I decided to write this article to try to explain why the MULTICENTER DOES NOT WORK in certain situations. The problem is that I receive many requests for which the MULTICENTER is not suited. Wasting both of our time is not a good thing since, as committed as we may be, we both have a limit:

TIME

 

Time is the same factor for everyone; I would almost define it a democratic factor. In our society, the homeless person, the famous actor, the athlete and the billionaire all have the same amount of time at their disposal.

Seeing that time is money for everyone, when a request is received it needs to be analysed and, in case it is not feasible, an answer needs to be given explaining why it is not possible to satisfy the request.

That being said, I decided to deal with the problem so that, in case you see yourself in one of the cases I am about to describe, you don’t waste your time and neither do I.

As you can imagine, the MULTICENTER has a range of market and applications that is increasingly expanding, for 6 reasons which are listed here below:

1- MORE AND MORE REQUESTS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF SMALL AND MEDIUM LOTS (LEAN PRODUCTION)

2- CUSTOMERS WANT TO CUT DOWN ON THEIR STOCK AND TO QUICKLY PRODUCE ONLY WHAT THEY SELL

3- SINCE 2005 (12 YEARS), WE HAVE MANAGED TO KEEP THE SAME PRICE THANKS TO MASS PRODUCTION

4- WITH SUCH COMPETITIVE PRICES, MORE COMPANIES CAN AFFORD TO MAKE THIS INVESTMENT

5- RELIABILITY HAS IMPROVED COMPARED TO THE PAST THANKS TO THE MASS PRODUCTION

6- FAST DELIVERY TIMES, 3 TO 4 MONTHS ON AVERAGE FOR THE 3-SPINDLE MODEL AND 5 TO 6 MONTHS FOR THE 5-SPINDLE VERSION.

These are precisely the six reasons that led to an increased request for the MULTICENTER.

We invested in infrastructures such as bridge cranes and new technical personnel for the assembly department, in order to increase the assembly capacity of the machines by 40%.

Now that you know the six reasons for the huge success of this machine, I will list the 12 reasons why you should NOT bother asking for information, so that neither of us will waste precious time!

THIS IS WHY YOU SHOULD NOT CONTACT ME!

This list derives from a collection of requests which I have received over the years. For the most part, they are requests coming from customers who took a quick look at our machine on our website and immediately picked up the phone or wrote an e-mail in order to understand how I might solve their production problem.

Having, said that, thanks to the following 12 points, I will sum up a few concepts which will be useful so that you DO NOT contact me.

1- THE MULTICENTER IS NOT SUITED FOR PROCESSING GEARS

 

2- THE MULTICENTER IS NOT A LATHE; ALTHOUGH IT IS ABLE TO CARRY OUT SOME TURNING, IT IS MAINLY A MILLING, DRILLING AND THREADING MACHINE

 

3- THE MULTICENTER IS NOT SUITABLE FOR PROCESSING PLASTIC MATERIALS

THE MULTICENTER IS NOT SUITABLE FOR PRODUCING MOULDS

 

4- THE MULTICENTER IS NOT SUITABLE FOR THE PRODUCTION OF COMPONENTS BEYOND 250 mm3 (WE HAVE 400 and 600-mm VERSIONS), NOTHING BEYOND THAT

 

5- THE MULTICENTER IS NOT SUITABLE FOR THE ASSEMBLY OF COMPONENTS

 

6- THE MULTICENTER IS NOT A PART WASHING AND DE-GREASING MACHINE

 

7- THE MULTICENTER IS NOT A GRINDING MACHINE THESE OPERATIONS, IF NECESSARY ARE CARRIED OUT AFTERWARDS ON A SPECIFIC MACHINE

 

8- THE MULTICENTER DOES NOT WORK IF YOU HAVE MILLIONS OF PIECES TO PRODUCE. WE WILL BUILD YOU A TRANSFER MACHINE FOR THIS TYPE OF PRODUCTION.

