Area Tool & Manufacturing, Inc. is committed to being a reliable partner for our precision machining customers, many of whom build innovative products that literally save people’s lives. Part of being a reliable partner is educating customers on how they can improve the experience of working with a precision machine shop like ours.

One of the most important tips that we commonly share? Don’t wait too long to involve your manufacturing partner. 

Why Involve Your Manufacturing Partner Early? 

It’s important to keep in mind that the manufacturing process isn’t as simple as loading a block of material into a machine and pushing a button. There are many steps involved: finding and ordering materials, programming and running the machines, coordinating plating and other outside processes, conducting a thorough inspection, and shipping the final parts to the customer. It’s not uncommon for manufacturing lead times to span weeks or months. 

Let’s say you’re a customer planning a machine upgrade, and you need the project to be completed in 32 weeks to align with your scheduled shutdown and ensure you get products back out ASAP. You figure you’ll wait until engineering is complete before involving manufacturing, and by that point, you’re already 24 weeks into the project. When you finally speak to your precision machine shop, they inform you they’ll need 16 weeks to get the parts to your door. Now, your entire timeline is thrown off. 

A better alternative is involving your manufacturing partner at the beginning of the design and engineering phase. 

We understand that you won’t have finalized prints until later in the process. However, we can still get a general idea of your needs. We can anticipate challenges and roadblocks, such as which parts will take the longest to manufacture, and proactively share our insights so you can make more informed decisions. 

We’re Committed to Your Success

Area Tool & Manufacturing, Inc. is dedicated to fostering excellent partnerships with our customers. We never want you to be in a position where your project is delayed due to manufacturing. Fortunately, it’s easy to avoid that with a bit of proactive planning and communication. 

We encourage all customers to involve us early in their projects so that we can begin providing our expertise and delivering value from the start. 

Request a quote to begin discussing your next project!