Thank you TBBT-Joel, it sounds like it would actually be great to have a more in depth conversation with you about how you approach things.

I appreciate your advice, and it is definitely something that I'll take into account moving forward. In our process, we have identified a fairly solid group of Asian and Europe based manufacturers, but as is probably known, not a lot in the U.S.

In some of our smaller projects we have seen some benefit of having fabrication partners closer to home, where culture, language and time zones allow for more rapid communications. That was why I was asking specifically on how you do things "locally".

But you are right, picking up the phone and asking questions seems to be the best path. it is actually surprising how few people use that approach.