Since machining centers were introduced into the world of production they have become the main choice for most companies.

On a global level they are definitely the most requested numerical control machine tools.  They have invaded production departments everywhere.

So, it is well known that most companies have this technology available and the approach and production strategies of these companies reflect the business model that these types of machine tools offer.

A very flexible business model, but not in favor of productivity and profitable fixed costs.

Obviously, this aspect should make you think…

If almost all production departments have this technology then your competitors will have the same technology as well.

And guess what?

If your competitors use machining centers and you use machining centers then means that you are using the same business model and production strategies.

This means that you are entering (or you are currently in) a price war from which it will be difficult to get out if you do not mobilize immediately to look for a new solution and a new business model.

A more competitive business model that allows you to really differentiate yourself.

A business model that can wipe out your competition once and for all.  Competition which has lowered its guard and is still using the old method of CNC machining centers in battery.

The Behaviors of Those Who Use Machining Centers

During my many years of experience in the field of machine tools I have found that those who use machining centers have more or less the same behavior.

When they buy one or more machining centers the first phase always involves the search for the “Best Price”.  Negotiating for a machine between competing manufacturers to pay less for the purchase

After purchasing the machining center the focus shifts mainly to 3 important items to calculate how much it will cost you to produce certain batches of items.

The 3 elements are:

1. The cost of labor.
2. The cost of energy.
3. The cost of raw materials.

The cost of labor, which, as you know, weighs heavily on the final cost of the product, is becoming more and more of a real problem.

Beyond cost, a specialized operator is hard to find and very expensive to maintain.

Very often you try to pay staff as little as possible compared to your competition in order to maximize competitive edge.

Because of this point the concept of outsourcing was started years ago, and still exist in order to reduce this cost.

Then there is the cost of energy.

Energy is another issue that is very important to production companies since it directly affects the cost.

The cost of energy is increasing at a rapid rate and is becoming more of a consideration each day in the production environment.

The last element is raw material.

If you think you’re the only one who buys well and your competitor does not, let me say you are wrong.

Both of you are attempting to find the best price through various contracts with volume discounts, putting in place a schedule, and so on.

The costs of your company are closely linked to how your structure is organized.

And by structure, I mean most of all your BUSINESS MODEL.

On average, small companies have lower business costs while larger companies have higher costs.

But, almost always, these higher costs are offset by structural advantages. For example, a small company has less costs, but also less sales force or less after-sales assistance.

In fact, if you really want to solve the problem of your production costs you must absolutely review your business model and understand that how you currently run your business not work anymore!

Yes, exactly.

I did not want to be so direct about it, but it is clear that if you do not change your mind and you continue to adopt the same strategies as your competitors you can never expect to overtake them and become more competitive.

The items which each user of CNC Machining Centers worries:

• Cost of the machining center
• Staff Price
• Energy cost
• Cost of raw materials
• General business costs

How does your production department differ from the competition?
Do you analyze the points listed above?

If someone asks you how you differentiate yourself from your competitors I hope you do not answer “WITH QUALITY”, because this answer is no longer acceptable in the market today.

Am I saying that quality is not needed? Absolutely not.

I just want to help you understand that “Quality” is a point now taken for granted by your customers.

Everyone says it and when a customer turns to you, to evaluate your offer and quote, they already assume that you have the quality.

He does not evaluate you based on quality, because the reality is that in his head this point is already there by default and there is not even a debate about this aspect.  If you do not have quality you would not be considered to begin with.

So, you should not waste time answering “quality” because you’re giving the exact same answer that each of your competitors gives.

Consequently, if you are comparable with your competitors you are likely similar in price and here comes the price war.

A real feud, where we are witnessing a bloodbath of companies that, just to bring home orders, are accepting orders at prices they know that they will not earn any profit.

Can you continue like this?

Are you sure that your business or your production department is destined to deal with cut-throat competition?

The real question you need to ask yourself is:

“How can I change my business model and adopt a method and system that will

help my production to be more competitive?”

The true silent killer threatening entire
production departments and is putting your company in serious
danger.

