Benefits of the Contract Manufacturing Industry

AW Miller customers provide the following benefits and expertise to the Contract Manufacturing Industry:

Expertise: The outsourcing company can rely on experienced engineers who are accustomed to making new components with tight tolerances and exact specifications, saving time and money in the production process.
CNC machinery is expensive and the purchase may not make financial sense if there are only a few parts or prototypes to be produced.
Ability to Scale Up: If industry or marketplace demand is increased at the last minute, contract machining firms can easily increase the production run. CNC technology features different automation and artificial intelligence solutions to make increases in production almost seamless. In addition, outsourcing smaller runs allows the original manufacturer to focus their attention on more important parts and products to optimize profitability.
Quality Control: Contract CNC machining must be done with tight tolerances to align with customer expectations. Contract companies often feature great quality control to complete their projects more efficiently than inexperienced alternatives. In addition, contract manufacturing industry firms have an entire team of skilled staff members to assist the CNC manufacturing engineers with designing efficient and effective parts.
Private Label manufacturing: Companies that outsource their parts to be manufactured have branding rights to the parts. As such they are free to market the products under the original branding guidelines.

Circumstances to Contract CNC Machining

The decision to make or buy machined parts can often be a difficult one to make. Since the contract manufacturing industry offers many advantages to the production workflow, it often makes profitable sense. As a result, businesses will often outsource secondary operations so that their core teams can channel company resources towards more mission-critical, primary operations. Businesses that face the below challenges are best suited to complete projects through a contract manufacturing company. If you are interested in connecting with an outsourcing company, please contact us for specific recommendations for your project. Inability to Add New Equipment: The cost, skilled operation, and shop floor space for adding new CNC machinery are important for smaller and mid-sized firms to consider when making purchase and production decisions. Outsourcing non-critical work will enable the company to produce more parts in the same timeline, and save core resources for the proprietary work. As a result, the contract manufacturing industry offers an efficient way to scale up in a short period of time to make more sales without significantly increasing overhead.

Narrow or Specific Production Range: Companies that specialize in one type of part may want to outsource components they need outside of these particular areas.
Frequent Scheduling and Demand Changes: Some manufacturers have seasonal or fluctuating demand changes due to the needs of the industries they serve. Scaling up and down can be expensive if it needs to be done outside of the expected parameters. Outsourcing can often make these production rate changes easier to manage.
Complex Supply Chain: Contract manufacturing simplifies in-house processes overall.

CNC Contract manufacturing is applicable for a wide range of industries because these companies often specialize in versatility of their skills and equipment. As a result, they often have the ability to take on a wide range of contracted projects from different industries at the same time.

CNC Contract Manufacturing Mazak Machines

Mazak is the industry leader for reliable machines that are versatile, accurate, and reliable. The entire company is dedicated to providing CNC manufacturers with the most innovative and productive equipment possible. With Mazak, contract manufacturing companies are able to equip their shops with the technology, machines, artificial intelligence, and automation they need to be successful. The A.W. Miller team is ready to help your company navigate the best manufacturing combinations so that you can offer reliable solutions for your customers

CNC Services in Contract Manufacturing

AW Miller is proud to offer a team of certified technical engineers that will assist you with service requests in a timely manner to decrease down time. We will also help you to avoid service requests with routine maintenance tips. Please click here for more information.

Machining: The parts that are being machined may require specific CNC machining features to produce the best final product. As a result, the CNC industry is versatile to make parts for a wide range of applications. This means that contract manufacturers need to have a specific industry they accept work for, or they need a large budget and resources, and shop space to equip their company properly to handle the scope of work being contracted.
Prototyping: Prototypes are a smart way to take advantage of contract manufacturing benefits. The part can be tested before the mechanical specifications are changed. The result is an advanced and accurate prototype that can still be adjusted as needed for the application.
Engineering: CNC manufacturing can sometimes be limited to design restrictions. Especially if the machinery and technology is not equipped to create the part that is requested. That being said, it’s important for contract manufacturers to have a full team of engineers to help customers find solutions, and to develop and finalize designs. In addition, these companies should have industrial certifications like ISO 9001, ISO 13485, and AS9100.
Quality Inspections: Contract manufacturing companies need to have an intuitive quality control system in place to make sure the final product meets both the application requirements and specifications. These companies should also have quality performance metrics available for the customer to assess, complete with records to ensure customer satisfaction and success.
Project Management: Visibility into the manufacturing process, and accountability at all levels of the organization is important to some customers when they are selecting a contract manufacturing partner. Project management processes can differ, but they should always be discussed. For example, a single point of contact throughout the duration of the program will help customers to determine appropriate internal and external resources for the project. As a result, it will help them relay the information to their customers and internal team as needed.

Training Classes

If your team needs assistance with learning how to use the CNC machinery and technology, Mazak offers a variety of training classes. These will ensure your CNC Contract manufacturing teams are up-to-date on how to use and maintain the machines effectively. Please contact us to learn more about these training classes

The Future of The CNC Contract Manufacturing Industry

As CNC machining technology advances and develops, we are expecting to see exponential growth in all sectors of the industry. This affects the contract manufacturing side because it will become more economical for companies to combine their manufacturing efforts. The innovations in artificial intelligence and automation that Mazak is coming out with will revolutionize the way companies view this traditional manufacturing method. By offering more versatility, reliability, and accuracy, contract manufacturing companies will continue to be the machining hub for everything from prototypes to high volume production runs.