Buying FRP Tanks & Pipes: Don&#;t Confuse Low Price With Low Cost

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Who hasn&#;t purchased something at a relatively low price and then something went wrong, leaving us wishing we&#;d bought the item that was priced a bit more, but probably would have given us better service?  If it was an article of clothing, maybe it shrunk after just a couple washings; if it was a new car, maybe it broke down after only a year or two. Whatever, the principal is the same &#; we sometimes regret the purchase of low price items. And in our never-ending quest to save every dollar, we regret those low price purchases more often than we want to admit.

In the FRP tank & pipe industry, the old adage &#;You get what you pay for&#; has truth to it.  The industry is too competitive for any one fabricator to take advantage of overpricing by others; all the fabricators are trying to price their products attractively.  If there are multiple quotes for the same project and one of them is significantly lower priced, then something may be amiss, such as the quote scopes are different. Is delivery included in the lower priced quote?  Was a cheaper resin selected?  Was a different specification chosen?   Are the designs the same between fabricators?  There are no shortcuts when quality is on the table, so how can one price be significantly lower than the others?

Custom engineered FRP vessels and pipes are complex.  There is no &#;commodity&#; product with super low prices that come with mass production.  When you shop for a fabricator, important elements such as engineering, delivery, warranty, maintenance, etc. should be considered in addition to price.  When comparing fabricators, you need to be knowledgeable enough to compare the offerings on an apples to apples basis.

It&#;s ironic because when the low price items fail, it costs money to either repair or replace them.  Quite often, when the cost of repair or replacement is added to the low purchase price, the total cost exceeds what we would have spent on a higher priced item.

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For that reason, FRP tanks and pipes are like clothing and cars; low purchase price rarely equates to low total cost over time. If you want to be a smart buyer of FRP assets, think low total cost, not just low purchase price. Run the numbers on your situation to determine how much more money you&#;ll have to spend if the low priced tank lasts half as long as the higher priced tank.

What kind of buyer are you? Are you always looking for the lowest price? Or do you put your trust in a brand you know will be a fair deal this time and next time?

For more information, please visit diamondfiberglass.com.

You&#;re Responsible for Buying an FRP Tank or Pipe&#;Now What?

Fiberglass (FRP) tanks and pipes are a little different than many assets because they are fabricated from a material that many people don&#;t know well.  If you are one of those people, this blog is for you!  Don&#;t worry, you can make a smart purchase if you follow the steps below:

1. The most important thing is to find an experienced and trustworthy fabricator.  Hopefully your company has already worked with one, but if not, start vetting fabricators BEFORE you actually need to place an order (See Diamond blog dated March 3, &#;Preventable FRP Purchasing Mistakes&#;  https://www.diamondfiberglass.com/preventable-frp-purchasing-mistake-not-re-qualifying-your-named-fabricators/).  You want a fabricator that has been supplying FRP assets similar to what you need for at least 10 years.
2. Be very careful about using low price as the main decision criteria.  While price is important, how much pain will you have to endure if the fabrication is improperly done or delivery is late?
3. What is the fabricator&#;s process to design, fabricate and deliver?  This should be made clear to you before you make your choice.
4. Does the fabricator have the capability to increase the asset life through preventive maintenance?  Lifetime costs are minimized with good maintenance.
5. When you decide on a fabricator, bring them into your process early.  Give them all the relevant information you can.  Answer their questions completely and quickly.  Let them use their experience to fine tune your specifications; you&#;ll get a better product and maybe save  money, too.
6. Consider having the fabricator perform the installation, too.  They should know how to handle and install FRP assets properly.  If anything goes wrong there won&#;t be multiple contractors blaming each other.

For more information, please visit diamondfiberglass.com.

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