Case Study: Brazilian Industrial Controller OEM Reduces Component Lead Times by 60% with BONENS 3540 & 3386

Client Profile: A Brazilian industrial automation OEM manufacturing PLC controllers, temperature regulators, and process control modules for the South American manufacturing, food processing, and mining sectors.

Challenge

The client's product line required two types of potentiometers: multi-turn wire-wound trimmers for analog input calibration in PLC modules (BONENS 3540 target application) and single-turn cermet trimmers for front-panel setpoint adjustment in temperature controllers (BONENS 3386 target application). Previous sourcing from European and US distributors resulted in extended lead times of 10-14 weeks due to transatlantic shipping and Brazilian customs clearance — severely impacting production planning in Brazil's volatile economic environment where currency fluctuations made long-lead procurement financially risky.

BONENS Solution

Sichuan Qixing provided the BONENS 3540 multi-turn wire-wound potentiometer for PLC analog calibration circuits and the BONENS 3386 single-turn cermet trimmer for temperature controller setpoint adjustment. Direct manufacturer sourcing with consolidated sea freight shipments to Santos port reduced the supply chain from four tiers (manufacturer → US distributor → Brazilian importer → OEM) to two tiers (manufacturer → OEM). Portuguese-language technical documentation was provided to support the client's engineering team.

Results

Direct BONENS sourcing reduced lead times by 62%, enabling a 57% reduction in costly safety stock inventory. The 27% landed cost savings — combining lower unit pricing and reduced supply chain markups — improved the client's product gross margin by an estimated 3.2 percentage points across affected product lines.