Custom engineered machine shops can lose a lot of money if a product isn’t up to the customer’s specifications and they have to make a change — or worse, start over.
That’s why it’s crucial for these manufacturers to update customers on every phase of a project, from the design drawings until the last screw is fastened.
Many custom manufacturers in the emerging global marketplace face the challenge of a time difference between their office and the customer’s. It’s difficult to give a project progress report to your overseas customers when you’re at home asleep.
For Akron-based ACC Automation Co. and its overseas customers, the Web has emerged as an invaluable communication tool to help bridge the time divide.
ACC, which in some years has as much as 50 percent of its customer base from Europe, Asia, and Africa, builds custom dip-molding and dip-coating machines. The manufacturer keeps its international and domestic customers updated on projects on a private client report extranet site, where they sign in and view the scheduling progress, cost status, percentage completion and progress photographs.
ACC Automation’s machines can take anywhere from eight to 10 weeks to one year to build, so to backtrack on a project would be costly.
“Those big projects really need to be stayed on top of very closely on both ends,” says ACC Automation Co. President William Howe. “Communication is key to project management.”
Improved project management is one of the main reasons ACC launched its client report extranet, Howe says.
“The turning point for us was our project management was not where it needed to be,” Howe says. “Because we’re a custom manufacturer, we have to look at everything from a project management side of things, and it just wasn’t clicking. This was a tool that helped us get more efficient in that field.”
Formalizing the manufacturing procedure for the Web site focused employees on the process and improved project organization and productivity, Howe says.
“The side benefit we never expected is that the site has been a sales enhancement as much as a manufacturing benefit,” Howe says. “Potential customers are impressed by the site and like the fact that they won’t have to travel as much to monitor the progress.” How to reach: ACC Automation Co., (330) 762-9188.
