Your engineers design a fantastic machine, the specifications are top quality. It’s a great idea, ahead of the curve and set to disrupt the market. Brilliant!
You know it will sell and it does, the market loves it. It’s the premium product of your market and people are happy to pay top dollar! You’re very excited…
Obviously, you need to keep a decent margin. So you source the most competitive prices you can find. It’s all good business and you’re making a decent profit, thank you very much.
But… (there had to be a but, didn’t there) it can all start to unravel so very, very easily… There are two common reasons why it does and one very simple solution to make sure it doesn’t!
Your fantastic machine must hold tight tolerances. So you need to ensure that all components are built to the standard required. Everything that goes into that machine has to conform so your sophisticated bit of kit works as it should!
If components do not conform, there’ll be trouble. Tolerances won’t hold and that premium product will become… a lemon! Customer complaints will follow, reputation will be damaged and future orders lost. Gulp!
I’ll give you two common issues where dreams turn to nightmares.
Reason 1 – Stretching the margins to breaking point…
OK, we get it. You need to establish the best margin possible, of course. Without the profit there is no point, but cutting costs can mean corners cut.
Let’s say you’ve chosen your regular engineering supplier. They’ve always offered a great service at a great price. Excellent.
Except, the engineering company making the critical parts struggle to hold the tolerances required, so the machine you assemble won’t either. The non-conformity will work its way through to the product the customer buys.
And, when it does, you won’t have delivered the premium product you promised and your customers paid for. Instead they’ve got that horrible lemon and they’ll probably ask for their money back…
That’s not good in anyone’s book!
Reason 2 – Designing with faults built in
Surely not…? I’m afraid so. This does happen…
Sometimes the drawing office is so used to receiving parts built on inferior machines, your engineers design and produce drawings with that in mind.
Your people are using a little leeway so the supplier’s machines can cope!
Essentially, they are designing with faults built in… It’s harsh, but essentially that is what’s happening.
Reality Check
It’s common sense – if the components were built by CNC machines not up to the job, there are bound to be issues.
At best you’ll be chasing your tail:
- sending the parts back to be reworked
- completing the admin that goes with that
- working through plan B
And, the fantastic machine you promised has become decidedly mediocre and a nuisance to run. All very unsatisfactory..!
The solution is simple, though. Extraordinarily so.
The Simple Solution – Right, First Time
You can avoid all this by using a company that can handle the tolerances you need for the specifications you promised the customer. You need a combination of:
- high quality machines
- high quality software
- the engineering expertise to make the parts and
- inspection to ensure you get what you asked for
Inspection is critical. If you can be certain that the parts you receive are categorically correct to the drawing, everything will be fine! Your parts will conform! Your customer gets the fantastic machine they wanted and it runs as it should.
BINGO! Everyone is happy – your customers and your margin! Because you will reduce costs in the long run.
If there are any issues, you look to the drawing office for adjustments. It’s an easy fix because you have total control.
So, if you use a precision engineering company that pre-inspects everything and provides written confirmation that all parts are correct to the drawing, you can deliver the premium product rather than the lemon!
Picking A Top Precision Engineering Company
Picking the right precision engineering company isn’t hard. In fact you can click here to learn three reasons you should choose Axis Precision Engineering to manufacture the components for your fantastic machine!
Or you can see us in action – click the image below and read our MotorSport case study to learn how the excellent service we provide works in practice.