Whenever your small outside vendor must hire another outside service, it may save your firm money to pay for it directly since you have more buying leverage than the small firm. Ask this during your negotiations and when you receive any bids from him. Ask him where he wants the outside plating done, or outside finishing or heat treating performed. Your purchasing people should be able to negotiate a better price and save your firm money if they go through the bids and pull out material and outside service costs.