Very few (if any) aluminum extrusions are designed to be used in the “as extruded” state. However, historically the aluminum extrusion mill who produced the extrusions did not offer machining or coating services. As usual, Profile Precision Extrusions goes against the grain. We understand that many of our customers desire to purchase a component ready for assembly rather than raw material. The advantages of buying a component are to minimize the vendor base, reduce overall component lead time, and lower cost.
Sourcing fabricated aluminum components can greatly reduce a company’s vendor base. If the extrusions need to be cut, machined, and anodized it is possible that 4 different vendors would be needed. A buyer would need to select the vendors, issue PO’s to each, coordinate shipment of parts between vendors, and juggle production schedules in the case of quality issues or missed delivery dates. Sourcing components from one vendor, “one-stop shopping”, eliminates the challenges of managing multiple suppliers.
Lead time to produce a component using a single vendor is shorter than using multiple vendors. One vendor will plan the component flow path from start to finish. They will minimize the time between manufacturing steps and focus on completing the whole job as quickly and efficiently as possible. Multiple vendors will each have their own lead time. If first article inspection reports are required, each individual vendor will need to prepare and submit one to the quality department for review and approval prior to the next vendor starting work. Transit time between vendors will also add to the total time required to produce the component.
One of the reasons Amazon, Home Depot, and Walmart have been successful by offering one-stop shopping to their customers. Profile Precision Extrusions is not nearly as large (thankfully) as those three, but we do offer the same one-stop shopping for precision miniature aluminum extrusions. For your next project call us and find out how we help you reduce the time required to manage the supply chain. Contact us today at www.ProfilePrecisionExtrusions.com or call 623.936.5599.
