Second Source Supply Chain Development
An independent second route built at a screened partner factory, qualified against a sealed master sample and released only on your approval.
A single-sourced magnet part is a supply risk with a price attached. When the only approved supplier runs short of capacity or raises its price, the OEM has no qualified alternative to move volume to, and qualifying a new one usually means starting again from the drawing, the tooling and the first-article report. This capability builds that alternative as a deliberate project, under one master sample and one accountable party.
The Customer Problem
The commercial exposure of single sourcing is easy to describe and hard to fix once it is already binding. An approved magnet source is not a commodity line item that can be replaced by sending a drawing to another factory: the part is qualified against a reference, and a new source that is technically different from the first creates two parts with two behaviours in the same assembly.
- Capacity constraints at the incumbent limit how much the OEM can build, with no approved route to make up the shortfall.
- Pricing has moved beyond what the part's function justifies, and there is no competitive reference to test it against.
- Qualifying another magnet factory requires technical work that a purchasing team cannot carry out alone.
- A second source qualified loosely produces a part that fits but does not match, so it cannot be used interchangeably.
What We Do
We set up a production route that is independent of the incumbent, while keeping the technical reference common to both:
- Match the part to a dedicated partner factory selected for the process it needs, covering the pressing method, the grinding discipline and the magnetization route the geometry requires.
- Establish the master sample agreed with the customer as the controlling reference, so the second source is qualified against a sealed part rather than against an interpretation of the drawing.
- Build the production drawing, tolerances and inspection items for the second source, holding the parameters that govern function identical to those of the approved part.
- Run samples and first articles through the same verification sequence, and retain the sealed sample so batch comparison remains possible after qualification.
- Handle the order, the technical terms and a claim as a single point of contact: terms are agreed in the quotation and the order, and a claim is received, its evidence verified, and the factory and the remedy coordinated, so the OEM holds one contract and one accountable counterpart rather than a direct relationship with a factory it does not manage.
What "matching" means, in the numbers a second source has to reproduce
The part below is one we have supplied since 2017 for a pump motor stator: a strontium ferrite arc, two per steel yoke. It is useful here because every line is a parameter a second source either reproduces or does not — and none of them is visible from a shape comparison alone.
| Parameter | Value held on the released part | What a second source gets wrong first |
|---|---|---|
| Outline | Outer radius R35.5 ± 0.1 mm; inner radius R27 +0.2/0 mm; wall 8.5 −0.1/0 mm | Treating the two unilateral limits as symmetric ± on both faces, which closes the rotor clearance |
| Section | 63 ± 0.1 × 40 ± 0.5 mm | Holding the mean and ignoring the spread across a batch |
| Grade | Br 380–400 mT; Hcb 230–275 kA/m; (BH)max 27–32.5 kJ/m³ | Quoting a higher grade as an "improvement", which changes the flux the controller was set around |
| Magnetization | Radial | Assuming axial because the fixture was cheaper, with no change on the drawing |
| Supplied state | Uncoated and unmagnetized | Coating or magnetizing to "protect" the part, adding a process step the incumbent never qualified |
| Batch | 30–35 days per batch | Promising a shorter lead time than the process physically allows, then shipping early batches as exceptions |
That is the level at which the two sources become interchangeable. A part that fits but does not match is usually stopped by one of these five lines — the grade being quietly raised, the tolerance intent being flattened to ±, or the magnetization pattern being changed to suit the available fixture — and each of those passes a dimensional report while changing the behaviour of the assembly.
Expected Outcome
A customer-approved alternative supply route, subject to agreed validation.
What This Capability Changes for a Project
The problem a project arrives with, what we do about it, and the result the work is measured against.
When This Capability Fits, and Where It Stops
The projects this work suits, the input it needs from you, and the limits it states before a project starts.
- This capability fits B2B OEMs and their suppliers that are single-sourced on a magnet part and have already felt the consequences: allocation during peak demand, price escalation without a comparable quote, or a supplier change that would interrupt a running line.
- It is also relevant before a risk becomes a problem, since a part with one approved source and a long lead time inside a critical assembly is a candidate even while supply is currently comfortable.
- It suits engineered parts with a stable geometry and a decided material, where the second source can be qualified against an existing reference.
Technical articles that reference this capability.
- Custom Magnets from China: What to Confirm Buying / Sourcing Guide
What to confirm before a custo…
Bring Us the Starting Point You Have
A sample, a partial drawing or an operating condition is enough to begin. Tell us what the magnet has to do and we will tell you what the evaluation can and cannot settle.