Dan Cook
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Auto components can be a nightmare to ship overseas. Take certain Bundy Group brake and fuel fluid system carrying products. When fully assembled, various thin metal components are "sort of like a bundle of semi-cooked spaghetti...and that doesn't nest or stack well for packaging and shipping," said Dan Cook, Global Commercial Director, Bundy Group, U.S.A.
On a global playing field, production volumes and destination points weigh heavily on whether or not products are imported. "In an emerging market like Brazil, freight duty and taxes—typically 30-35%, although it varies with the components—can make it expensive to import," Cook said.
Producing locally can be mighty inviting under those described circumstances, according to Cook: "We usually never do the whole product as an import. The exception might be if Columbia only wanted 2000 connectors a year. Final assembly is (commonly) done as close to the customer as possible."
A customer keeping an open mind is also helpful to doing business globally. Consider the occasion when an OEM selling a pick-up truck in Argentina wanted a quote for a product coated with zinc and aluminum. The Bundy price was significantly above the automaker's target price range.
"We produce every coating that's used on brake tubes, but we don't produce every coating everywhere," Cook explained. "In this case, we suggested an alternative (a plastic paint coating) that is produced in Brazil. What the OEM (initially) wanted was a coating used in North America exclusively. Unless it's imported, that (desired coating) is not produced outside North America." He added that OEM preferences frequently are based on product familiarity.
Friendly persuasion toward the Brazil-produced coating landed Bundy the overseas job. "You have to be flexible, and you have to look at each case," Cook said.
Kami Buchholz
