This attached image is an indication of a sign shop (whom I'm intimately familiar with) vs another. Try to glean the importance of signs, business, equipment and people. The internet can reveal the revenue per employee and the return on workforce which might help the OP.
We have 4 local government contracts and in not 1 did they ever ask for contingency plans, alternate contacts, or a list of equipment/capabilities. $250k Blanket POs
The majority of our customers are national corps, we also have blanket POs. I've never heard anyone refer to them as BPOs. It sounds like you are regurgitating something you read or are hearing in some college class. It's not a big deal or some long drawn out process for them to issue a blanket PO, it's simply for convenience on their end. I know everyone wants to feel important but when you get down to it, you're not. You're making signs, you're not the chip maker supplying the big 3 that has the power to shut down their production lines. Even with that, the world still turns.
I have to agree with Christian. We do a lot of work for some large companies and government contracts and this has never come up. To me, this is something financial institutes ask when you take out a loan. So technically, we should be asking our customers for a contingency plan as they are the ones owing money. We have a 10 year contract worth a large sum and it would be good to know that if they go under that I am still getting paid but we all know that’s not gonna happen.
Yes purchasing managers evaluate suppliers, even on our peon level we get site visits to evaluate what we can do. Unless I missed something, the argument was about suppliers giving their vendors information for backup suppliers or vendors requiring that you give them that info. Also that you need to continue servicing their account post mortem.
What does a chart of web traffic have to do with any of this?
I think that's the same poof Rudy Giuliani offered us last year....
Consider a customer may need to know what company you intend to use as your fall-back production source because there are often intellectual property protections involved and other times the customer has a conflict or might be in litigation with the company you plan to use. If so, the customer will tell you if they want to pursue you as a preferred BPO vendor.
JBurton mentioned "a whole different level."
I do it every year. I am a very specialized one-man shop doing nothing but high-end corporate and collegiate graphics. Most profit comes from design and install and friggin knowledge of every aspect of this crazy business. I have a zero remake rate. I only job out banners because it's just way more cost effective to let someone else do it for .99 - 1.25 per square and ship direct to customers for $10 flat rate.
And by curiosity. What is your shop size and what machinery do you have?
It's because the other guy didn't forget his masking tape. Location probably matters a lot too.
2 man shop. Started shop in 1998. $500k+ every year.