FAQs

General Questions

What is your standard lead-time?

It is difficult to provide a standard lead-time without specific details regarding the particular part, the raw material type, material gage, part finish, and or number of secondary assembly operations that may be required. While the manufacturing lead-time is within our control, some raw materials have extended lead times. The lead-times for raw materials are beyond our control, and dependent upon the steel and wire mills capacity and backlog, we may request extended raw material authorization from our customers to cover larger raw material buys.

What is your on-time delivery record?

Our on-time delivery record is tracked, monitored, and communicated as we work to meet a 100% on-time delivery goal. Delivery can be affected by our customer's schedules and ability to provide adequate lead-time. Currently, our on-time delivery record for the last year averages between 98% and 100% based upon an average of shipments per month. In many cases, with customer authorization, a safety stock level is maintained to accommodate schedule fluctuations to meet a 100% on-time delivery goal.

How do you control manufacturing processes?

Every part we manufacture starts with a complete review of the print, tolerances, customer specific part requirements and customer expectations to insure full compliance. Documentation includes setup sheets, bills of materials, testing requirements, and packaging specifications. If requested we will schedule a kickoff meeting with you to add any insight, experience, or knowledge which might be useful.

What type materials do you work with?

We work with a variety of ferrous and non-ferrous materials. We are able to order, certify, and work with most ASTM, JIN, and DIN specs by our customer’s requirements. These include, to name a few: Cold and hot rolled steel, stainless steel, aluminum, galvanized, tin plate, brass, phosphorous bronze, beryllium copper, copper, nickel. These come in a variety of flat stock, with various edge conditions, tempers or hardness as required.

Will you use our raw material?

We inventory various sizes of cold-rolled steel. However, In some cases customers provide us with specialized material, or material supplied due to the benefits of their high volume discount. We are happy to provide a quote "Less material". Final piece part yield can be slightly less than expected due to standard setup scrap, and coil change loss, and development as part of the standard manufacturing process, so we request an allowance of 5% overage when calculating material requirements.

Will raw material affect lead-times?

Lead-time varies based upon economic conditions, backlog at the mills and tolerances of the required materials (i.e. commercial or non-standard size or type), etc. When possible we will work with our customers to change prints to the most common raw material gages so that general availability is more common and lead-times become less of a factor. For special order items we will request extended raw material authorization as some time-times for materials can exceed 14-16 weeks at time.

Are there minimums for raw material?

For non-standard gages, finishes, or small order sizes minimum charges or weight can apply. This usually will affect smaller order sizes for prototypes or short runs and will be quoted accordingly. When this occurs we will notify the customer and offer the minimum economic order quantity to fully consume the minimum buy. Minimum buys also come into affect for "Service Parts" after regular production has ceased. In these cases, lead-time and costs will be communicated to the customer with options to adjust the service quantity to the best economic order quantity.

Can you guarantee rust free parts?

Metal parts are subject to oxidation. To guarantee "Rust Free" parts, a finishing operation such as painting or plating is required. Special packaging considerations be necessary also and will be quoted separately upon request. Parts can be oiled and packed in plastic bags, or packed with desiccant adding to the protection of the parts, but possibly not eliminating all surface oxidation.

Assembly and Finishing Services

What assembly services do you offer?

A variety of secondary assembly services including tapping, fastener installation, plastics assembly, grommets, the deburring, labeling, mechanical fastening, and special packing.

What finishing services do you offer?

Bahrs offers finishing services to the parts we manufacture. The most common are painting, plating and heat treating. We can provide a wide range of secondary finishing services and will be glad to discuss all special needs required for both assembly and finishing.

Engineering, Design and Project Management

Can you accept my drawings electronically, and in which format?

Yes. Our preferred files are DXF, IGES, and STP files, however, we can convert most CAD files for use.

Can you provide special packing?

Yes we can. We will customize packaging to fit any specific design or engineering standard to insure the product is presented at the point of use in a manner acceptable for assembly. This includes cell packing, vacuum pack, candy tray packing, and most other packaging specified. We also have worked with returnable packaging programs as required by our customers. As with finishing and assembly services, we will be glad to discuss any special packaging requirements.

Tooling

Can you accept die or tooling transfers?

We have in place our Tool and Die Transfer program to handle standard transfers. In the event of more urgent requirements when timing is critical, tooling can be pre-examined at a 3rd party location to insure our ability to absorb and provide an accurate quote prior to the transfer. Considerations include shut height, dimensional limitations such as length and width as well as a review of the drawings to determine fit and overall compatibility.

Do you make your own tooling?

For stamping customers, Bahrs Die & Stamping has complete Tool and Die making capabilities in house. This allows us complete control over all aspects of the die design, engineering and building of the die and tooling.

Will there be additional tooling charges after the primary tool is built?

