Productivity in Action

A manufacturing case study for the electrical industry

Economies of Scale When a leading manufacturer of electrical components needed to react to significant increases in the quantity of a turned part they produced in-house, the Production Manager concluded that they would either need to purchase an additional machine or add a night shift in order to meet the additional requirements. Outsourcing After further investigation, the cost of either option was found to be prohibitive and the time needed to purchase and install a new machine would result in production falling way behind. With this in mind the Company decided to investigate outsourcing the additional work. Outsourcing was something they hadn't considered before as they assumed it was more expensive than in-house production. They also felt they would have less control over quality and turnaround time if they used an outside Company.

A typical part manufactured by Rodmatic

Cost effective

One of the companies invited to help solve their difficulties was Rodmatic Precision Engineering. Rodmatic, established in 1963, is a specialist contract engineering company producing high volume turned parts. They have a comprehensive manufacturing facility utilizing a highly effective combination of multi-spindle and CNC turning machines, supported by both in-house tool design and maintenance operations.

The Production Manager was pleasantly surprised when Rodmatic's quotation came in at a level representing a significant saving over processing the part in-house.

A part costing £0.93 per piece to process in-house was going to cost a mere £0.35 per piece using Rodmatic's service.

When asked why their price was so much lower, Rodmatic's Managing Director, Robert Rickman, explained: "For smaller runs we use our CNC machines but for larger quantities like this it is faster and much more economical for us to use our multi-spindle machines. We can typically produce parts at a fraction of their in-house cost and also manufacture their requirements very quickly."

"At Rodmatic," Rickman continued, "we have 40 specialist machines with capacity ranging from 4mm to 80mm. Our focus is very much on working with our customers to meet their individual requirements."

Experience and flexibility

Rodmatic can set machines to cater for individual and/or families of parts and are able to implement a call-off of parts held in stock based on specific customer requirements.

Rodmatic's in-house tool making facility is equipped with the latest technology. Tools and cutters are all produced on site. They operate a strict "zero-defect" policy and are accredited to ISO 9002.