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I like that C&H is an option to find many industrial parts and supplies. They should improve on the order processing side though and not pass on headaches to clients.

Strengths: C&H has a wide list of materials in their catalogue. Their order website is very easy to use. Customer Service Representatives are attentive to order requirements.

Needs to improve: I noticed that C&H finds it hard processing complex orders that include multiple components or large quantities. On a certain order that I placed, some pieces didn't arrive, the wrong parts were delivered again and again, and back orders weren't communicated ahead of time.

Grainger is a very useful supplier. They are strategically located and so customers find it easy to get their supplies.

Strengths: Grainger carries a very wide range of industrial tools in their catalogue. They carry popular brands that are local and of good quality and reputation. Generally, Grainger is located everywhere in the US. I like that I can do will calls.

Needs to improve: Like any other supplier, there were some hiccups in order processing (i.e. not getting the right parts, not being informed that there are back orders).

Great! Olander worked on a VMI process (Vendor Managed Inventory) for my previous employer. They are very helpful and understand business goals.

Strengths: Olander is another one-stop shop for just about everything that a manufacturer needs. They carry mechanical, electrical, commercial and all industrial tools, equipment and parts. Their ordering website is very easy to use. Most of the time, the products are in stock and can delivery next day. Olander's costs are slightly lower than McMasterr Carr.

Needs to improve: So far, I've not had any negative experience with Olander.

Overall, working with McMasterr Carr is very smooth. I'm sure other buyers and engineers out there will agree. When you need something, check McMasterr Carr. :)

Strengths: McMaster is like a one-stop shop for just about everything that a manufacturer needs. You can find mechanical, electrical, commercial and all industrial tools, equipment and parts on their catalogue. Their ordering website is very easy to use. Most of the time, the products are in stock and can delivery next day.

Needs to improve: Custom manufacturing, in my experience, is not their expertise. I did ask them to work on certain aluminum extrusions. I didn't receive feedback from the customer service reps after my initial call.

Great project management. It feels good to know that many eyes and hands are taking care of our requirements until full completion.

Strengths: Their organizational or project management skills are notable. I have a big project going on right now with PhiHong. They have dedicated a project manager for my company. We hold weekly meetings attended by representatives from different departments. PhiHong is on top of their deliverables and timeline.

Needs to improve: They need to improve on the sourcing of their raw components. Leadtime is very long. They will need to a bit more aggressive.

Mohawk is a very effective partner/supplier. We plan together, we meet on a regular basis to discuss forecasts, inventory, production roadmap, spikes on sales, quality etc. Mohawk will make impossible things happen. We were a great team.

Strengths: Mohawk Paper, the one located in Cohoes, NY is a pool of very smart people. From the technical team down to sales group, I learned a lot from them. Mohawk has formulated several custom paper for our printing applications. They are leaders in the industry that understand which types of paper can optimize the performance of different printing engines such as iGen (Xerox) and Indigo (HP). They do carry a wide variety of products too. They were flexible in terms of leadtime. They work with you to ensure your supply requirements are taken cared of. There's many instances that I'd run out of supply, and the Mohawk team made things impossible - worked nights, weekends, worked through all other projects in queue to ensure that a machine time is dedicated to my purchase order.

Needs to improve: I don't have weaknesses that I could think of, honestly. They performed very well as a major paper supplier for my employer.

This supplier goes the extra mile. My account rep made things happen. He was able to avert many line down situations because of his proactiveness and sense of urgency.

Strengths: Gillis & Lane did VMI (Vendor-Managed Inventory) with my previous employer. My rep does not replenish our supplies; he has a "nose for the news" which means that he knows past the #s. He knows our demand, he knows how we operate, he knows when we will run out of materials, so he beefs up replenishment when necessary. In dire situations, the rep would even open the warehouse late at night or on weekends, will drive a forklift, and use his van to deliver products to our warehouse. I'm not kidding :)

Needs to improve: There are some inconsistencies on pricing. I sometimes was not made aware ahead of time of price increases that are going to take effect.

I recommend Clearbags. Their products have archival features. Perfect for photographic-related companies.

Strengths: Customization is one of their strengths. They do carry stock products, but I needed a custom size plastic pouch for our photobooks. My rep was able to help generate mock-ups from me from China. The communication and overall handling of the product is good.

Needs to improve: Communication could be improved. There were are few surprises (i.e. I wasn't informed right away of changes to leadtime).

Overall, I am very pleased with Temkin's way of handling our business requirements. They are a big player in the market, supplying bags for large retail companies within the US, so doing business with a smaller company like my previous employer is something that is well appreciated.

Strengths: Temkin is a great supplier that it doesn't eye a customer based on size or amount of business that you're going to award them. I purchased photobook bags from Temkin. The total worth of business is not that large compared to other fast-moving goods, but Temkin took care of our needs like it's worth billions of dollars. The account manager who handled my account is very accomodating in terms of reviewing our business performance, extended us price reductions, and other replenishment programs that allowed us to maintain a continuous flow of inventory. The Customer Service rep assigned to me was also very pleasant and on time.

