The decision whether to make or buy a part has never been an easy one to make. Today it is more complex than ever, yet it has never been more crucial to make the correct decision. Complicating factors include the economy, the emergence of new techniques and technologies, the availability of new materials and the lack of availability of some old ones, government regulations and, perhaps most important of all, the rapidly growing competence of specialist manufacturers in such fields as metal stamping, forging, die casting, etc.

Marvin Wortell, president of Triton and of AMSA (left) opens critical Make Or Buy seminar conducted by Clem Caditz (right).

The fact is that many, if not most, make or buy decisions go wrong. They go wrong for a number of reasons. In one extreme case a buyer complained that a supplier's plating charges were excessive. He was able to "prove" quite conclusively that this was so by an averaging method. So fallacious was the method that it indicated that the 25-foot high Picasso mobile in the Chicago loop could be plated for 52 cents.

Beware of False Gospels

The underlying causes of most bad make or buy decisions can be traced to the unquestioning acceptance as gospel truth of some highly invalid doctrines. The most invidious are these:

1. Usually we make more money on what we make than on what we buy.
2. As a rule, the more we buy, the less we make.
3. When we are busy, we should send out work. When times are slack, we should bring it back inhouse.
4. We can make the profit the vendor is making.
5. By making, we retain tighter control of quality and delivery.
6. Diversification is always desirable.