Too Much Work for The Shop… How do I manage it? | Machine Shop Talk Ep. 77
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.พ. 2023
- It sounds like a dream scenario - so much work that you barely know what to do with it all! But like anything good, there are some major pitfalls you should do your best to avoid should you find yourself in this situation.
On this episode of MACHINE SHOP TALK, Ian Sandusky from Lakewood Machine & Tool is back to discuss some key strategies and approaches you should keep in mind should your shop end up with more work than you know what to do with. From reevaluating your customer base, managing expectations, and maintaining trust - here’s how to turn your busy times into your best times!
What advice do YOU have for shops navigating an overloaded orderbook? Let us know in the comments below!
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#machineshop #machining #metalworking - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
16:52 Advice my parents gave me many years ago, I'm glad I listened!
I've been in the trade over 40yrs. Mostly tool die. I've worked in job shops, prototype or short-run shops and in-house tooling where we supported production. And what yer saying is the way it's been for over 40yrs. One thing about being a good machinist or toolmaker, if ya got slow, laid-off, or just plain sick of 1 shop, ya moved yer toolboxes down the road to another shop.
Those toolboxes have wheels for a reason, I agree!
Ooph. I know this pain way too well. I just called a supplier at 6:30 this morning to catch him when he first walked into the shop because he’s been ducking me for two weeks. I’ve just started testing an auto-update process for customers where they get an email with status changes. It’s not from a system, but it’s templatized so it looks like it is. Customers like the communication and using a template means im not dishing out apologies over and over.
I don’t have many pointers but mostly the customer base I have are willing to wait for the job to be done when I tell them how long the wait list is. I think this is because they trust our work is done to a quality standard.
This is key! People will wait if the quality is worth it!
Couldn’t agree more with the first point. It’s so much easier to tell your customers the truth the first time then saying what they want to hear, and going back later with your tail between your legs
It's definitely a hard thing to do though! I know even after all this time dealing with customers and developing the trust and relationships, I have to fight the urge to be a people-pleaser and actually tell it to them straight. It really does pay off in the end though!
When our shop is full, we rise the charge per hour. And two things happen: bad customers go away and good customers stay. Its kind of a gamble but it works. We do the opposite on low ties.... and bad customers return but a bad one is better than none.
It's definitely a gamble, but I agree with you - hopefully when the busy time is done you're left with the good customers and the chaff falls away!
Definitely go through extreme cycles at my shop… pst few months we’ve been struggling to find stuff to keep everyone busy… in a couple months they’ll be begging us to work overtime and we’re booked out 6 weeks at least
I definitely hear you there - when I filmed this video, we were actually in a bit of a slump - to the point I had a couple of my guys start making parts for order that *might* come in just to give them something to do. Now, we're scrambling to get work out the door and trying to optimize our machine scheduling because we're swamped. Always seems to be feast or famine!
Yep we lost a really good customer because we kept taking on more of their work and ended up being 6 weeks late on their orders for months and they completely shut us off.
Ah that’s rough man, it’s a tough spot to be in - to disappoint on timeline up front or overcommit. I’ve had it happen before as well and managed to dig it back up from the grave over time so hopefully all is not lost!
It's been crazy for us since mid last year. We just added our 10th 5 axis machine today. Backlog keeps growing. In mid 2021, I was in panic mode and wasn't sure how we could make ends meet. The pandemic has disrupted things so much...
TENTH 5th-axis machine?! Man, congratulations that's incredible! I hear you - in 2021 if we hadn't gotten the government wage subsidy we'd be in a much rougher situation than we are now - glad to hear things are turning and burning over there!
@@iansandusky417 I've always been ultra conservative in regards to risk. I felt like the time was right to step out of my comfort zone and take a chance. I'm seeing numerous opportunities as we emerge from the pandemic mess. If things go south, I'll post up a link to my auction. At the end of my career, I'll regret the things that I didn't do more than taking a chance....
Awesome video
Thank you very much for checking it out!
How do you determine completion time or "takt time" when every job is different? Is it based on estimate only?
Yeah basically it’s just experience to know how long something is going to take - along with sometimes pre-prepogramming something to get a fairly accurate estimate of run time
We are slammed on 128 machines and are 6 weeks behind already due to vendors and other sub contractors and we are only 6 weeks into 2023,we are working on specific partnerships with other vendors now
Wow, that’s a fantastic problem to have!
@@iansandusky417 it's a good problem to have but tricky to overcome ,we are chartering parts and castings ourselves the first time in the company history to make up time
good video,,thanks for your time
Thank you very much for checking it out!
Shop I work at gets slow this time of year early March gets super slammed until the end of the year.
I find that as well, but as the years have gone on here at Lakewood I find it more and more difficult to predict - it's a weird world out there!
Customers wrapping up their year end then roll over to the next financial year and work the budget
0:51
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