To buy items from alternative manufacturers

Companies that build their products from various components often buy the components from other manufacturers and sell them as part of their own product and under their own name. The components can be obtained from various manufacturers on the condition that the components have similar or the same specifications and quality.

Examples of such components are the engines and tires in the car industry, or integrated circuit boards and so on in the electronic equipment industry.

You can buy the components directly from the manufacturers or from intermediate suppliers. If the ordered quantity is less than the minimum quantity that you can order from the manufacturer, you usually buy the components from an intermediate supplier. The intermediate suppliers can obtain the components from several manufacturers. In this case, you can accept the components from these suppliers on the condition that you have approved the manufacturers. Approving the manufacturers for items is the responsibility of the item's technical coordinator.

When you receive the ordered items, you must check that they were produced by an approved manufacturer.

LN allows you to specify a number of manufacturers for an item, and to ensure that you only receive items from approved manufacturers.