There are no additional tooling charges for normal production once the tooling is completed. The exception would be for any unanticipated engineering changes requested from the customer. Tooling does have an engineered "Die Life". If volumes are exceed those originally anticipated, or if the life of the program exceeds the expected life provided at time of quote, tooling may have to be refurbished or replaced. In these cases the customer will be notified and adequate time to budget properly.

What is the lead-time for tooling?

Tooling lead-time varies based upon the particular part design, complexity, and tooling type. Generally, lead-times for progressive dies run 6-15 weeks. Holiday periods can also affect the lead-time.

Quality Assurance

What type of quality systems you have in place?

We have total management quality systems in place, certified by independent third party auditors. Our system encompasses not only the production areas, but also that of the support departments including documented procedures for administration and maintenance.

What PPM (parts-per-million) quality level can I expect?

Our goal is always zero defects with a "Zero" PPM Level. Depending upon your particular part, design, tolerances and the processing limitations (i.e. batch plating, heat treating, etc), the actual PPM many be higher than zero. In many cases secondary sorts, manual and automated, can be included in the standard routing to meet targeted PPM requirements for a particular application.

What is Your Quality Assurance Policy?

Our Quality Department will be happy to assist you with any quality concerns you may have after receipt of product. A formal Quality Process will be initiated to document your concern. After an initial investigation is completed, we will work with you to resolve the issue and insure the problem does not reoccur through formal corrective actions and adjustments to our quality control plans. If required, a "Return Material Authorization" will be provided should product have to be returned to us.

Scheduling, Orders, Customer Service

How long is the quote price valid?

Quoted prices are valid for 30 days from time of quote, unless otherwise specified. Due to market conditions of raw material and other outside services, the quoted prices are subject to change based upon conditions beyond our control. When a purchase order is issued a formal "Contract Review" process will begin to come to an agreement for future pricing for both short (Spot Buy) and long term blanket order agreements.

Do you have a minimum order size?

We do not have the minimum order size by "Quantity of parts". Price options will be provided for various order sizes and release quantities for our customers to determine the most attractive economic order quantity.

Does pricing include delivery?

In most cases the selling price does not include the freight. Unless otherwise specified the quoted price is based upon freight F.O.B., our dock. We ship via our customer's specified carriers, or recommend the most economic method.

Is volume pricing available?

At the time of the quote, price options will be provided based upon minimum run & ship quantities. Estimated annual volume may be considered. Pricing may be adjusted in the event that the customer's actual releases & orders do not meet the quoted "Minimum Run Quantity". Prices quoted are not valid for future requests less than the minimum run quantity. In these cases, the part will be requoted based upon actual quantity and associated outside costs at the time of request (i.e. raw material, outside processing, freight, etc.). The price quoted does not include additional applicable surcharges note on the quote. Additional documentation requests may affect pricing. Any quote that includes freight cost is subject to a quarterly review and adjustment based upon actual freight costs, and buyer acknowledges prices will be adjusted accordingly or included and accepted as a surcharge.Pricing may change if the volumes increase enough to affect the purchased costs of raw material, freight, or outside process costs and services. Long-term price agreements, or blanket contracts are available.

How do you deal with fluctuations in raw material costs?

The quoted piece price is based upon market costs of purchased materials/services (raw material, components, plating, freight, etc.) as of the quote date. We reserve the right to reset the base price upon actual market costs at time of production start. A monthly surcharge will be billed separately if market costs exceed quoted base costs of purchased materials. In some cases when mutually agreed upon, quarterly pricing or spot buy pricing may be available in lieu of monthly surcharges.

What are the standard Terms and Conditions?

Net, 30 days. To maintain an open account will require a credit application.

Do you offer inventory to allow for larger run quantities?

If adequate authorization is provided to cover larger production runs, we will run larger batches and inventory a portion of the production run. The terms of this agreement are negotiable on a mutually agreeable basis. Firm ship dates must be provided to cover the additional inventory being held for future ship dates.

Shipping, Receiving, & Packaging

What are the hours for the Shipping and Receiving Department?

Receiving Hours: 7:30 am - 3:00 pm (M-F). Shipping Hours 7:30 am – 3:30 pm (M-F) or by special appointment.

Do you ship internationally?

We work with specified freight forwarding companies or brokers as directed by our customers.

Can you provide advance-shipping notices?

Yes. We can provide electronic advance shipping notices upon request via e-mail and fax. Automated tracking for shipments can also be setup, if offered by the carrier, such as UPS, Fed X, and L-T-L freight companies if the services are available. For specific shipments we will also provide the "Tracking number" or "PRO number", upon request.

Do you have the ability to mark each particular part with an I.D. or Tracking Code?

Depending on the part size and type, we do have the ability to mark parts with an i.d., date code, or part number.