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To sustain growth and profitability in an increasingly competitive market, a company must be open to new ideas and innovations. In recent years, the volatility of the custom machine building market has proven to challenge many such companies. However, one custom machine builder has learned not only how to survive, but to thrive in such an environment. ABCO Automation, Inc. in Greensboro, North Carolina has consistently decreased costs and increased profits by looking for new ways to source custom components used in its machine builds.
ABCO Automation is not a typical custom machine builder, as the company builds machines for a vast number of industries instead of focusing on a select number of industries. "We have an extremely diversified customer base, which is crucial to our success," explained Brad Kemmerer, President of ABCO Automation. Kemmerer noted that by servicing customers from all types of industries, ABCO is less susceptible to the economic fluctuations that can affect a single industry.
"If an industry goes into an economic slump, this does not affect ABCO, because we have a diversified customer portfolio covering many industries," noted Kemmerer. With this type of business model, ABCO is positioned to face a vast amount of competition, as well.
As Kemmerer said, "The other side to a diversified customer portfolio is that you face a lot of competition which puts a lot of cost, time and performance pressures on us." This strategy creates a situation where ABCO heavily relies on its innovations and its suppliers' innovations to remain cost and time competitive in the extremely aggressive custom machine building market.
Figure 1: This machine's component list included linear shafts, flanged linear bushings, strut clamps, locating pins, locating bushings, belts, bearings, plates, bolts and rollers.
To not only compete but grow in such a market requires that ABCO develop a long-term and mutually beneficial relationship with its customers. To achieve this objective, ABCO developed a mission to provide customers with a single source for innovative solutions, automation services and manufacturing support that are all valued contributions to the customer's success. In addition, ABCO prides itself in exceeding expectations for quality, execution and service. Kemmerer simply explained, "In this business, we see competitors come and go all the time, so it's either you dedicate yourself to your customers and put them first or you simply disappear."
ABCO is constantly searching for new ways to source its custom components and lessen the amount of custom components used in machine builds. In 2004, ABCO specifically was looking for a more cost-efficient source for machined linear shafts. Their process involved purchasing blank linear shafts from a distributor and then machining the shafts, using their in-house machine shop.
This process was becoming quite costly for ABCO, which prompted a visit with Misumi Senior Account Manager Donald Schmeltzer. "When I explained that Misumi Linear Shafts can be configured in one-millimeter length increments and offer a vast amount of shaft end configurations as well as a standard manufacturing time of 3 days, ABCO quickly understood the benefit of switching to Misumi for linear shafts," explained Schmeltzer.
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