Speed Wins

A fuel pump impeller for an aerospace application is machined on a 5-axis CNC; this impeller was acrylic and was provided as a showpiece to the customer. Clinkenbeard also does prototype as well as production machining on impellers in ferrous and non-ferrous applications.

Working as a metalcasting supplier to the U.S. defense industry is an honorable and critically important responsibility.

The defense industry is continually seeking ways to optimize its supply chain to maximize efficiencies, receive parts and products reliably, on time, and fast, all while consistently seeking ways to save money – U.S. taxpayer money. The processes and systems applied to supply the defense industry (and defense contractors) with parts and products are similar to supplying the U.S. aerospace industry.

At Clinkenbeard, we acknowledge these challenges, and to answer them, we have developed systems, processes, and technological innovations that meet and exceed stringent U.S. defense industry needs and requirements.

Speed-to-Market
Whether it is a full-size F135 engine mock-up or a set of critically complex replacement impeller parts, one common theme that defines supplying both the U.S. defense and U.S. aerospace industries is speed-to-market.

When supplying either industry, two words define the basis of an ongoing partnership and business relationship that serves both the supplier and its customer well: speed wins.

Speed produces cost-saving consequences not always imagined when the issue is simply speed. For instance, providing a high level of speed allows for more iterations and changes to be incorporated at the concept and development stages and not in the production mode, where costs will be much higher.

One challenge in particular is speed-to-market: the necessity for shorter cycle times and the need to reliably help your defense or aerospace customer be first to market.

Challenges for suppliers to the defense and aerospace industries are soaring. One challenge in particular is indeed speed-to-market, or time-to-market: the necessity for shorter cycle times and the need to reliably help your defense or aerospace customer be the first to market, which can dramatically impact the overall product itself, and therefore the organization’s value, impact, and success, both tactically and strategically.

Defense and aerospace customers have always demanded quick response times, and in 2013 they are expecting even quicker response times with zero-miss reliability with respect to the solutions they seek from their suppliers. The best suppliers, who are proud and honored to be contributing to these vital U.S. market segments, are finding methods and processes to meet these response times and reliability rates, with a nose pointed to even more rapid response times for the future.

Supplier companies, whose organizational focus is dually placed on both speed and reliability, such as Clinkenbeard, are impacted by forces from all directions, but it all comes down to execution: If you do not execute properly and consistently, you will not maintain a business relationship with these most valued customers.

As a matter of daily business, your job is to be a reliable partner to help your customers consistently launch their products and support them in being the leader in their industry, or helping them maintain their leadership position.

Finally, when beginning a project, the concept and development, along with the production, need to be compared to the cost of the project to identify the best steps to ensure speed while saving cost.

ITAR – A Singular Difference
For aerospace development projects, it is imperative that you have a partner that is AS9100 certified, and re-certification is required once every three years. Clinkenbeard re-certifies annually.

The U.S. defense industry, however, requires that its suppliers are ITAR certified.

Administered by the U.S. Department of State’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC), under authority established by the Arms Export Control Act (AECA), ITAR (bit.ly/15zEpjK) regulates the manufacture, export, and transfer of defense articles, information, and services. Companies receiving this certification demonstrate that they have knowledge and understanding to comply with the AECE and ITAR fully, as well as having corporate procedures and controls in place to ensure compliance.

Clinkenbeard, who applies for and receives ITAR certification annually, was re-certified in 2013 by the U.S. Department of State. This re-certification is evidence of Clinkenbeard’s commitment and ability to safeguard all defense- and government-related data for our defense customers and our country. Further, it demonstrates our government’s trust in our doing so.

Overcoming Hurdles
Forces from all directions affect companies, but it all comes down to reliable execution: If you fail to execute, you will not win the market or launch the product. Execution can easily be hindered by distractions from your core business and your business core processes.

