Considering Products, People And Programs Can Be Ticket To Lowest Overall Cost

摘要

Many companies in the natural gas industry have traditionally relied on low bids in purchasing lubricants—but this may not be the lowest-cost way of doing business. In today's cutthroat climate of down-sizing, mergers and acquisitions, savvy managers are looking at every angle to improve their competitive stance. That means looking at the total cost of operations, not the line-item prices. Many people think of lubrication as a collection of products, but this is only the starting point. The people and the programs that come with the products can be even more important, as both Shell Oil Company (one of the owners of Equilon Enterprises LLC) and PanEnergy discovered when the two companies negotiated a lubrication contract a few years ago.