A 5-MINUTE STORY · ILLUSTRATION
Five Signatures: write for every reader who signs off
An engineer's yes starts an approval. It doesn't finish one.
Wexcombe Manufacturing is an invented contract manufacturer with a website written for engineers. Pick the work you want, then scroll. We'll route its site through the approval block at a medical device OEM, one reader at a time.
SCROLL TO ROUTE THE LINK ↓
AS SAID · THURSDAY AFTERNOON
One engineer, one word: recommend.
Thursday afternoon. A design engineer at a medical device OEM finishes reading Wexcombe's process pages for a molded fluid-path assembly for an infusion pump. Materials, cleanroom class, validation: every question she had is answered. She forwards the link to her team with one word: recommend.
Her box on the approval block is signed. Four boxes are still empty.
ILLUSTRATION · INVENTED OEM, ENGINEER AND CONTRACT MANUFACTURER · WEXCOMBE-MFG.TEST
NEXT: THE READ ↓THE READ · FIVE BUYER LENSES
Four more readers open the same link.
The link goes round the approval block. Operations wants capacity and lead time. The buyer wants quote turnaround. Maintenance wants to know who handles rush and repair work. Procurement needs vendor identifiers, payment terms and a supplier setup packet. Each opens the same site looking for one answer, and finds process pages written for the engineer.
READ THROUGH FIVE BUYER LENSES · NOT SURVEY DATA · ILLUSTRATION
NEXT: THE COST ↓THE COST
Nobody says no. Nobody says yes.
Only ENG signs. The other four boxes come back with revision clouds: LEAD TIME? VENDOR IDs? TERMS? Nobody says no. Nobody says yes either. The drawing can't release, and a supplier whose site answers them moves ahead.
1 OF 5 SIGNED · RELEASE ON HOLD · SUPPLIER B MOVES AHEAD · ILLUSTRATION
REVISION CLOUD: A CHANGE REQUESTED BEFORE RELEASE · INVENTED SUPPLIERS ON .TEST DOMAINS
NEXT: AS BUILT ↓AS BUILT · INSIDE THE BUILDING
The answers are already in the building.
The answers exist. Quote turnaround lives in the estimators' heads. Lead-time ranges are in the ERP. The vendor setup packet, with tax forms and insurance certificates, sits in a folder in accounting. Rush and repair calls go to the floor lead's cell phone. None of it is on the website, because the website was written for the engineer.
True in the building isn't the same as said on the site.
ERP: ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING · COI: CERTIFICATE OF INSURANCE · ILLUSTRATION
NEXT: THE CHANGE ↓THE CHANGE · BLUEPRINT + WEBSITES
A page for each signer.
Step 1, then step 4, Build. The paid Buyers Blueprint asks each department what buyers ask it, and records the answers it can publish. Our Websites work builds a page or section for each signer: turnaround and lead-time ranges for the buyer, a vendor page procurement can work from, and a way in for rush and repair work. The engineer's pages stay as they are.
BLUEPRINT · PAID ONBOARDING · FIRST STEP OF EVERY PROGRAM
NOTHING GOES PUBLIC WITHOUT YOUR YES
NEXT: RELEASED ↓RELEASED · ILLUSTRATION
Same link, same approval block.
Same link, same approval block. Each reader finds their own page. All five boxes are initialled, and the drawing releases. Choosing Wexcombe is still their call. Now nothing on the website is holding it up.
THE SITE ANSWERS 5 OF 5 · 5 OF 5 INITIALLED · ILLUSTRATION, NOT A PROMISE
NEXT: YOUR TURN ↓FIVE READERS SIGN: ENG, OPS, BUYER, MRO, PROCUREMENT · ILLUSTRATION
| Reader | Looks for | On the site, before | Their read | As built | After release |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENG | Materials, cleanroom class, validation | Answered on the process pages | Signs: recommend | USP Class VI silicone and polycarbonate; an ISO Class 7 cleanroom; IQ, OQ and PQ on every tool | Unchanged; initialled |
| OPS | Capacity and lead time | Nothing | Revision cloud: lead time? | Prototypes in 3 to 4 weeks, production in 8 to 10 weeks, in the ERP | A lead-time page; initialled |
| BUYER | Quote turnaround | Nothing | Revision cloud: quote turnaround? | Quotes in 3 working days, known by the estimators | A request-a-quote page that states the turnaround; initialled |
| MRO | Rush and repair work | Nothing | Revision cloud: rush? repair? | A rush and repair line with a 48-hour repair turn, through the floor lead's cell phone | A rush and repair page with a phone number; initialled |
| PROCUREMENT | Vendor identifiers, terms, a setup packet | Nothing | Revision cloud: vendor IDs? terms? | D-U-N-S number, ISO 13485 certificate, Net 30 terms, a W-9 and a certificate of insurance, in an accounting folder | A vendor information page with the setup packet; initialled |
Write for every signer.
RELEASED · 5 OF 5 INITIALLED · DRAWN FOR MEDICAL DEVICE WORK · ILLUSTRATION
303 · THE LESSON
An engineer's yes starts an approval. It doesn't finish one.
Operations, the buyer, maintenance and procurement each open your site for one answer. When they can't find it, the approval stalls after the engineer has already said yes.
Put lead-time ranges, quote turnaround, vendor details and a way in for urgent work where they can find them.
| READER | AS SAID | AS BUILT | WHERE IT'S SAID NOW |
|---|---|---|---|
| ENG · MATERIALS, CLEANROOM, VALIDATION | ON THE PROCESS PAGES | USP CLASS VI · ISO 7 · IQ/OQ/PQ | /processes/ · UNCHANGED |
| OPS · LEAD TIME | NOT ON THE SITE | PROTOTYPE 3–4 WK · PRODUCTION 8–10 WK | /lead-times/ · EXAMPLE PAGE |
| BUYER · QUOTE TURNAROUND | NOT ON THE SITE | QUOTE IN 3 WORK DAYS | /request-a-quote/ · EXAMPLE PAGE |
| MRO · RUSH + REPAIR | NOT ON THE SITE | RUSH LINE · REPAIR TURN 48 HR | /rush-and-repair/ · EXAMPLE PAGE |
| PROCUREMENT · VENDOR IDs + TERMS | NOT ON THE SITE | D-U-N-S · ISO 13485 CERT · NET 30 · W-9 · COI | /suppliers/vendor-info/ · EXAMPLE PAGE |
EXAMPLE PAGES ON AN INVENTED SITE · EVERY FIGURE IS INVENTED FOR ILLUSTRATION
General notes
- The companies, people, websites and figures in this story are invented. The lesson comes from reading real manufacturer sites the way a buyer would.
- MRO is maintenance, repair and operations. COI is a certificate of insurance. CAGE code and UEI are US government supplier identifiers.
BEHIND THE STORY · CRO and conversion tracking: a next step for each reader · Marketing for medical device suppliers · Marketing for contract manufacturers · What your website teaches IKE, our Industrial Knowledge Engine · Methodology and sources
YOUR TURN · THREE YES OR NO CHECKS
Check your own
Three yes-or-no checks you can run on your own site on Monday morning.
Are typical quote turnaround and lead time on your site?
Ranges are fine. Silence isn't.
Can procurement find vendor identifiers and terms?
CAGE code and UEI where they apply, payment terms, a vendor setup packet.
Does operations or maintenance have a way in?
A page for rush, repair or replacement work, with a phone number.
ANSWER ALL THREE · YOUR ANSWERS STAY ON THIS PAGE
Her yes starts it. Four more finish it.