Sub-assemblies and single source supply
You wanted the part, not five vendors to chase
The casting is late. The plater has a queue. The sheet metal arrived but the sensor did not, and the assembly sits on a bench while somebody rings round to find out which of five suppliers is the slow one. That is the problem this exists to remove.
What comes in
Bought to the drawing, not substituted
A qualified vendor base of over 700 suppliers, built up over years rather than found when an order lands.
- Castings
- Grey and ductile iron, shell moulded and sand cast, machined here to a datum we establish rather than to the as-cast surfaces.
- Forgings
- For parts where grain flow matters, typically shafts, levers and forks that go on to be induction hardened.
- Bar stock
- Carbon and alloy steel, stainless and duplex, brass and bronze, nickel alloys and titanium.
- Sheet metal
- Fabricated components and guarding.
- Plastic mouldings
- Where the assembly needs them.
- Sensors and transducers
- Bought-out items specified on your drawing, sourced and fitted rather than shipped loose for you to fit.
What happens here
Machined, joined, built, tested, packed
Machined
Turning, turn-milling, vertical and horizontal machining, in one clamping wherever the part allows it.
Working envelopesHardened
Scanning and spot induction hardening on site, with hardness checked here rather than taken on a certificate from somewhere else.
The plantJoined and assembled
Resistance welding and assembly, with error proofing designed into the fixtures so a wrong orientation is difficult rather than merely discouraged.
How it is controlledTested and packed
Checked for fit and function before it leaves, then packed so it arrives in the condition it left in.
InspectionWhat this looks like in practice
An assembly of around thirty-six components, shipped direct on line
The clearest example in the group’s history is a rocker arm assembly built from roughly thirty-six components spanning forging, ductile iron casting and bar machining.
- Mistake proofing
- Poka-yoke on the line, so the wrong component physically will not fit.
- Firewalls
- A containment check placed where a defect could otherwise reach the customer, held until the process is proved back in control.
- Fit and function
- Every assembly checked before despatch, not a sample of them.
- Direct on line
- Delivered to be fitted, not to be inspected first. That only works if the checking has already happened here, which is the point.
Direct-on-line supply is an agreement about who does the checking and where. If that is what you need, say so at enquiry stage, because it changes the control plan and it changes the quotation.
What you get back
One part number, one order, one person to ring
- One purchase order
- Rather than one per vendor, with the chasing that comes with each.
- One delivery
- Kitted or assembled, to a schedule agreed at the start.
- One point of contact
- Who knows where the casting is, because it was ordered from here.
- One set of paperwork
- Dimensional reports, material certificates and hardness results travelling with the part.
The commercial argument is simple enough. A machined part bought cheaply and then chased for six weeks is not cheap. What this removes is the coordination, and coordination is usually the expensive part of a small assembly.
Send the drawing
A straight answer inside a working day
A 2D or 3D file, the quantity and the date you need it. You will get a considered reply within one working day, including the reply that we are not the right shop for the part, which is worth knowing early. A mutual NDA goes out first if you would rather.