How a global network security manufacturer added a qualified second source for DRAM and flash and has kept it in production for eight years.
The Customer
A publicly traded network security company that designs and builds high-performance security appliances for enterprise, data center, and cloud deployments. Its platforms carry qualified DRAM and flash memory that must hold a fixed configuration across long production lifecycles. At its scale, the company staffs commodity managers and component engineers dedicated to the parts it buys rather than leaving memory decisions to a design engineer and a buyer. It is today one of the largest customers of Wintec’s manufacturing division.
The Challenge
One Supplier No Leverage
The customer’s memory came from a single qualified supplier. Memory is a supply and demand business, and a single source position leaves an OEM very little room to negotiate. Pricing on current products and on everything in the design pipeline was effectively set by one vendor, with no second quote to test it against and no alternative if that vendor’s allocation tightened.
Wintec had called on the account previously, but had not yet closed the business. The opening came when component engineers they had worked with at another OEM moved into the account and made introductions to the commodity and engineering teams. Familiarity got Wintec in the room. Qualification is what kept it there.
The Solution
A Second Qualified Source for DRAM and Flash
- Component recommendation and qualification. On DRAM the specification is usually settled before the conversation starts. Flash is harder. The customer arrives with a form factor and interface, a capacity target, and an endurance requirement expressed in terabytes written or drive writes per day. Wintec recommends the configuration that meets it and runs the qualification cycle with the customer’s component engineers.
- Locked bill of materials. Once a configuration is approved, the bill of materials is locked so a component change cannot quietly alter the part the customer already qualified.
- Supply management and production flexibility. Wintec manages the supply position behind the program and flexes production schedules as the customer’s demand moves.
- Backend operations. Conforming reports, failure analysis, defective part reporting, and delivery performance are run as a standing part of the program.
The Results
“Without a qualified second source, we would have had to accept one supplier’s pricing and absorb the risk if its allocation tightened. Wintec gave us a credible alternative, which created real leverage across our entire memory program.” – Senior Director, Global Supply Chain
- A qualified second source, restoring negotiating leverage on existing products and on future designs
- Eight years of continuous production business, turning a stalled account into one of Wintec’s largest manufacturing customers
- Repeated Supplier of the Year recognition, typically one award per year across different performance categories
- Consistently one of the customer’s highest scoring suppliers on its weighted supplier scorecard, which grades quality, delivery, pricing, conforming reports, failure analysis, and defective parts. Quality carries the heaviest weight in this account.