AB pricing

[Dale87]

What's the deal with Allen Bradley pricing. We are starting to purchase a decent amount of HMI's and processors from our local vendor, when asked about getting better pricing, I usually get the run around. Is everyone paying list price for compact logix plc's and panelviews. I guess I have the old mentality that the more you buy, the better the price. Guess that's not the case with AB. Our L306ER's are $1639 regardless if you've bought 50 of them or just walked in off the street......

 

[Jeev]

You need to tell your distributor to do better or find another one. I've gotten either an OEM discount or project pricing (Large quantities) at small and large companies I've worked for.

An alternative is to get yourself a Rockwell account manager, so they can do the distributor whipping for you.

 

[dalporto]

They usually have flat rates fixed by Rockwell, unless your company has a deal / code with Rockwell that will apply on your invoice.



We have a "global" deal with them which should be the best prices we can have, and it's still expensive. Not sure if whipping the distributor would help.



Still 3 times the price of a best rig with Schneider anyway.

 

[Ken Moore]

You local vendor, most likely beliefs you will continue to buy a lot, regardless.
My last tour with an integrator, we used both Siemens and Rockwell. Worked well, because they would both give us pricing cuts.

Perhaps you should look into Siemens, and get some competition going.

 

[robertmee]

One man's allot, is another man's trivial. Meaning, you might think you're purchasing in quantity, but compared to global companies, with global contracts, you're probably peanuts to Rockwell. There's also regional price controls that Rockwell induces. We had an issue where we could buy Rockwell PLCs, Drives, I/O, terminals, etc and have panels built in Mexico, cheaper than the same parts alone could be bought in Ohio. We had to go to the distributor AND Rockwell with those complaints, and they finally relented and began matching prices at the distributor. But the distributor themselves were handicapped by Rockwell. Don't know if it was an emerging market situation, or why Rockwell had such different pricing models to their distributors based on location.

 

[strantor]

It sounds like you're not being a very good Rockwell customer. You're supposed to pay the price for quality, no matter what the price is, without any fussing. When you're done paying that you're supposed to inquire whether or not you have yet another opportunity purchase a new revision of the same software you've already purchased 28 times. And don't forget to confirm that your TechConnect subscription is paid up so you don't lose access to top quality tech support for your top quality hardware.

 

[bill4807]

We have an account manager from our distributor, we do not buy alot of PLCs and HMIs but i buy a bunch of other small items from them.
I have already switched away from PVP and PV800s.
Literally the only reason i stick ordering half of my panel build components from them is because our account manager comes out brings us lunch once every 4-5 weeks, and is awesome with helping even though he is not technical.
They do go above and beyond with their technical support as well.

Other distributors who just look for the sale without doing the sales function i just cross their manufactures parts over to another. Obviously unless i have to use that manufacture, then i am sort of stuck.

We are not a big company so the effort they put in for a small account like us really shows, in my opinion.

 

[cardosocea]

One man's allot, is another man's trivial. Meaning, you might think you're purchasing in quantity, but compared to global companies, with global contracts, you're probably peanuts to Rockwell.

BP has entered the chat...

I was with a company with about 30 sites with Rockwell and a plan to stick with them and upgrade. So I was feeling pretty positive about some good pricing coming out from them until I was showed what other companies, like BP, used from them.

 

[jstolaruk]

Processors and HMIs don't really have discounts, maybe 10% if you're a panel builder in good standing with your distributor.

Sometimes an end user, like a GM and Ford, will negotiate a lower cost with RA/Siemens and then the panel builder can reference that agreement for a lower price if the equipment they are building is for that end user.

 

[Tom Jenkins]

Most distributors will respond to reality. When I explained to my distributor that I was not going to bid on any more A-B specified projects because I couldn't be competitive my price structure improved significantly.

Your distributor won't drop pricing just because you ask for it. A-B unofficially protects its distributor's territory so they don't cut each other's business. Going to another distributor is probably not a realistic plan. You need to make a business case for them to give you better pricing based on the possibility of changing brands or another basis for discontinuing using them.

 

[JeffKiper]

As an SI and pabel shop we negotiate prices to ve competitive. My Siemens rep does 0 % discount for us because we do 99% AB.

Getting a specific multiplier for 1 specific isn't bad. Getting a multiplier across the entire product line isn't as easy or usually as good.

We had 1 OEM where we used 100~200 1769-L16. We got a great price on them. The 10 5069-L306 we ok multipliers.

We have all had customers try to buy parts to save cash and cost them more on the job. Its part of the game. We don't allow customers to buy parts anymore its to much of a finger pointing game when something doesn't work.

 

[Ken Moore]

I have to admit, I like Siemens pricing structure a lot more than AB.
With Siemens they publish the discounts for and OEM, an integrator, and a solutions partner.
Then you just have to qualify for one of them, and the qualifications are the same for everyone.

It may have changed, but it used to be, OEMs, got the best pricing, solutions partners next, and then integrators.

 

[padees]

A-B pricing is one of those things you have to deal with.

In my situation, I have an account manager at my A-B rep. I text or email this person from time to time with "additions" to my account. My account manager will then move that type of item into my account for discount. If A-B onsite says ok. (A-B people live there)

I usually get really good deals, and chunks of money off other devices I need for a project.

Because I am by myself, and don't want to work everyday, it works out well. If I order something, it will be delivered here free the next day.

The service my rep provides with technical, training, inventory, free delivery... Is far better than most.

My hat is off to them!

 

[WhinnieThePooh]

Our local distributor is not known for good AB pricing, yet they do give decent discounts if you buy a lot of product i.e. >50k a year. We do not buy near that much, but we still get decent pricing if we get what we need quoted, and ask for a discount.

Just a thought for anybody that's interested, we have in the past been very successful with getting AB products from Ebay, and we still do on occasion for smaller projects. Just recently I picked up a L306ER with about 8 IO modules for $1200, all brand new and sealed with the great AB seal. Do be careful though, scammers do exist!