Interesting Dilemma.....

admin

Hey guys,Just wanted to post an interesting query to those of you who either work in a production environment, or are set up for production runs. The question would be if you ever had to turn down a possible large contract because of manpower, equipment available or accessability,  or quantity required in a specified time.I had a phone call from a company who's representative asked me if I could produce a simple designed steel stool. I indicated that I would need to see the drawing & material specs. He said that would not be a problem. His primary concern was that he needed 12,000 made by June 1st.  HOW MANY???   BY WHEN????I simply explained I didn't have an operation that expansive & it would take some serious production setup applications to produce 200 stools per day. I asked him to leave his name & number & I would check with a couple places that might be able to do it. I'm thinkin' maybe I could get a decent finder's fee from someone who could do it..... never know. Anyway, was wondering how many here have encountered a situation like this or simply had to turn away a some handsome profitable work.  Thanks guys....DennyComplete Welding/Machine/Fab. ShopMobile UnitFinally retired*Moderator*"A man's word is his honor...without honor there is nothing.""Words are like bullets.... Once they leave your muzzle, you cannot get them back."
Reply:Wow!  I wonder how long that guy's going to have a job. LOL.  Haven't had to turn down a big job yet.  Closest thing I've done was 300 pallet carts.  Most of the work done by myself, but did have some assistance from one other person for part of the time.  Didn't have a deadline, but it took about a month to do. 10 or so carts per day average going from raw material to paint ready.My name's not Jim....
Reply:denny,back when i was building houses and doing renovations, I was asked to do a 100 lot residence complex.  the homes would start at 250.  Man I cried when I turned it down.  the time frame was insane and I would have to amp my work force up 10 fold.  i am anal about the final product which is why the guy came knocking, but being a perfectionist, I found it hard to keep employees.In the line of work I did, the secret was knowing when to call it complete.  the struggle most guys had was they called a job complete long before I did.  my name was on the line with every job so i took it seriously.
Reply:i got an account like the OP's once........the work was sub'd out to several vendors in order to make tha deadline.....just see if ya can get a piece of it....was able ta do 5 times the work of the others with tha highest quality...........there were some $1500 dollar days (thats alot for me) , from 5am to 9or 12pm sometimes........was able to payoff some bills and get a real house for my fam.luv another chance like that.        thermal arc 252i  -  millermatic 350P -   miller XMT, cp300ts, 30a 22a feeders, buttload of other millers, handfull of lincolns, couple of esabs  -   Hypertherm 1250 G3
Reply:The key is in having good working relations with other shops that you trust.Know your limitations (which it seems like you do) and don't promise whatyou can't produce. If you could subcontract out portions of the work, and maintain the overall quality control you're good to go.CWI, CWE, CST for Miller, Lincoln, Thermadyne, Hypertherm & ESABMillermatic 350PLincoln Invertec 205 AC/DCVictor combo torchESAB PCM 1125
Reply:quote him for how many you can do by the deadline. Hire a couple guys if you need to. Like someone said above, get a piece of it. They may not need ALL of them by the deadline. Good luckUA Local 598
Reply:Good, cheap, fast.  Pick any two.  The guy expects hand-made 12,000 metal stools in basically 2 months?  WTF is he smoking?  You obviously can't do that alone.  If you want to or can, maybe you can be the 'prime' and then sub out tons of the work.  Then you have to deal with the coordination and logistics and QA issues.  Obviously, a one man shop/operation can't do that sort of production run.  A tooled-up (tooling, dies, jigs, fixturing, etc) factory could do that sort of run.  But only -after- they were tooled up.Interesting dilema.  You may be able to sort it all out, but it obviously won't be -you- hand making 12,000 metal stools by yourself.    The best laid schemes ... Gang oft agley ...
Reply:Hey guys,It's really fascinating the outcome that can arise on occasion.....this is one of them.My metal supplier called me this morning & gave me a phone number to call & the fellow who could do it. I called this fellow, we talked for a half-hour, & he invited me over for lunch. We discussed the proposal I was queried to do & he said he would definitely take the job. He has all the equip. necessary, just ready to lay off the last (8) workers out of (20), & that job would keep him afloat. I gave him the call info. I had & he called the customer. Had the drawings faxed over, & would return a quote by 5pm to the customer.I got a call at 5:30pm, they got the contract, bringing all their guys back to work, made a deal to have 10,000 done by the 1st of June & balance by the 10th. This was quite agreeable to the customer & everyone was quite elated. The shop owner told me to come over on Mon(4/5) to get a (4)digit finders' fee....... talk about: "things happen for a reason". I also have the opportunity to do some near-future production design for an application he needs that is similar to one I do at my workplace. Made me feel good to help those laid-off fellows get back to work..... It really did "come out in the wash" as they say. DennyComplete Welding/Machine/Fab. ShopMobile UnitFinally retired*Moderator*"A man's word is his honor...without honor there is nothing.""Words are like bullets.... Once they leave your muzzle, you cannot get them back."
Reply:Four digit finders fee? 10.99? LOLJust kidding. It is amazing how things work out. It was a win win for all. The other guy sounds like a pretty stand up guy. Lots would have just taken the info and the job and ran. I'm glad you could help guys get their jobs back.Bill
Reply:good karma man.  Now you have just improved your "network".  I bet he throws some more business you way for sure
Reply:Good karma Denny.  The other company's happy to have the job, the almost laid off workers are happy to have a job, and the customer is happy to get his job done.  And you are happy to have been a part in getting them all together.  And a bit happy for getting a finder's fee too.    The best laid schemes ... Gang oft agley ...
Reply:Yeah, you did a very good thing there.Miller EconotigCutmaster 38Yes ma'am, that IS a screwdriver in my pocket!
Reply:Right now that's the kind of problem I'd be happy to have.
Reply:I would call this outcome a win in every way.     I have done everything mentioned above from one time or another.   I have brokered work out to up to 5+ shops at a time.  You loose some profit and gain some aggravation but to make a GREAT customer happy you do what you have to. Right now my biggest hang up with doing things like discussed above.  1st is the availability of such opportunity lately.  Second is i have the equipment to handle large orders but not the real estate to stage them.Vantage 500's LN-25's, VI-400's, cobramatics, Miller migs, synch 350 LX, Powcon inverters, XMT's, 250 Ton Acurrpress 12' brake, 1/4" 10' Atlantic shear,Koikie plasma table W/ esab plasmas. marvel & hyd-mech saws, pirrana & metal muncher punches.