BLARE PRODUCTS

Blare Products was founded by Tim Blare, who had invented parts to help him reduce the job site downtime occurring on his fleet of Caterpillar Skid Loaders. His designs also lessened the high costs of after-market replacement parts and repairs. When it came time to upgrade their rubber and plastic wheels, they realized that upgrading the materials was the logical solution, but the cost for replacing the rubber with aluminum was prohibitive. Blare’s market research showed that contractor/operators of this type of equipment would pay 2 to 3 times more for improved materials, but the market price Blare encountered was 20 times the cost of the original.

Needing to find alternatives, Blare began its search for a suitable partner to manage engineering, sourcing, off-shore manufacturing, and supply chain. They also had limited engineering capability and sought a solution where they could reliably send a sample, verbally describe what they needed to accomplish, and rely on their Chinese manufacturers to provide an acceptable, quality solution. They began by comparing a number of companies that had capacity to manage overseas manufacturing as well as the ability to offer product development/engineering assistance. They selected E-BI because of the E-BI GSCM system, after evaluating companies that offered varying levels of web-based capability.

According to Blare, no other competitor offered as complete a solution as E-BI. “We can easily log on and see every step of our order, and I mean every step. Within our own staff we have half a dozen people use the GSCM system, from order status to engineering drawings to managing our shipments. We can see every movement of our product. It really is amazing”. Blare noted the difference between E-BI and Competitors. Orders were handled efficiently, on time, and Blare’s questions were answered on time, supported with pictures via email when needed. Access was freely given for Blare to communicate directly with suppliers. “E-BI gives us the advantage of being able to drop ship from the factory to any location, which is very powerful for us. I would highly recommend E-BI to anyone who wants competitive pricing, attention to detail, and a partner who can help make the manufacturing process go as smooth as possible,” Blare said.