Nice thread. I fully agree with this:
Get every discount you can, forward order, early payment, quantity rebates - and look hard at alternative suppliers.
As said by some cliche artist, "Life is not a dress rehersal, its the real thing". So you need to make every opportunity count. Think its not possible? Look at any large corporation and you'll see some one who slaved away doing all they could to be successful. "Every discount counts" ®