down to two groups in the industry; both are very similar in the fact that each supplier carries a large quantity of goods, which range in lower quality to the top end supplies. Depending on the project, each group can provide the same products, but at different levels of service; it is this level of service which makes or breaks it for the supplier. The three major factors that a firm is going to base their decision on is the bid and the overall prices associated with their supplies, customer service, and dependability of the suppliers stock. The first type of supplier is the commercial-national dealers like Lowes or Home Depot. These large national suppliers are a dime-a-dozen and basically in every large city in America; so there is a great possibility that the supplier can be assumed to be dependable and available to keep the project flowing with materials at all times. The downfall to the large national suppliers is that the prices are typically elevated and are not marketed to sell to large firms. These large suppliers demographic are to the homeowners and small business owners who live in the area and their warehouses show how they cater to their customers. Most products are package as single items or in smaller quantity packaging per item and priced much higher to “nickel and dime” the consumer. The third and possibly most important factor to the bidding

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