A 5-MINUTE STORY · ILLUSTRATION
Your best customer buys it elsewhere, because they don't know you make it.
The cheapest new work is in accounts that already trust you, and they only buy what they know you do.
Wrenfield Precision is an invented machine shop. For years it has machined one customer's handpiece housings, and the next four ops on that part run on its own floor. Pick the work you want, then scroll. We'll read the customer's bill of materials, line by line.
SCROLL TO READ THE DRAWING ↓
AS SAID · TUESDAY, 10:15 AM
Eight years on line 3.
For eight years Wrenfield has machined Vantry Surgical's handpiece housings. The customer has a new buyer, and she asks for a plant tour. At the vacuum furnace she stops.
“You heat treat here? We send that out. The marking goes with it, and the assembly goes to another vendor.”
The new buyer · illustration · invented companies
Her bill of materials has a SOURCE column. Wrenfield's name sits on line 3. Nobody had told her about the rest.
ILLUSTRATION · INVENTED SHOP, CUSTOMER AND VENDORS · WRENFIELD-PRECISION.TEST
NEXT: THE READ ↓THE READ
Her file says CNC machining.
Back at her desk, she checks. The approved supplier list has Wrenfield down for one op: CNC machining. The website says “precision CNC machining,” and so does every quote Wrenfield has sent. Her supplier quality team approves a supplier for what it states: the op, the spec, the records. For heat treat, marking and assembly, her file points to two other shops.
“Wrenfield Precision: CNC machining.”
Her approved supplier list · illustration
INK: SAID ON THE SITE · BLURRED: TRUE ON THE FLOOR, NOT ON THE SITE · ILLUSTRATION
NEXT: THE COST ↓THE COST
Lines 4 to 7 go to two other shops.
So her bill splits three ways. Wrenfield machines the handpiece housing, boxes it and ships it out. Holloway Thermal heat treats and marks it. Brisco Clean Assembly assembles, cleans and bags it. She qualifies, audits and chases each shop for one part, and Wrenfield quotes a single line. The part leaves the dock for ops Wrenfield runs every week.
4 OF 5 LINES BOUGHT ELSEWHERE · ILLUSTRATION
INVENTED VENDORS ON .TEST DOMAINS · NO REAL CUSTOMER'S BILL OF MATERIALS
NEXT: AS BUILT ↓AS BUILT · ON THE FLOOR
Lines 4 to 7 run here every week.
On the floor, none of it is new. The vacuum furnace ages 17-4 PH to H900. The fiber laser marks UDI codes. The clean room assembles, and the sealer bags jobs for other customers. It's all true on the floor. None of it is on the site, so none of it is in her file.
The ops she buys elsewhere run a few steps from the part she buys from you.
H900: A HEAT TREAT CONDITION FOR 17-4 PH STAINLESS · UDI: UNIQUE DEVICE IDENTIFICATION
NEXT: THE CHANGE ↓THE CHANGE · STEP 4 BUILD · CONTENT MARKETING
Give every op a page her quality team can check.
The Blueprint, our paid onboarding, lists every op you run, each with its source. IKE, our Industrial Knowledge Engine, keeps them on your record. Then content marketing puts the ops your current customers could buy at the top of the plan, and we write each one as a page: the spec it meets, how it's validated, the records you keep.
SiteSonar is always on, so it shows when a customer's company reads those pages. It names the company and the pages it read.
BLUEPRINT · PAID ONBOARDING · FIRST STEP OF EVERY PROGRAM
NOTHING GOES PUBLIC WITHOUT YOUR YES
NEXT: RELEASED ↓RELEASED · ILLUSTRATION
Same customer. Same sheet.
Now each op has its own page, written the way her supplier quality team screens for it: the spec, the validation, the records. Wrenfield's account manager sends her the heat treat page the week it goes live. Lines 4 to 7 now have a supplier that says it does them. Whether they move is her call, but now she can make it.
“You asked on the tour if we heat treat here. We do, every week. Here's the page: the spec, the validation and the records.”
Wrenfield's account manager · illustration
THE SITE SAYS 5 OF 5 · HER CALL NOW · ILLUSTRATION, NOT A PROMISE
SITESONAR'S VISIT HISTORY (LIVE) CAN SHOW WHEN HER COMPANY READS THE NEW PAGES · THE COMPANY AND THE PAGES IT READ
NEXT: YOUR TURN ↓FIVE OPS ON ONE PART: MACHINE, HEAT TREAT, MARK, ASSEMBLE, CLEAN AND BAG · ILLUSTRATION
| Line | Item | Source on her bill | As built at Wrenfield | After release |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Housing, machined, 17-4 PH | Wrenfield Precision | Cell 3, 5-axis machining. Said on the site | Unchanged |
| 4 | Heat treat to H900 | Holloway Thermal | Cell 4, vacuum furnace. Not on the site | Said on /heat-treat. Wrenfield added as a source, her call |
| 5 | Laser mark the UDI | Holloway Thermal | Cell 5, fiber laser marker. Not on the site | Said on /laser-marking. Wrenfield added as a source, her call |
| 6 | Assemble bushings and seals | Brisco Clean Assembly | Cell 6, ISO 7 clean room. Not on the site | Said on /clean-room-assembly. Wrenfield added as a source, her call |
| 7 | Clean, bag and seal | Brisco Clean Assembly | Cell 7, clean, bag and seal. Not on the site | Said on /clean-packaging. Wrenfield added as a source, her call |
Every op in ink.
RELEASED · DRAWN FOR MEDICAL DEVICE WORK · ILLUSTRATION
602 · THE LESSON
They only buy what they know you do.
The cheapest new work is in accounts that already trust you. They've approved you, they pay you, and their parts already cross your dock. A buyer can only send an op to a supplier that says it runs it.
So give every op you run its own page, and send each one to the customers who could buy it.
| LINE · OP | SOURCE ON HER BILL | AS BUILT | SAID NOW |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 · HEAT TREAT · H900 | HOLLOWAY THERMAL+ WRENFIELD | CELL 4 · VACUUM FURNACE | /heat-treat |
| 5 · LASER MARK · UDI | HOLLOWAY THERMAL+ WRENFIELD | CELL 5 · FIBER LASER MARKER | /laser-marking |
| 6 · ASSEMBLE · BUSHINGS, SEALS | BRISCO CLEAN ASSEMBLY+ WRENFIELD | CELL 6 · ISO 7 CLEAN ROOM | /clean-room-assembly |
| 7 · CLEAN, BAG & SEAL | BRISCO CLEAN ASSEMBLY+ WRENFIELD | CELL 7 · CLEAN, BAG & SEAL | /clean-packaging |
EXAMPLE PAGES ON AN INVENTED SITE · "+ WRENFIELD" MEANS A SUPPLIER THAT SAYS IT DOES THE OP · WHETHER WORK MOVES IS HER CALL
General notes
- The companies, people, websites, part numbers and figures in this story are invented to show a pattern we see often.
- H900 is a heat treat condition for 17-4 PH stainless steel. UDI is unique device identification.
BEHIND THE STORY · How content gets made · SiteSonar in your program · Methodology and sources
YOUR TURN · THREE YES OR NO CHECKS
Check your own
Run these on your own website on Monday morning.
Top three customers
Does your website list every operation they could buy from you, beyond the one they buy now?
Secondary ops
Does each finishing, marking, assembly, test and packaging op have its own page, with the spec it meets?
Account follow-up
In the last quarter, has anyone sent a current customer a page about something they don't buy from you yet?
ANSWER ALL THREE · YOUR ANSWERS STAY ON THIS PAGE
They already trust you. Tell them what else you make.