Needs to improve: The only issue I had with Temkin is on their minimum order quantity. The MOQ on certain bags I purchased are too many that they would last me sometimes over a year.

There's not a lot of flexibility offered by their products. When you decide to use their equipment, you do have to use their lamination film. In many cases, this isn't an easy task for manufacturing companies, especially since D&K's lamination film have always had very finicky performance. D&K, at least in my experience, has been the most problematic material I've dealt with. D&K wasn't able to establish a tolerance (i.e. thickness, tackiness etc) for their product, and worse, when we ask for technical assistance, they push back and say that it is our manufacturing processes that is wrong. When we do ask for guidance on certain issues we're encountering, they push back and say that it's our fault because we refused to buy the high-speed equipment (which is 5x more expensive than their lower-grade equipment that they sold first) they;ve been trying to offer us. I think there's better approaches to communicating this. NOTE: None of the films that we can't use on our production line were picked up by D&K for credit or replacement.

Strengths: D&K not only manufactures lamination film but it also manufactures it's own laminating equipment. They carry on their line a variety of models for different applications. I used D&K's lamination film for laminating photobook hard covers.

Needs to improve: D&K definitely has to improve a lot on their quality. They need to set tolerances that are achievable. They need to adhere to these tolerances and if these specifications are not met, they should own up to their misses. D&K should have the accountability for failures on their quality and inspection processes. They also should maintain a "true partner" attitude rather than just aiming to sell equipment.

Overall, my experience is good compared to previous supplier. I appreciate their willingness to cooperate and help us on technical issues. They are one of the easiest suppliers I've worked with.

Strengths: I bought BOPP lamination film rolls from Cosmo for the production of photobooks. There are many players in the market similar to Cosmo, but Cosmo has the most reliable technical team. There was an obvious support and flexibility from their team to help us understand the issues (i.e. ghosting or matte streak marks) that we had in our production facilities. I didn't have headaches getting credits or replacements from them. They came to our facility and looked at our processes and equipments used. They did the inspection themselves of the rolls we have in MRB. Pricing is also competitive.

Needs to improve: Communication needs some improvement. I had some critical shipments that I needed shipped overnight that left ground. I ended up doubling my order. It would have been best too that in cases where shipments are missed, that Cosmo shoulder the expedite charges.

I didn't have an experience that is worth recommendable. The sales representative was not on top of our requirement, processed the PO late, is unable to track shipment, and delivered the wrong parts to us.

Strengths: Valin is a distributor of reputable brands such as Bosch Rexroth for aluminum extrusion parts. It has a wide variety of offerings on precise measurement and production and process heating.

Needs to improve: This may not be true to all sales representatives, but I didn't receive a good experience with the rep that I worked with. There were several delays before my PO was processed. They weren't on top of the shipping status of my order. They delivered late. And the parts delivered were not the one that we need.

The failure to deliver paper on time during our busiest season cost my company and myself a lot of headaches. It could have been averted if proper planning or closer attention to detail was performed by everyone involved. I would say that GPA gave me the worst experience thus far in terms of my failure to keep my production facility going.

Strengths: Knowledge and Industry Expertise - GPA has a strong presence in the paper industry. They started as a label-maker company but has expanded in the areas of other digital and inkjet paper. They are a manufacturer so it gives them more control over their production leadtimes, technical data and pricing.

Quick Turn-Around - GPA is very flexible in terms of producing small volume and quick turns for samples.

Presence Abroad - They have relationships with big overseas papermills, allowing customers access to larger catagolue of products and services.

Needs to improve: Unable to deliver on time - GPA was not able to deliver on their commitment. There was even an instance when they couldn't figure out where an entire container of paper from Europe was. We ran out of paper in our lab which caused us a lot of money. Inaccurate Inventory Data - GPA's inventory report was not capturing correct information of what's on hand and on order, thus making it difficult to understand our true inventory position. My team that I worked with was unable to dedicate a supply to my company, allowing other clients to have access and purchase paper for what could have been ours. I was constantly running out of supplies. Weak Account Head - In comparison to my other key paper suppliers, the account head assigned to us wasn't as strong and in tune to our business requirement. He doesn't possess the same proactive attitude, the sense of urgency is very weak and communication was poor.

Overall experience is good, but I've had many challenging experiences with this supplier. They work with local mills, that's their edge if you need fast turn around.

Strengths: BCI is the ONLY manufacturer of foamed-boards in the U.S. There are no other players in the market (at least during the time I was working with them) which makes them a leader in that area.

They have converting facilities in L.A., Ohio and Chicago which are good strategic locations to support our requirements.

