DELIVERING BRAND PROMISES
Having a “Bring it on” Attitude with Partnerships
Author: Matt Groves | Trusted Solutions Group
When you walk through the doors at Trusted, you may notice something unusual in the air. Suspended from the rafters hang colorful banners that say things like, “Bring It On!”
As you scan the production floor, your eyes will inevitably land upon employees wearing a t- shirt that read something like, “We’ll Make It Happen!” or “We’ve Got This, We’re Trusted!”
In the highly competitive, commodity-driven world of metal fabrication and contract- manufacturing where Trusted operates, these are BOLD CLAIMS…they’re much easier said than done. As pricing pressures mount, supply chain constraints arise unexpectedly, and macro- economic uncertainties rule the day, can Trusted really deliver on these promises? And if so, how?
2020 CASE STUDIES
The Challenge: New Designs and Parts Needed in a Rush
As the US economy rebounds from the COVID related shutdowns, customers’ projects are getting the green light – but now with pent-up demand and extremely tight schedules. The examples below are a small sample of over 20 urgent design and manufacturing requests for new and standard products over a one-month timeframe.
Furniture Industry Customer A: Needed a new part engineered and manufactured right away within 3 days to fulfill a project. Normal lead time 3 to 4 weeks.
Furniture Industry Customer B: Submitted rush order because they miscounted their inventory. Normal lead time 3 to 4 weeks.
Furniture Industry Customer C: Needed rush order shipped in 2 days on a product with a 4- week lead time.
Temporary Office Space Customer D: Needed same-week rush delivery on 12 demountable wall private offices, normally a 2-week lead time.
Air Compression Industry Customer E: Needed new parts designed, manufactured, and shipped right away to finish a customer project.
Industrial Equipment Customer F: New customer needed a critical (new) part designed and manufactured immediately to retain a large customer. The previous supplier was averaging lead times close to 10 weeks.
The Solution: The Right Culture, Management, and Supply Chain Expertise
These case studies are examples of common, urgent needs that help our customers deliver on their promises to their customers. How does Trusted turn around these escalated requests when so many supply chains are severely constrained?
First, from bottom to top, Trusted has a cultural commitment of putting customer’s needs first and then not settling for status quo. The Trusted team steps in as an engineering and manufacturing partner – not just an order taker – tailoring solutions directly to customer needs.
Second, Trusted tightly manages constraints through our Theory of Constraints (“TOC”), which permeates the team’s decision making process and allows the company to accelerate order flow efficiently through the system.
Lastly, Trusted is organized to fulfill the correct link(s) in its customers’ supply chain so that our customers can turn their focus to the work they do best. One of Trusted’s value propositions is: “We Know Metal, So You Don’t Have To”. The company understands the role it fills for a particular customer and for their project. That’s true whether the customer needs full scale A-Z services from design to full assembly or just needs Trusted to be a single link in the chain.
The Results: Exceeding Expectations, Delivering on Customers’ Promises
In each of these tight-turn cases, the optimal result was achieved by tailoring solutions to fit the unique pain of its customer partner. First, a determination that “We’ve Got This” sets the expectation. Second, constraints are managed and leveraged to accomplish the future reality. Third, Trusted fulfills the correct link(s) in the supply chain.
Furniture Industry Customer A: New product engineered, manufactured, and shipped in 2 days.
Furniture Industry Customer B: Order shipped in 3 days (normally a 3 to 4-week lead time).
Furniture Industry Customer C: Order shipped next day (normally a 4-week lead time).
Temporary Office Space Customer D: Began production on date of request, based on verbal commitment, and shipped same day of hard PO.
Air Compression Industry Customer E: New product engineered, manufactured, and shipped in 1 day.
Industrial Equipment Customer F: Trusted designed and manufactured the critical new part in one week, enabling the customer to retain a large account that was in jeopardy. This was almost 9 weeks faster than the former supplier averaged.
Key Takeaways
- Manufacturing supply chains are constrained at a time when project delivery is required faster than ever before for many companies.
- Trusted’s customers have a wide variety of needs for manufacturing services, from design and engineering to full scale contract manufacturing on tight time schedules.
- The market needs trusted US manufacturing partners with the right culture, management methods, and supply chain expertise they can turn to when they need it the most. For Trusted, the results it achieves are viewed through the lens of mutual understanding and trust building with every stakeholder touch point. In each of the above cases, “deposits” were made into the “trust accounts” Trusted informally maintains – kind of like credits or deposits in a bank account. While something like a “trust account” may seem intangible, the company believes that when trust is strong, projects and communication flow fast with the expectation, understanding, and confidence that stakeholders experience. And, shouldn’t all business relationships be this way? Trusted thinks so!
Author: Matt Groves | Trusted Solutions Group
Phone: 440-336-4382
Email: Mgroves@trustedmfg.com
