Manufacturers often face a difficult decision when customers begin discussing significant growth:
Do you add capacity before the business arrives, or wait until the demand is certain?
Wait too long and you may not be ready when the customer needs you. Invest too early and you may have expensive equipment sitting without enough work to support it.
KrisDee recently faced that decision while working with a customer on a significant increase in machining volume.
Ultimately, we purchased three new Makino A51nx horizontal machining centers—but we did not make that investment simply hoping the additional business would come.
Before committing to the equipment, we worked with the customer to understand expected volumes, timing and long-term requirements. As those discussions progressed, we negotiated a Letter of Intent that gave us enough confidence to begin investing in the capacity the program would require.
That was important because adding capacity involves much more than the purchase price of the machines. Tooling, fixtures, installation, programming, labor and financing all have to be considered.
The new equipment also gave us an opportunity to improve how the entire group of machines operates. Larger tool capacity allows us to keep more tooling permanently loaded, group compatible parts together and reduce unnecessary tool changes.
So the investment was not simply about adding spindle hours. It was about creating a more efficient and flexible manufacturing system.
We believe strong customer-supplier relationships require commitment from both sides.
Customers need suppliers willing to invest ahead of demand. Suppliers need enough visibility into the opportunity to justify making that investment.
Our approach is straightforward: when a customer presents a meaningful growth opportunity, we are willing to invest aggressively—but we want the business case and customer commitment behind that investment first.
That creates a stronger foundation for growth than simply buying equipment and hoping the work eventually follows.