Needs to improve: They are not very flexible in terms of pricing reviews or reductions. I always needed to absorb the cost increases they've received from the mill or from other sources. The sales person assigned to me wasn't very attuned to our requirements. It was a constant struggle to get what we need. The customer service rep assigned in the East Coast is more responsive than the one in L.A. I had many instances when I have to do cross-country orders from their east coast team to support our west coast facility. Leadtime is also very long.

My overall experience is great. They are one of the easiest teams to work with. They helped me get out of an ugly situation as well during our busiest period. They worked 3 shifts and even on weekends in order to complete and ship our order.

Strengths: Leader in the Industry - EcoFibers has machineries that allow quick turn productions of large volume endsheet or any other paper products.
Quick Turn on Quotes - I worked directly with the VP of the company, and he is always on time in terms of submitting quotations.
Reasonable Price - I always get prices that are within and sometimes below our targets. EcoFibers has also been open in establishing a volume rebate program with us.
Local Sales Team - EcoFibers is in MA but there are area sales managers that I was able to meet right away if I have questions or concerns.
Quality-Oriented Team - EcoFibers has always given quality of their product as their primary focus. There were instances of questionable quality of products delivered to our facility. A quality team was sent to our facilities to inspect the products. We received replacement/credit for all materials that didn't pass inspection.

Needs to improve: Level of adaptation to technology by customer service team. We weren't able to initiate an EDI-type of process with EcoFibers because the customer service team's skill levels are not up to the challenge.

It was a successful relationship with DDK/Tap Packaging Solutions. The fact that majority of what I know today as a Sr. Buyer/Planner, primarily in the book-binding industry, is because of this team. I owe what I know to them.

Strengths: Industry Knowledge and Expertise - D. Davis Kenny Co which is now TAP Packaging Solutions (headquarters in Cleveland, OH) has a very strong operations management and sales team. This company has helped develop products for my employer and myself. Their technical background paved way for us to understand the correct type of machineries that we need to procure and deploy on our printing facilities. Their knowledge of the supply chain and the different resources (i.e. glue supplier, endleaf reinforcement supplier) they have was very well appreciated too.
Customer Service - This supplier gave top-notch customer service. They are one of the few suppliers I've worked with that will go the extra mile to ensure that our needs are taken cared of. A particular example is when I have an urgent delivery that needs to happen next day. We've already past the FedEx cut off time for pick ups. The Operations Manager went to a FedEx office to drop of the package. :)
Vast Catalogue - DDK or TAP Packaging Solutions does photobook covers, folders, photo album covers, menu covers, and many different kinds of packaging supplies.

Needs to improve: I would say that DDK/TAP Packaging Solutions could do some improvements on their reporting side. While I was still doing business with them, they are using JD Edwards ERP system. I've not used that system but I've observed that it doesn't allow the supplier to provide me with easily generated and concise reports that would have rendered both of us efficient and quick in reviewing demand vs. supply.

Xpedx is the #1 supplier that I've worked with in my 10 years in the Supply Chain field. Xpedx is unique in the sense that they understand our business requirements to the core making them understand our concerns and goals.

Strengths: Strategic Presence - Xpedx is under the umbrella of iPaper which has a strong and strategic presence all over the U.S. They are everywhere, thus, making sourcing and delivery of products very convenient.

Expertise in the market - Xpedx has a smart and talented pool of technical workers, as well as sales people in areas of both digital paper and packaging.

Customer Service - I've worked with Xpedx for the last 7 years and I commend their customer service team for breathing and living the mission vision of the company I worked for. Their sense of urgency is unbeatable.

Flexibility - The team that serviced my requirements are the easiest to work with. They address quality issues right away without the hassle of push backs that one can normally get from other suppliers. They own up to their misses and address them on a timely manner. They have also helped me get out of ugly situations that would have caused my production lab to shut down. Xpedx has a strong relationships with the big paper mills in the US and even abroad that allowed me to get improved leadtime and delivery of digital paper products.

Vast Catalogue of products - we purchased packaging materials (i.e. corrugated boxes, mailers made of SBS carton, envelopes and a variety of digital paper used on calendar, greeting cards and photobooks). They not only sell products but they have a development or design team, in packaging for example, and has helped create amazing designs and output for many of our products. They have also helped customize formulation of different paper with paper mills overseas.

Needs to improve: Xpedx isn't a paper manufacturer, thus, they are subject to pricing structures and supply chain challenges from the mills of raw material suppliers that they work with.

Quick turn around on our requests. This is very helpful in a very past-paced environment.

Strengths: I've only been working with Prototype for 3 months now, but I have since been impressed by their speed at quoting and overall leadtime. The individuals that I've worked with are very professional and on top of my requirements. I recommend ProtoCafe to anyone who needs quick prototype work.

Needs to improve: I would probably say that they can work on competitiveness - meaning being ahead and volunteering their ideas or thoughts to clients, I.e. What would work better in a lower cost but same quality.