Summary
During this phase, we share information about our mutual businesses and goals. We present our process for doing business. Additionally, we review and discuss any legal requirements such as contracts, NDAs, and tax exemption certificates. If an NDA has not been executed at this point, we execute a mutual NDA. Assuming all things check out, we move onto the next phase, Product Selection.
Key Takeaways
- Your business with MaxBotix Inc., supports our vision for positive community impact
- We take time to understand your business operations and educate you on ours
- Completing Phase 2 allows you to select a standard or semi‑custom sensor for your application
- This is the third article in a series of articles. The first article can be viewed here.
Phase 2: Discovery & Education is about building a strong business‑to‑business relationship. Successful companies often do business in a unique manner to distinguish themselves from their competition. Phase 2 helps us verify our business practices fit together. In this phase, four specific areas of business are covered:
- Your business and its processes
- The MaxBotix way of doing business
- Non‑Disclosure (NDA) agreements
- Any relevant contracts or statements of work
Your Business
The way you do business is likely one of the reasons for your success. We recognize that it is very important for MaxBotix Inc., to understand your business to secure a successful B2B relationship. We want to know and understand your needs. For example:
- Your ability to quickly deliver manufactured orders.
- Your team’s expertise at solving complex problems with innovative solutions.
- Marketing acumen for products in a certain sector.
The more we know who you are and what makes you successful, the better we can collaborate on your projects. Additionally, we learn about how you conduct your business with other business partners. We accomplish this by asking you a few simple questions.
- What are your expectations of an ideal vendor?
- How do you typically work with different vendor processes?
- What are some of the challenges that you have faced with other vendors?
Learning how you schedule and place orders is our next goal.
- How does this process work for your company?
- How long does it take?
- Who is our contact for design, engineering, testing, and order fulfillment?
MaxBotix Inc.
After we understand how you do business, we give you with a brief overview of MaxBotix Inc. We want you to have a complete representation of MaxBotix Inc., including our values, vision, and culture, as well as our products, and services. We also want to share with you a few of the advantages of working with MaxBotix. Experience shows that B2B relationships benefit more with solid Education & Discovery.
Part of our Design Cycle process includes creating a positive and meaningful experience for you. Our mission is to be the sensor company of first choice by providing high quality, easy‑to‑use, competitively priced sensors that meet customer requirements. You can view our Company Profile for more information.
MaxBotix Inc., offers a number of products and services to help you be successful. These include over 200 standard application‑specific sensors, semi‑custom versions of these sensors, value‑added options and accessories, new sensor development services, final product engineering assessment services, and turnkey product manufacturing.
We also discuss an overview of our Design Cycle, the process we use to guide our business operations. Now that you have an understanding of how we do business, we want to share some advantages of doing business with MaxBotix Inc.
- Secure and reliable supply chain: As a start‑to‑finish manufacturing company, we understand the need for exceptional products. We choose to do business with vendors that provide us with quality products and services so you can rely on us for your sensor needs.
- Sensors matched to customer applications: Application‑specific sensors result in trusted sensor performance. This allows you to select many of your sensor specifications, from resolution to sensitivity.
- Products that stand the test of time: Our high MTBF of 200,000+ hours shows that our products last. You can read more in our article: MaxSonar Reliability Demonstration.
- High volume and scalable production: We easily support deliveries of over 10,000 units per week.
- Friendly sales and tech support staff: We are eager to collaborate with you throughout the Design Cycle.
- Payment terms: Pre‑payment benefits our customers because you save money. MaxBotix Inc., eliminates the additional costs and risks of payment tracking, delayed payments, late payments, or non‑payment into the pricing structure.
- Large volume scheduled orders: We accept purchase orders for up to one year with scheduled deliveries. This gives you the best per part pricing on your sensors. Ask your sales rep for complete details.
- Factory calibration and testing: You receive consistent part‑to‑part operation even years after your first purchase.
- Customization: We offer custom and semi‑custom sensors to meet your exact needs.
Non‑Disclosure Agreements (NDA) & Other Contracts
As a business, we understand your need to protect your competitive advantage and proprietary information. We also know that sometimes to achieve success for a project, some information may have to be shared with us. As a result, we have an NDA process which assures you of confidentiality as we gain a thorough understanding of your application so we can collaborate to meet your needs. Many times, success lies in understanding the details to select the proper sensor. To quickly facilitate an NDA, MaxBotix Inc., provides a two‑way mutual NDA. Please contact your sales rep if you have any questions during this process.
DESIGN TIP If a semi‑custom or custom solution is required, we require an NDA. This allows us to gain a complete understanding of your sensor needs which assists us in making the best recommendations for your application; however, we also strongly encourage NDAs for all high‑volume applications.
B2B projects sometimes include the execution of a contract or statement of work. We like to explore your requirements for such contracts and complete the negotiation process up front to establish mutually beneficial agreements before proceeding to the next phase. This prevents any incompatible terms down the road that could stall the successful execution of your project. Again, please let your sales rep know if you have any questions.
Terms and Conditions of sales are very important to every customer. We recommend that all customers review the MaxBotix Inc., Terms and Conditions of Sale. The Phase 2 completion milestone means we should be able to participate in a mutually beneficial B2B relationship for your sensor solution. The next phase is Phase 3 Product Selection where we collaborate on the right solution which may include custom sensors.Look for our next article: Product Selection. Collaborate on the right solution including custom sensors.