We have completed hundreds of complex assemblies in the past 70 years and each one has unique opportunities to provide creative solutions from our team. Given the destruction of supply chains, the ability to be creative, agile, and responsive to your needs is even greater.
Custom Manufacturing Projects Sourced Complete
Overview
Summary
We have completed a lot of custom manufacturing projects in our 70 years and each has a unique set of challenges with an ever-changing supply chain. Good thing we offer you the worlds largest tool box, a solid partnership of suppliers and service providers, and the expertise to complete your project.
Recent Completed Projects:
- An expanding mandrel for the medical industry.
- Rebuilding of a pneumatic coil winder for the power transmission industry.
- Duplication of a frame bending machine for the defense industry.
- A water jet cutting assembly for the paper industry.
- A test engine stand for the aerospace company.
- A lifting system for helicopter repairs in the field.
The biggest hurdle you will have to navigate is material lead time. Lead times for custom manufacturing projects are easily double of what they were in 2019. Material suppliers have paired down the amount of common sizes they stock thus making the previously common buying channels equally as challenging as the search for the Holy Grail. That off the shelf air cylinder that was specified a decade ago that was off the shelf if now custom with a 12 week lead time.
The next hurdle is skilled labor. Labor shortages have put all of us in a bind with a finite amount of skilled employees to devote to direct production and this impacts everything from outside services being performed timely to even finding a company that can do the work. A lot of us have invested in better equipment and tooling to offset that labor so we can work more efficiently and be able to provide the services that even we used to purchase ourselves.
The final hurdle is pricing. Ever since the word “tariff” was used in 2018, material prices soared with hording of common goods needed for normal production cycles and then as domestic suppliers tried to diversify, that removed capacity that was dedicated to materials they were already selling. Some material pricing has since declined but the return to commodity pricing and consistent supply is a long way off.
We have your back. Submit your RFQ to get the conversation started and let’s schedule a time between your team and ours to review the needs, the timeline, and what success looks like as well as how each of us can bring additional creative solutions to the table.
Problem
Congratulations! You have project with over 30 prints, a bill of materials on three spreadsheets, a budget, a timeline, and no where to start since your old supply chain is no longer in place.
Journey/Process
It all starts in our project center where you can work directly with our operations, purchasing, and even leadership team to co-develop what success looks like and clear expectations of timelines and responsibilities.
Solution
Raw materials, custom machined parts to print, fabrication, hardware, components, surface finishing, painting, engraving, and even testing is handle by our team.