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ECONAR^® GeoSource™ Geothermal Heat Pumps
Supplier Information

We at ECONAR have a philosophy that minimizes the number of suppliers that we do business with. We do this to increase our leverage and flexibility with our supply base, and to minimize our time exploring suppliers that do not meet our needs. As you can imagine, we cannot possibly investigate or respond to every supplier that contacts us. Therefore, it is important, if you believe you have something to offer us, you do so with an understanding of how we do business.

We are primarily a single-source company in almost every product we use. This means we select the supplier that can provide the highest value in their product, and then develop competition for them. To provide competition, we may qualify one or two additional suppliers in a product, and award them some selected pieces of business.

We strive to find the best-in-class supplier in each product we use. To become an ECONAR supplier, an advantage must be brought to the table that is worth more than the learning curve that we will experience in doing business with a new supplier. This means a prospective supplier must have outstanding, predictable quality and delivery performance. They must be able to provide components or services faster, less expensively, and with less waste. They must also possess new ideas in design, materials, or ways of doing business.

Generally, to qualify a new supplier, we would request a meeting with a representative of the supplier. We would use this meeting to determine if the prospective supplier has the resources, capabilities, finances, capacity, and “heart” to support us. Of these, we often find that the real difference between suppliers of like capability is “heart.” Therefore, it is important for us to get to know your company. We must be able to stand behind your product, because we stand behind our product.

Doing Business with ECONAR
If you are invited to become an ECONAR supplier, you will find that we have information flowing to you from two locations. Often, specifications, drawings, and other up-front design information comes from our offices in Maple Grove, MN, where we have our engineering department. In the beginning, you may have discussions with engineering where technical information is exchanged. Generally, there is a need for estimated prices and lead times from our purchasing department in Appleton, MN. It is important that as a new supplier, you take ownership for keeping our purchasing department included in what you are working on. You would not want your business awarded to someone else because our purchasing department did not know about you.

After the specifications and the design process becomes more settled, you will begin having more conversations with the purchasing department in Appleton, MN. At the point where all pertinent evaluations have been done and business is to be awarded, you will receive three things from us. One is a purchase order authorizing the dollars to be spent and referencing the exact item(s) that we are purchasing. Second is a monthly schedule, which can be out as far as a rolling twelve months. You will also receive annual forecasts, detailing the number of pieces we expect to purchase from you in the upcoming year.

If you become an ECONAR supplier, you will probably do business with us for a long time, provided that you remain competitive in your market. One thing we expect from you is to be in contact with both the Maple Grove and Appleton operations. Our purchasing department in Appleton has final responsibility for committing us financially to the purchase of materials and/or services. Therefore, do not start work for which you expect payment, unless you have the approval of our purchasing department, or a purchase order number.  Concurrently, the engineering department in Maple Grove has responsibility for specifications and drawings. Therefore, do not change a spec, drawing, or approved process without design engineer approval.

If you are interested in joining the ECONAR Suppliers Network, please complete our inquiry form.

Thank you for your interest in becoming a supplier for ECONAR.