Took a while to correctly register, I'm goddamn blue/green colorblind so squinting at that Captcha code had me blind as a bat and about two beans short of a burrito by the time I got it right.
I'm part owner of a small company in Southern California. We've been in business almost 10 years. We design and make billet and cast metal parts, mostly aluminum. We do not do any machining in-house at this time.
We have a few really good vendors who we stick with, period.
For mill and lathe work, we have tried small shops, who want to overcharge because they didn't buy better equipment so it takes them longer.
We have tried shops with incredible equipment (new 5-axis Mori with ALL the bells and whistles), but every time a juicier job comes along, our stuff is late.
We have tried big shops, but they don't meet deadlines because they are more focused on the big jobs.
We have tried MFG, and even though we only tried the shops who were
not lowballing, we found flakes, dreamers, people looking for easy money, or people who de-prioritized us every time a bigger job came around.
We have tried expensive shops, who claimed and probably believed they were King Sh*t, and act like they are doing us a favor for doing our work because of how serious they are about making great parts on time or because of how smart or precise they are. They turned out to be the same as everyone else: talk is cheap.
We are looking for a company that can
AND WILL do the following:
- Deliver when you say you will.
- Follow instructions. If we say "Do not run production until first article approval," don't even begin running parts. If the machine is all set up and you are face with turning away other jobs, either tell us we need to approve it in X time or tell us what our options are.
- Do prototypes or hot jobs quickly without gouging us because we are in need. In return, prototypes will turn into production at YOUR shop, not a lowballer's.
- Do high quality work, as if you cared. Meaning, the parts have a nice finish and all look the same. USA pride, not Chinese factory Don't-Give-a-Crap.
- Do work off time and materials. Don't feel us out to try to get more, or ask us what we will pay.
- TRY REALLY HARD. Push! Move! Hustle! Act as if it's important! If the anodizer says "One week turnaround" on a hot job, ask if they can possibly do it sooner. Etc.!
- Give 30 day billing. We have AWESOME credit with our vendors.
- If you do not have a 5-axis (or 4-axis, or 3-axis) machine, do not expect us to overpay for you to do it inefficiently. Make efficient fixtures.
- Please do not try to rape us on fixtures or setup charges. We will go somewhere else. Our favorite vendors do not charge setups or fixtures, or if they do, they are efficient and FAST. In return we can give repeat orders.
- Do NOT ask us what motor vehicle or engine a particular part fits. I appreciate that you may be a car/boat/truck/4x4/ATV/motorcycle/watercraft guy. Sorry.
- Do NOT take credit for OUR parts, or minimize the value of our engineering or rep by telling people "We make their stuff for them". How about "They are one of our customers."?
- Do NOT approach our competitors. If you want to increase the business, serve us well and we will give you as much of our work as possible.
- Do NOT approach our customers. If we send a print with another company's logo on it, do not call them up for any reason.
- Do NOT decide that my company is making the lion's share of the profits on this or that part, and that you are doing all work (you're not), and try to go into our business. We are not a machine shop and You are not an engineering house that designs products, develops products, or sells products. Machining is a lot harder than people think and so is what we do. If you get any sneaky ideas, we will pummel you mercilessly. It has happened before.
What do we offer?
- Ongoing work. We aren't big but we are growing every month, hence our need to find a vendor who won't hold us back.
- We pay. In full and on time.
- Fairness. Meaning, if a job ends up being more work than you quoted, let us know and we will work with you. But for pete's sake, do the same: if run time is less than you estimated, let us know the price came in a few bucks less per part. The money will come back to you many times over.
- Good files/prints/drawings
- Easy to deal with.
- Realistic expectations to go with our high standards.
- Loyalty. We are looking for a manufacturing PARTNER. Meaning, we prioritize your needs and you prioritize ours. We have each other's back. We are paying a premium to make everything in the USA, by our clear and conscience decision. It costs us extra money just to put money in your pocket. Make us glad we did!
- Price is very important but our goal is not to drive our costs as low as possible. It's to get as much VALUE as we can, as affordably as we can. But we cannot pay you a premium just because you think very highly of yourself!
Our long term goal is that you cherish our account because of all the money we give you, and we cherish your services because of all the money you help us make. When another shop calls us offering to save a couple of bucks per part, we want to say, "No, it's not worth it. OUR GUY TAKES CARE OF US." When you think about doing one of the things on the "Do/Don't" list above (whether it's being late because you put another job before us; going around us; etc.) we want you to think, "I cannot do that. THESE GUYS TAKE CARE OF ME."
Capische?
Think about it really hard before responding. We don't need someone who doesn't meet those needs. We already work with shops like that.
If you have personal issues, you have my sympathies and I wish you nothing but the best, but it will go badly between us so don't contact me. But if you truly can and will do the above arrangement and want a customer like us, let's talk.
Thanks for reading.
