Many of today’s job shops are reestablishing themselves as full-service manufacturers. By providing comprehensive service options to their customers, manufacturers benefit in two distinct ways:
- Full-service manufacturers enjoy the fulfillment of solving a wider range of compelling customer problems
- Full-service manufacturers enjoy increased revenues and greater customer satisfaction resulting from enhanced manufacturing efficiency
However, to succeed as a full-service manufacturer, you need a reliable industry network of vendors who will uphold your high standards and perform in alignment with your values.
Serious Manufacturing Solutions Require Premium Partnerships
You can’t be everything to everyone, but when considering ways to improve manufacturing productivity and efficiency, one obvious solution is to expand your service offerings through partnerships with other manufacturing professionals.
Give your customers a streamlined experience
Let’s say your CNC machining business only offers precision machining services. If your customer’s part also requires plating and assembly, they’ll potentially have to create three unique purchase orders and ship the part to three different vendors.
This approach is not only time-consuming and costly but also presents opportunities for errors to occur: three round-trip shipments that could get lost or delayed, three separate vendors whose standards may or may not align, and three invoices that require review from an accounting department.
Now, let’s consider what would happen if your shop managed the full process on behalf of this customer: the customer gets their fully completed part with just ONE vendor interaction!
Establish strong partnerships
Of course, you don’t have to build or acquire an entirely new division to offer new services to your customers. All you need are trustworthy partnerships with vendors who offer complementary services.
Great partnerships enable collaborative cross-promotion of one another’s services. And with solid partners in place, you can position your business as a one-stop shop without having to increase your machine shop management responsibilities.
Take on higher-paying projects
Becoming a one-stop shop doesn’t just help shops take on more jobs—it also helps them take on better, higher-paying jobs.
An NTMA member recently explained how his shop turned a $12,000 job into a $35,000 job by providing assembly services in addition to precision machining services. The customer could have saved money by managing the multi-vendor process on their own. But letting the shop manage this process on their behalf was worth paying a premium price.
When you transition to a full-service manufacturing business model, you provide your customers with more than parts; you enhance manufacturing efficiency for their business—and that’s priceless.
Build Your Machine Shop with NTMA
If you feel overwhelmed by the prospect of building multiple vendor relationships, NTMA can help. With NTMA Connect, members have a safe space to ask questions and find service providers that meet their customers’ needs.
Explore NTMA Connect and start expanding your shop’s solutions today!