The pressure to increase sales drives organizations to launch new products at unprecedented rates. These ideas for new products are dumped on engineering groups that are already buried and unable to deliver new designs at the required speed and reliability necessary to capture market share. Overcoming this hurdle is imperative.

This is a 1/4 scale aerospace cutaway mock-up produced by Clinkenbeard for a recent trade show.

Next, the design needs to be built into a prototype, and sometimes building prototypes can conflict with the monthly production and sales dollars. As some managers at other supplier companies place the focus of resources on monthly results, the prototypes fall farther behind schedule.

Now the sales force, which has been driven to increase sales, is overloaded and losing encouragement as new product requests take too long to produce. Meanwhile, your competitor just stole the market on the next great idea. These new products have now distracted your operation and your sales force and the ability to execute drops even further into the abyss.

Hire an Expert
Developing a partnership with a company such as Clinkenbeard, which possesses years of experience and technology to ensure success, becomes extremely attractive. Avoiding the cost associated with lost business due to late releases to market on new products, avoiding years of training a team, and avoiding the capital cost associated with building the infrastructure gives the client a tremendous advantage.

Collaborate with a Solid Company
Project control increases because the correct partner has the resources to support the project. The partner works one-on-one with designers to ensure the output meets the requirements. Lead-times are reduced because the ideal partner is a specialist and resolves issues quickly – here again, the key is speed. Additionally, the partner possesses sub-tier supplier relationships that can be relied upon to deliver quickly and more dependably.

The cost topic is simple compared to missing the market or being late to the market or the field. The costs are lower and are recovered quickly. If one compares the cost of building its own team and purchasing the equipment, the cost is pennies on the dollar lower when retaining a team of specialists, and you gain the flexibility to pay only when you need the resources. Therefore, this quickly becomes the winning choice.

The following is a condensed list explaining how to select the right partner.

• Partners need to fill the gaps and be flexible – How much open capacity is there.
• Must have a proven track record – Ask for and check references.
• Partners must have qualified partners – In other words, does your choice of a partner have subsource partners that can pull together and build multi-million dollar prototypes, mock-ups, and tooling quickly? If not, this can severely impede speed.
• Must think, breath, and live 5-axis machining – Take a tour and observe the operation in action.
• Must have a high-quality mindset to look at every part that goes out the door – Look for AS9100 and ITAR certifications or other quality systems, such as Enterprise Resource Planning and Lean Management.
• The right partner will work with you as data develops vs. waiting until the data is perfect before starting to process.
• Be the fastest you can find. Believing that hiring inside staffing will reduce costs by 10% to 15% could end up costing thousands of dollars in market or product/part losses in the end, as well as valuable time.
• Must understand how to process 3D models to production – Talk to the people on the floor who actually perform programming and machining and ask questions about the process.
• Partner knows how working smarter through manufacturing innovation can save the defense industry (and in turn, our government) time and money.
• Partner has strong mock-up experience along with the knowledge to know which materials to use to build successful mock-ups quickly, accurately, and cost-effectively.
• Can the supplier help develop the prototype and take the finished design into full production, thereby eliminating any inconsistencies through the development, flight-testing, and production phases?

The Model 2 Machine Group (M2M) platform is a generation growth capital-led consortium of companies that leverages the capabilities of Clinkenbeard, Mica Tool & Manufacturing, Tri-Aerospace, and M2M Machining to provide OEM customers with an array of services to support clients from product design to production.

 

Comments about this article may be submitted to Steve Helfer at Steve.Helfer@Clinkenbeard.com 815.226.0291.

Clinkenbeard
Rockford, Ill.
www.clinkenbeard.com

Tri-Aerospace LLC
Terre Haute, Ind.
www.triaerospace.com

Mica Tool & Manufacturing Inc.
Mukwonago, Wis.
www.micatool.com

M2M Machining Inc.
Muskego, Wis.
www.m2m-machining.com

Generation Growth Capital Inc.
Milwaukee, Wis.
www.generationgrowth.com