It’s our job to make sure that our customers’ projects go smoothly. That means managing complications with manufacturers before they ever become problems for our customers. To be successful at managing the unexpected is a two-fold process. First, we make sure to always maintain a wide base of manufacturers. Having plenty of trusted plants on hand keeps us from ever having too many eggs in one basket. Second, we keep our eye on world events, always watching the political arena and keeping track of exchange rates.
In the end, it all comes down to foresight and flexibility. Once we had an Australian manufacturer producing special custom metal products for an architectural customer of ours. The Australian manufacturer began having financial problems and was purchased by another group. That group did not want to continue with the parts we were supplying, so we found two plants that could manufacturer the same type of product, one in Spain and one in Italy. We moved the tooling to these plants without our customer ever being affected. Then, when the Euro Dollar was introduced, the prices in Spain and Italy skyrocketed. Before this affected our customer, we located a plant in Korea and moved all our production there. There were no hiccups with delivery, service or quality. It was a seamless transition, and we were able to maintain the price the customer had been paying.
Consistency is important in any industry, and manufacturing is no different. Being able to stick to consistent production and cost schedules is essential to long term success. At Deeco we make it a priority to maintain that consistency for our customers.