The truth is only one.

Today production departments have entered a self-destructive cycle, which is crushing production and eating profit margins, day by day.

What am I talking about?

BATTERY MACHINING CENTERS

Long lines of CNC Machining Centers, with robots, which are invading production departments in the name of Flexibility.

But, at the same time, in a very silent way, they are bringing an exponential increase to all your costs to the detriment of productivity and competitiveness.

Let me guess.

You are very likely yet another company with rows of CNC machining centers. Trying to be competitive in the production department by doing the same things that your competitor does.

Right?

So, considering the points mentioned above, how many opportunities do you have to win the challenge?

How many chances do you have to win the war against your competitors?

It is clear that this will not work with this business model.

It is under everyone’s nose.

Is there a way to avoid colliding (without any escape) against your competitors? Is there a way to finally be the most competitive and therefore profitable?

Of course there is.

The answer lies in the business model and in adopting a new production method.

>>> Business Model + Production Method <<<

A business model that can help you reduce production costs and become more competitive, to eliminate the competition once and for all, and also take a competitive advantage that they will never be able to fill.

Would it not be nice to find a way to not clash with your competition anymore?

A method that separates you completely from the others and takes you to a higher level.

Instead of just fighting on the usual points like:

–  Staff Price

–  Cost of raw materials

–  Energy cost

–  Total fixed business costs

What I propose is to move the battle onto another pitch and start playing another game by achieving the following results:

1) Increase production by increasing productivity.

2) Reduce the waste of space occupied by machine tools.

3) Drastically reduce the costs of specialized personnel.

4) Reduce energy costs.

5) Cut down warehouse stocks.

6) Produce only sold product.

7) Eliminate production for stock to respond to deliveries.

8) Reduce material handling.

9) Reduce WIP.

10) Eliminate unnecessary production.

11) Eliminate reworking.

All these results are really achievable, but NOT with the use of machining centers.

This is because, as mentioned before, they are machine tools that represent a past business model that no longer guarantee a competitiveness as in the late 90s.

Trying to get certain results with CNC machining centers is absurd and impossible, because it would put the organization and the relationships between people under great stress.

It could then generate a sense of frustration trying to achieve such ambitious goals, keeping the same technology and the same business model.

They are inadequate tools to make the leap in quality and productivity.

When I say inadequate instruments, I do not mean old of age, I mean old in conception and mentality.

Specifically, talking about Machining Centers.  They are very modern machines but the same concepts year after year.

An extra spindle, with a pallet changer, maybe faster, more powerful, but the concept is the same and still 20 years old in concept.

What the manufacturers of machining centers continue to improve is their product, which is a good thing, but the leap in quality I am proposing is done by analyzing what is actually needed by the final customer.

Today the final customer does not need to try to improve, for example, the rapid movements from 110 meters per minute to 120 meters per minute of the new machine.

As Henry Ford understood “a few years ago”, customers did not need a faster, more robust horse, but something totally different that revolutionized the way they moved and did business.

Nowadays, in order to compete, we need to be faster and more productive, and to have the same capacity to produce only what we sell by breaking down the stock, without limiting the speed in which we do it.

How to quadruple productivity, reduce production costs,
reduce stock, and deliver quickly.

Analyzing this new requirement and seeing the very bad results that continue to be obtained with the use of Transfer CNC machines and CNC machining centers, I had a brilliant idea.

“What can we learn from these old concepts of production?”

Starting from this question I decided to invest the last several years to studying and developing a method that could solve all the problems currently faced in the production departments of my customers.

I studied all the steps and then I laid everything out in front of me.

The results I obtained have been nothing short of fantastic and even today I marvel at what I was able to invent.

I attempted to find a solution that could combine the two worlds and the strengths of those of CNC machining centers and CNC Transfer Machines.

And so I did.

I developed the Flexible Production method and adapted it to the context of the production departments of my customers, and then went on to implement all the changes and improvements from each project; adjusting the concept month after month.

