I. Company Background:

Swisher Systems Corporation (SSC) is an industrial heating company which was established in 1949. SSC is an innovator of flexible heating products, especially with its knit and braided heating element. The heating element is multi-stranded resistance wire that is knit and braided with fibreglass and is the base technology for almost all SSC products.

SSC is known in the industry as being the highest quality flexible heat supplier which produces control devices and heating cable. SSC’s competitive advantage is on the quality products which maintains higher and safer temperature that are more flexible than their competitors or other products in the market.

II. Facts of the Case:

A. Mike Watkins
 Director of Purchasing for Swisher Systems Corporation
 Solely responsible for purchasing all materials of SSC.
 Has various experiences in material management prior to SSC.
 Has more than thirty-five (35) years of industrial purchasing experience.

B. Products at Swisher Systems

 All SSC products are solutions to industrial heating applications
 SSC manufactures fifty percent (50%) standard products and fifty percent (50%) custom orders. o The custom products can be applied to virtually all industries that require heating products. Industries like semi-conductors, food processing, medical, petrochemical and others.
 Biggest contributor of SSC’s sales is the cloth heating jacket, though expensive compared to its competitors. The cloth heating jacket is labour intensive whereas the silicone jackets (manufactured by SSC competitors) which are machine manufactured, which explains SSC’s price positioning.

C. SSC Purchasing and Purchasing Process

Since Mr. Watkins is the only person in the Purchasing, he performs all the necessary tasks. Mr. Watkins implements his own five (5) important criteria for qualifying a