On-Demand Custom Manufacturing & Fabrication Services
I talk to dozens of new potential customers every day, you may think that’s a lot or not very much but considering CNCROi.com provides on-demand custom manufacturing and fabrication services, that’s quite a bit of files and contracts going back and forth!
As such, there are quite a few issues that pop-up on a very regular basis which I’d like to address here on the CNCROi.com blog but before we delve into those Q & As, let’s first realize what on-demand manufacturing and fabrication services actually means.
It does not mean that we buy widget A fully made and then add a little to it before shipping it out the door, what it does mean is that we work with you to develop specs within your budget and our capabilities from which we then go ahead and prototype and make what you want.
Sometimes what our customers want is VERY STRAIGHT FORWARD (at least to us) and it becomes more a matter of explaining to the customer what they will receive to make sure that expectations match output.
For instance, a potential customer might want to have something “anodized” after being cut but don’t realize the costs involved with anodizing just one small part or that you can only anodized whole parts, as such, enamelling is dramatically more cost-effective and maybe powder coating thereafter.
I also have potential customers who want a model like the above but their budget in no way would support their ambitions, just because you can buy a model for pennies on the dollar at the local retail store does not mean that I have to design something just for you and price match it!
Although there is quite a bit that goes into on-demand custom manufacturing, whether it’s custom drawer inserts or drawer organizers or complex 3D models that are created using 2D patterns like the steamboat model I made, modifying expectations to match ambition is always in the back of my mind.
I was talking to a CNCROi.com website visitor just a few days ago who wanted a whole set of custom business card holders like the Maple one I made above but didn’t understand why it couldn’t be powder coated to match a specific pantone color for the letters.
They got mad when I told them what they want simply isn’t possible, powder coating can’t be done on wood (it uses heat and electricity) much less powder coating to a specific pantone color was nowhere within their budget range and it isn’t that specific of a process.
They told me they found a company that was willing to do this and I wished them the best of luck.
I’m sure doctors deal with keyboard health experts all the time as patients, just reading a few articles about a disease does not make you an expert in it, most people quickly realize talking to a REAL DOCTOR that what they think they have isn’t what they really have.
On-demand custom manufacturing and fabrication is exactly the same, people may search for a few keywords that sound good and then want to mix and match different industrial processes to create something neat without realizing that what they want isn’t possible much less within the budget ranges they think something “should” cost based on their extensive limited research.
My goal with CNCROi.com isn’t to give a thorough education as to why I use a particular machine for a specific application nor be tech support for the world so you can copy what I do in my videos and blog posts.
My goal is simply to grow this on-demand custom manufacturing and fabrication business, I wrote more than my fair share of books related to education, now it’s simply a matter of proving that I can do what I say I can do to potential customers then actually doing the job as quoted within the specs mutually layed out between us.
I really enjoy my time at CNCROi.com, talking with suppliers and finding out more about custom manufacturing and production methods, attending and exhibiting at manufacturing and creative related shows and the like.
I keep reminding myself that whatever I know, somebody will educate me about something more that I didn’t know, and that no matter how complex a custom on-demand job may be, there are always ways of simplifying it so there are less problems in its production.
When it comes to on-demand custom manufacturing, here are a few questions I get regularly and their related answers.
How do I get the project after you make it?
We ship anywhere a mailman or courier service goes to, whether that’s Singapore or St. Thomas, San Fernando Valley or Toronto.
Shipping typically takes about a week after we drop it off across North America and 2-3 weeks for Europe, Asia and Australia though typically we send those global express.
How do I know what you make will be what I’m expecting to get?
Generally, there is a blog post or video on CNCROi.com that’s closely related to the item you require on-demand custom fabrication on and as such, you can see how we go about making said product and what the results are like.
Some things we need to sort-out a bit ahead of time, for example, are you OK with knots existing in your wooden sign? Do you want it to be finished or sent naturally for you to varnish?
