63 Cover story

ISSUE 63 - MAY 2010 > COVER STORY

Since its acquisition by the Ta Chen Group in 2008, Brighton-Best’s global operations have undergone a transformation. The opening of a custom built 60,000 square feet warehouse in the UK’s West Midlands signals a new approach to the European market. Brighton Best International outlines its vision.

Inventory

The newly formed Brighton-Best International (BBI) is no longer limited to alloy socket screws. We now carry a full range of medium carbon, low carbon, and stainless hex heads, sockets, nuts, washers, and more. The vision for the new BBI is to be a “one-stop-shop” for all fastener purchases. Purchasing managers no longer have to cut separate purchase orders for all the different product categories. Through the simple reduction in the number of purchase orders placed, our distributors will be able to increase their own efficiencies.

With our website, customers are able to see the real-time availability of our inventory. With over one million square feet of warehouse space globally, including a brand new, 60,000 square feet facility in the UK, why incur unnecessary holding and storing costs? We welcome our customers to use our inventory as their own.

Quality

“We are all connected in the distribution chain by trust and mutual reliance. If BBI forces its suppliers to sell at unsustainable costs or its customers to buy at non-competitive prices, the chain will be weakened and eventually break. In order for BBI to succeed, its customers as well as its suppliers must thrive.”

BBI only partners with proven, high quality suppliers and manufacturers throughout the world. BBI has been working with many of its suppliers for over 30 years. The relationship is one of partnership and cooperation where the supplier and BBI both grow through stability and economies of scale.

When a master distributor forces its manufacturers to price at its break-even or no profit point, the factories will find a way to make money by cutting costs. A lesser grade base material may be used, tooling on machines may be replaced less frequently, sample tests may be conducted on every 10,000 pieces rather than 1,000 pieces, etc. Businesses all need to be profitable to support their employees, their factories, and their families.

We look to build a true partnership with our supplier base, and by definition of a true partnership, we ensure that our suppliers will make money by doing business with Brighton-Best. A supplier who is always scraping by will lead to not only poor quality products over time, but will also not be sustainable.

Pricing

Most fastener distribution companies concentrate on perfecting one business model: Distribution. At Brighton-Best, we understand that for us to be good at distribution we have to first understand manufacturing. Price increases from suppliers and manufacturers are not arbitrary or irrational but rather stems from the pricing of raw materials and costs of conversion. We have built a team of executives and staff who have dedicated and deep experience /knowledge in both fastener manufacturing and distribution. By understanding each cost component of fastener manufacturing, BBI can ensure that it will be able to source at the most competitive pricing and therefore provide pricing stability to its customers now as well as
in the future.

Service

Customer service has always been a part of Brighton-Best’s culture and is ingrained in each and every employee at BBI. Our goal is to return a customer’s loyalty and commitment through excellent customer service at all levels. “We believe that great inventory and pricing can only take a company so far. If you cannot provide the world-class customer service and delivery to your customers, they will eventually take their business elsewhere.” We strive to build a relationship of trust with every customer:

• The trust that the inventory will be available.
• The trust that the pricing will be most competitive.
• The trust that the product will be delivered when requested.
• The trust that the products are high quality and from a reputable source.
• The trust that BBI will be around to provide the highest possible level of customer service for the next one hundred years.

At BBI, every order, large or small, is important.

Technology

Technology is the core of who we are as a company. Ta Chen and Brighton-Best have over 40 IT professionals in Taiwan and the United States to support our growth. All our systems from the order entry system to our warehouse management and inventory controls are all developed in-house. The benefits of having an internal IT group are enormous as we are not reliant on inflexible third party providers to develop and enhance our programs. Our IT system is a living fabric, always evolving to better meet the needs of our company and our customers.

“The acquisition of Brighton-Best by Ta Chen has opened the doors to new technologies that we could not have imagined in the past,” says industry veteran and BBI vice president of sales, Steve Andrasik.

Many people wonder why BBI pushes the web so hard. Certainly the web offers benefits to Brighton-Best. It allows our sales force to be more customer service oriented and true salesmen rather than just order takers. However, the true benefit to the web is to our distributors.

The web is a portal to our market place. From this portal, our customers will be able to see the full breadth and depth of our inventory, find pricing, and reduce their own procurement costs by minimising quoting time. Available 24/7, the web allows our distributors to utilise Brighton-Best’s one million square feet of warehouse space as their own without any hold-time on the phone. There are other benefits such as finding material certifications and the ability to check order status and track shipments.

Conclusion

The strength of Brighton-Best is the ability to redefine the channel and to build efficiencies throughout the distribution process. With our suppliers, we looked to build efficiencies by providing consistent orders so they can better plan their production cycle. In terms of warehouse distribution, we have more than doubled our regional warehouse square footage to eliminate warehouse to warehouse transfer costs. And for our distributors, we now offer our web portal through which our customers can rely on our technological platform as their own. Our primary goal is to remove excess and unnecessary costs from the distribution chain so that we can pass through savings onto our distributors. This is the reason why we are able to provide a high quality product at the most competitive pricing.

Also included in this issue is an interview with Robert Shieh, president of Brighton Best International - page 82.

To read the full magazine click the digital link - top right

The new

Brighton Best International

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