Equipment investment provides long-term payoff for metal fabricator

Situation

When Chris Curtis took over Elkhart, Ind.-based RC Industries in 1994, the company was in disarray. Fresh off an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, he immediately identified a few reasons for the company’s stagnation: no capital investment; poor, unmotivated leadership; and neglected equipment.

Twenty-five years later, the fabricator of truck toolboxes and custom metal parts is thriving, but not without challenges. Part quality demands are going up, and more is getting pushed to the supply side. Customers don’t care how it’s done, as long as it’s done right and delivered on time. Accurate machines that produce quality parts the first time, every time, are vital.

On top of those customer demands, Curtis identified two other major challenges the company will face in the coming years.

“First is speed to market,” he said. “How do we accelerate the process from concept to finished product? What we’re trying to get really good at is becoming efficient producers in quantity sizes of one. That’s hard to do. Everything’s a prototype at that point. So it requires a hard look at your process, stem to stern. For your equipment, that means you have to reduce setup times on pieces of equipment, or at the very least, make them simpler and more efficient.”

The second challenge is having to work in a labor market that is increasingly less interested in manufacturing careers, Curtis explained. Automation helps solve that problem, and if it continues to improve at running smaller lot sizes, it becomes more and more viable to a company like RC Industries.

Resolution

In the face of persistent, ever-changing challenges over the past 25 years, and anticipating those still to come, RC Industries has chosen to partner with Cincinnati Inc. for its machines, service, and support.

Before acquiring RC Industries, Curtis spent time in a family business fabricating parts and building mobile medical units. There he became familiar with CI equipment. So in the 1990s, as he made crucial capital investment decisions, Curtis opted for CI equipment.

As of summer 2019, the company had 12 CI machines: six press brakes, four laser cutters, one shear, and one automation tower. The most recent purchase was a CL-900 fiber laser with a March automation tower, which Curtis says “is literally as productive as two and a half CO2 machines. I’m talking modern CO2 machines, not ones from the turn of the century. Massive productivity gains as well as improved cost of ownership. Uptime, cost of operation, cost of maintenance are all improved.”

In addition, the fabricator ordered its Maxform press brake with additional stroke, giving it the ability to produce a product line it previously was unable to form. “We had three different setups on three different brakes, the Maxform came in, and we gave it all to that one brake.”

Ultimately, the changes Curtis has made in equipment and management since 1994 have paid off, with RC Industries achieving an average of 11% annualized growth.

“I didn’t realize it in my younger years, but it’s so exciting to see what’s possible when everyone pulls in the same direction.

It’s gratifying to bring together a group of people, motivate and lead them properly, and watch what happens.”

CINCINNATI INC.

Image provided by CINCINNATI Inc.