From the beginning I realized that, in order to properly exploit the potential of the Flexible Production method, it was not possible with the classic Transfer Machines or Machining Centers.

So, I invested in research and development, I analyzed the numbers, and I invented a new machine platform.  A machine able to apply and exploit the method to its fullest potential.

The machine is based on Transfer technology, in fact the 4-station pallet is rotary like a Transfer, and is therefore fast and very productive.

However, in place of simple transfer units, 3 real independent machining centers were used, with tool change and B axis for rotating workholding.  This is to guarantee flexibility.

This machine was to be built in series to minimize costs and accelerate deliveries.

A new machine tool category has been developed.

This is the Multicenter, the first flexible machine built in series.

The Multicenter, as a Flexible Machine, is ideal for producing in batches of 500 pieces.

It’s the perfect tool to change your business model and leave your competitors in the dust.

Change your business model and beat the competition!

The Flexible Production method and the Multicenter allows you to change the way you work compared to your competitors.

Here summarized are the strengths of the methodology and technology, which will allow you to be successful compared to your competition and surpass them in every way.

• Very flexible, you can adapt the production to all the materials and workpieces.
• Maximum speed of your set-up: piece change in 15 minutes.
• High productivity: 3 spindles always engaged.
• Low cost of equipment compared to common machining centers.

Furthermore, you will have a competitive advantage in responding to your client’s requests in record time, beating the competition that continues to insist only on the classic CNC machining centers.

HERE’S A REAL CASE …

I want to talk to you about a real case of a customer who makes lead-free brass and brass components.

Before implementing and applying the concepts of the Flexible Production method he used the common machining centers for processing in his production department.

I will quickly summarize this case.

I visited the client and looked at his highly respected production method consisting of a series of horizontal pallet-changing machining centers.

At the end of the visit to his department I asked what was, in his mind, wrong with the method in which he was producing today.

Basically, the customer was working on his components for stock instead of to order for his final customer.

This was because his business model foresaw production based on the estimates of the sales agents who met every quarter and decided what the market would require and in what quantities.

The customer, in a very funny way, told me that after having given lessens to his sales agents about how to use the crystal ball to read the future and understanding that it does not work, not because of his agents, but because he is asking them to read the future.  He now wanted to completely change his strategy.

His idea and objective were therefore to resolve once and for all this situation, not to force the agents to guess and make absurd predictions about the future.

Forecasts that then obviously and unfailingly did not come true, resulting in high stock inventories of material that no one wanted to buy.

He wanted a system that could respond to the agents and customers in order to produce only the sold.  Doing it quickly in order to satisfy the end customer and therefore reducing his stock.

With this premise I started a study on his specific case, analyzing step by step everything he did and trying to figure out how to adapt everything to the Flexible Production method.

After a few weeks, we presented our plan to improve his business model and increase the efficiency of his production department.

Then, after a few months, we installed the MULTICENTER, which produces pieces at a rate of 75 seconds per piece compared to 10 minutes per piece with the CNC machining center process.

In addition, the retooling of the Multicenter ranging from 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the complexity of the pieces to be processed, has brought a real revolution to his production department and delivery times.

All this allowed the final customer to:

Increase productivity, reduce production costs, reduce inventory, and

deliver quickly

If you know me you know that I always enter the name and contact information of those who give me a testimony, but in this case it was not possible.

In any case, I have at least managed to get his confirmation to make himself available to be contacted for cases relating to sectors not in competition with his sector.  Let me know if you would like to speak with him and receive his testimonial first hand.

Today the Flexible Production method is finally improving the business model of many customers.  Manufacturers who are destroying their competition.

And I think if you’ve read to this point it means your time is coming too.

You are ready to enter the world of Flexible Production and face the new market challenges in the best way.

If you want to go deeper on the topic of “Flexible Production”

CLICK HERE

>>> www.flexibleproductionbook.com <<<

My book, dedicated to users of machine tools that want to make the leap in quality, is waiting for you !!!

To your results!

Maurizio Porta

MASTER TRAINER Method FLEXIBLE PRODUCTION