The secret for metal fabricators to boost customer satisfaction

Access to real-time information helps to prevent the surprises that often sabotage timely delivery of parts and assemblies to customers. gorodenkoff/iStock/Getty Images Plus

The metal fabricating business is one that defies a simple description. Some precision sheet metal fabricators make their own product. Others offer fabricating services to manufacturing customers. Some do a little of both.

What all of these businesses have in common is the need to be open and transparent to their customers. Whether those customers are in the aerospace, automotive, medical, or some other manufacturing sector, customers demand to know when their metal parts or assemblies will be delivered and why the expected delivery is delayed. (Notice that fabricating capabilities and product quality aren’t even discussed here because those are clearly expected by customers. If a fabricating company can’t offer that, it can’t actively win bids for work.)

Keeping customers in the loop is much easier said than done. The manufacturing activity is fast, and the delivery times are short, sometimes measured in days, not weeks. Also, the sheer variety of work flowing through the shop floor can be overwhelming.

Handling all this variety efficiently and cost-effectively can be extraordinarily difficult. That’s why information tools are an absolute necessity in trying to tame the chaos. These tools collect the information and make it available to the user. Questions about schedules get answered. Orders don’t go missing on the shop floor. The work doesn’t decrease, but the stress levels do because the shop floor has some clarity as to what needs to be done next.

An upcoming webinar will provide a look at how the right software can open the door to efficiencies that simply aren’t achievable in a manufacturing environment that still relies on spreadsheets and whiteboards. “From Nesting to Smart Factory Powered by Lantek” will discuss how digitizing the entire fabricating workflow process in a precision sheet metal company can lead to a new level of shop performance. Metal fabricators interested in learning more about this can join the webinar, led by Anupam Chakraborty, commercial director, Lantek Systems Inc., on Thursday, Nov. 30, at 8:30 a.m. CT.

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