We’ve all heard the old adage that “the customer is king.” To a certain extent, I subscribe to that concept. We certainly need to make sure that we’re meeting our customers’ needs and keeping them happy.

However, like monarchs, customers don’t necessarily understand exactly what they need or what options might be available to them. It takes attentive, knowledgeable suppliers to help determine what products and processes will work best for specific applications, and then advise their customers (or prospects) about the best course of action. The most successful manufacturer/supplier relationships become partnerships wherein both parties contribute in order to help ensure mutual success.

As readers of CI, you know we love to celebrate suppliers to the ceramic and related industries, and we were thrilled with your enthusiastic response to the 2017 Ceramic Industry Supplier of the Year Award nomination process. Thank you to everyone who participated! You rated your nominees on a four-point scale in 12 categories. We also took any additional comments you provided into consideration to determine the winner. So what company is our 2017 Supplier of the Year? Read "The Best of the Best" to find out!

Additive manufacturing (AM) is becoming an increasingly viable option for the manufacture of a number of ceramic components. As with any emerging technology, having a strong partnership with an experienced supplier is vital in order to determine the ideal AM process and parameters for specific applications. One method, termed “Lithography-Based Ceramic Manufacturing,” involves the building of components with layers of slurry.

Do you have a great manufacturer/ supplier partnership story to share? I’d love to hear about it! Please contact me at (248) 786-1704 or suttons@bnpmedia.com.