Latest / The Buyer's Side with Fexingo: Procurement, Sourcing, and B2B Purchasing Decisions
How One Buyer Cut Costs by Rethinking Supplier Lead Times
In Episode 170 of The Buyer's Side, Lucas and Luna explore an overlooked cost lever: supplier lead times. Most buyers treat lead time as a fixed constraint, but a mid-size manufacturer in Ohio turned it into a negotiation tool. By mapping the full lead-time chain—from raw material to final delivery—they discovered that 40% of the quoted lead time was buffer, not production time. They used that insight to negotiate shorter lead times without paying a premium, saving 12% on inventory holding costs and avoiding a costly expedite fee. Lucas breaks down the three-part lead-time breakdown, the…
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