 

9- THE MULTICENTER WILL NOT WORK IF YOU ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH THE ISO PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE AND YOU HAVE NO INTENTION TO LEARN IT

 

10- THE MULTICENTER IS NOT A MACHINE FOR EVERYONE AND FOR EVERY JOB!

 

11- THE MULTICENTER IS NOT YOUR SOLUTION IF YOU DO NOT HAVE AT LEAST € 550,000 TO INVEST.

IF YOU DO NOT HAVE AT LEAST € 550,000 TO INVEST, THE MULTICENTER IS NOT YOUR SOLUTION!

Perhaps I have offended you in some way by listing these points but, frankly speaking, it is really pointless for you to contact me if even one of these points applies to your situation.

I have listed the most common requests that I have received, omitting the more creative ones. Perhaps one day I will also make a list of those so that we can have something to laugh about.

You may find yourself in a situation where you are not ready yet to discuss buying a MULTICENTER because you still have doubts or fears, or you are not fully convinced even after reading this article. In this case, before you contact me directly, I recommend that you read, to the very last page, the first book in Italy and in the world dedicated to “FLEXIBLE PRODUCTION”.

I wrote this book to share useful concepts and ideals with people who are in some way associated with the world of machining pieces to specification through the removal of chips, for the purpose of helping as well as stimulating them when dealing with new challenges.

SINCE 2008, EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED IN THE WORLD OF PRODUCTION, AS WELL AS IN OTHER SECTORS.

Many companies were forced to come up with new ways to stay in business, and there are many cases where company owners just had to surrender in view of horrendous market situations.

Typically, Asiatic countries, China in particular, attacked the sector with aggressive, almost cut-throat prices, possible thanks to a combination of cheap labour and government aid, operating a scorched earth policy with regards to the world’s long-established companies that had been working for years in production of custom-made components.

This entirely new situation resulted in said historical companies having to apply the quickest short-cut, but also the most dangerous, in order to be able to hold on to the market shares acquired thanks to years of hard work: lowering the sale price, consequently zeroing out the profit margin or, in the worst case, working below cost.

This way of working has unfortunately generated much economic suffering for companies, which inevitably translated into occupational suffering, thus becoming a social problem, the end result being that many companies have reduced their volumes or even closed their doors.

I was a manufacturer of high-productivity systems from 1958, when my father first embarked on this adventure.

Over the course of those 50+ years I was able to ascertain that there has been an increasingly frantic race to produce systems that are more and more powerful, increasingly fast, and where the key performance figure was the hourly production of components.

Each new machine tool model was praised since it increased more and more the hourly production.

HOW IS IT POSSIBLE TO BE ONCE AGAIN COMPETITIVE NOWADAYS, AFTER THE ASIAN TIGERS HAVE MERCILESSLY LAUNCHED THEIR ATTACK?

I certainly don’t intend to convince you that optimism can overcome all difficulties; it is not enough to take a course on motivation to get galvanised and then hope for the best.

If you are operating in this sector, you will surely understand that in the case of a brass fitting for garden applications, where quality and application are truly basic, it will be quite difficult to successfully produce this item and beat the Chinese competition.

At the same time, a vast majority of other products can be made by adopting an approach that is different from the usual approach. The new challenge is to produce only what you sell and not to produce for the warehouse.

PRODUCING ONLY WHAT YOU SELL AND NOT FOR THE WAREHOUSE

This makes it possible to reduce the value of the stock on hand and of all costs associated with it. Producing only what you sell is an idea that many companies like; however, it must be dealt with using the right tools.

Quickly meeting the customers’ requests with medium-sized lots, in other words from 100 to 5,000 pieces.

THIS IS A REAL CHALLENGE THAT THE CHINESE SIMPLY CANNOT WIN!

That being said, this book aims to help you examine all the issues associated with production or, better yet, Flexible Production. In fact, this is the concept from which my work takes its name.

As of today, you can concentrate on understanding different ways of being competitive in the world of manufacturing, without pulling your hair out due to the sale price that Asian countries are ruthlessly imposing on you.

To receive the Flexible Production Book…

please CLICK HERE!

Maurizio Porta
Expert in Flexible Production