Product category:
General Machining Subcontracting Services
News Release from: Target Precision | Subject: Complex mill/turn parts up to 32mm diameter
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 11 May 2004
How subcontractors cope with random
demand
Being able to consistently meet customer needs with a well-equipped CNC machining capability also requires organising production effectively on demand - with little or no long-term planning.
Target Precision, the specialist producer of complex mill/turn parts up to 32mm diameter, knows better than most the extent of the production scheduling 'balancing act' that is needed to meet the continuing pressure placed on sub-contractors for urgent delivery of relatively small batch work According to Chris Thorburn, technical director at the Harlow (Essex) based company, being able to consistently meet such customer demands not only means having a well-equipped CNC machining capability, but it also means being able to organise production effectively on a day-to-day/week-to-week basis with little or no long-term planning
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 27 Apr 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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"While for some customers we are in the fortunate position of being able to work to accurate production forecasts - ie, they regularly call off certain quantities at agreed prices - an increasing amount of our business is based on 'one-off' orders that are wanted urgently," he says.
"For the former, we can (and do) of course machine a certain number of components for stock, to a certain extent creating a buffer of parts to meet these forward orders that can range up to annual quantities of 100,000 or more.
However, this practice also effectively gives us the appropriate breathing space to meet the unexpected, urgent orders for batches of, say, 5,000-off - and, believe me, some weeks we don't have time to draw breath!" With 17 CNC machines on the shopfloor, including 10 Citizen sliding head automatics (from NC Engineering of Watford), Target Precision is ideally placed to satisfy every eventuality in terms of producing complex mill/turn parts up to 32 mm diameter.
Further reading
Selecting subcontractors - a science or art?
On the surface, selecting sub-contractors is fairly straightforward: the price has to be right; product quality must be spot on; deliveries should be to schedule and yet some consider it an 'art'.
Sliding head auto work is on the increase
Specialist sub-contract manufacturer of precision turned parts has recruited another experienced CNC turning setter/operator to satisfy increased demand for sliding head work.
Like many of its counterparts in the sub-contract sector, the company is increasingly witnessing shorter order books and smaller batches as companies seemingly hunt around for the best price - despite the fact that Target Precision guarantees prices against quotes, which therefore favours customers that place long-term orders even if call-off quantities are small.
"Cost-effective sub-contracting is not just about achieving the best price," concludes Thorburn.
"It's also about producing parts of the right quality at the right time.
Our continued success is proof that only by having the latest high-specification machine tools - and mostly applying one-hit machining, where appropriate - can sub-contractors provide the best combination of price, quality and delivery to give the customer exactly what is wanted when it is wanted.".
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