The military and commercial world spends countless hours seeking out competitors. Whether it’s looking for a lower price/alternative manufacturer, an obsolete part no longer available, or if you’re a parts supplier / parts manufacturer your needs may be different. We get questions like: How many does the US Military buy and for how much? Is the military buying my competitors product?
Someone producing or selling an item with similar salient characteristics can be defined as a competitor. Searching for a competitor may result in finding a better product/price and perhaps other benefits such as a newer version – longer lifetime or lower failure rate. So the deeper you look, trolling through more data the better your answer will be.
If your research begins with Federal government procurement websites such as FBO or USA Spending that’s a good start but not nearly complete. Countless federal acquisition systems exist and should also be reviewed for a more accurate answer. This article quickly touches the kind of data found in using acquisition methods such as GSA Schedules and Blanket Purchase Agreement or BPAs.
Government sales and detail purchase data may or may not be reported to the various public government websites so FOIA requests with all the government purchasing departments may be necessary to find your answers.
Here is one example showing a National Stock Number (NSN) item purchased by DoD and various government departments over the past 18 years. The NSN in question was 3540-00-344-8642 it’s an item used in shipping departments to carry and dispense steel strapping coil used for securing wood crates and similar items, it’s a simple hand truck. Several questions were answered.
Using the BidLink, we were able to quickly determine that this NSN 3540-00-344-8642 item name “Hand Truck, Strapping Coil” has been purchased every year with varying quantities to various government departments supplied by only a handful of companies. The most recent sales have been through GSA schedule and BPA contracts. Specifically GS-07F-DA222 and GS-02F-0125U found under GSA Schedule categories 51 V Hardware Superstore and 81 I B Shipping, Packaging and packing supplies. Most recent prices ranged from $188 to $225 each.
The two sellers of this NSN currently provide product from different manufacturers specifically Universal and USP.
Caprice electronics and Complete packaging & shipping supplies are the two most recent suppliers selling the majority of this item.
If you were to guess which company sells more of this NSN, a Hand truck an item used in the shipping department – Well if you guessed “Complete packaging & shipping supplies” you would have been wrong it’s Caprice Electronics and the data shows that. So when trying to find competitors look at much data as you can.
BidLink’s Market Research tool and exclusive data has been used by DoD and Commercial industries for the past 18 years. – Jim
Comments? Contact Jim at jimnews@bidlink.net
www.bidlink.net – 866-226-4488
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