Do you send samples?
Typically the answer is NO.
Being an on-demand custom manufacturer, there is nothing on the shelf here waiting for us to label and ship, we make the product for you based on mutually agreed-on specs and actually make it from raw materials.
On larger production runs though, we do send pictures and sometimes videos of the results we achieve before going into full-on “making” and if the specs and volume make sense, we’d do a few, get them evaluated by you by mailing a sample then upon go-ahead, make the rest but that’s actually quite rare.
Do you sell machines or can you help me figure-out how to XYZ with mine?
CNCROi.com does not sell machines as we are focused on what they can make nor is it anywhere in my job description in the shop to help you figure-out how to operate yours.
Truth be told, I’ve literally spent countless hours teaching myself how to design, how to optimize manufacturing processes for a desired income and there are no shortcuts to learning on-demand custom manufacturing.
If you want to get good at using your bandsaw, just buying one will not make you a woodworking wizard with one, but spending thousands of hours practicing may.
I can buy XYZ at the dollar store for a dollar, why can’t you price match my item?
There is a MASSIVE difference between manufacturing a few identical products and manufacturing millions of them.
By far the biggest is economies of scale, meaning if you go to the local lumber store and buy a plank of rough sawed Pine, you will pay X dollars but if you approach the manager of the store and tell them that you’d like to buy a skid, it will be X dollars minus a pretty good % discount BUT if you have enough volume to buy a truck load from the lumber mill directly, you’ll get an incredibly good deal.
This doesn’t mean that the store or the manager was trying to rip you off, what it means is that your volume was too low for them to make a profit off of it compared to the effort it took them to get that plank of Pine into the shop.
We have a few HUGE woodworking related customers who literally buy their wood by the transport truck load and the price they pay is ridiculous compared to what I get at the lumber store!
When you make a million widgets, not only is the material cheaper, but so is the labor as machines become highly specialized and tune to push out those products in record speed at high quality.
CNCROi.com is tuned for on-demand custom manufacturing where each product is different, it’s a whole other ball game and that’s why our services cost more for one unit than X units at the dollar store.
A good example of my own wish to bring a bit more custom to people’s lives is my other website TeaLightBox.com, where I try to mass produce on-demand uniqueness using a standard format.
There are literally hundreds of designs to choose from but the possibilities are totally limitless and as such, I’m able to bring custom tea light boxes at an incredible price that would otherwise cost a lot more to produce just “one offs”.
I certainly have a lot more idea as to on-demand custom manufacturing related websites that are highly tuned for a specific item but I’m taking my time doing things right and working the kinks out first.
How do you find time to write all these blogs, make videos and take photos?
It’s 9:30 Sunday night and I’m typing this right now, that’s a pretty good hint isn’t it?
To me, CNCROi.com is a passion, I really enjoy making stuff, I’m just incredibly blessed to have such wonderful customers that actually pay me to do what I’d gladly do for free (if I didn’t need money to live).
When ever I get a new projects that’s just a little outside of my scope or experience, I figure it out and buy equipment or form new business relationships to make it happen.
When you are passionate about something, those around you give you time and energy to pursuit what interests you as they see it as a creative outlet that must be met.
When you are passionate about something, you tend to also attract people around you who are just as passionate about what they do.
When you are passionate about something, time doesn’t exist and the “fun” isn’t only in doing but also figuring out how to do something.
CNCROi.com isn’t a job to me, it isn’t something I clock-in at 9 am and clock-out at 5 pm, to me, it’s always on-demand custom manufacturing time.
Whether I’m at a trade show talking with exhibitors, meeting customers or forming new alliances, there just isn’t any off-switch for me.
Yes, it took and continues to take a lot of time to make all the content I do, and no, I don’t NEED to make it, but it’s fun for me and as long as that remains so, I will continue to build my custom on-demand manufacturing empire.
On-demand custom manufacturing doesn’t take energy from me, it gives me more to do more.