When it rains, it pours…
Since starting CNCROi.com, we’ve steadily grown in both customer count and size of projects we handle but one thing has remained consistent, companies tend to make production decisions at the same time!
When it rains, it pours…
Depending on the size of the project we do for people and companies, there is a generally lead time of a few days to a few months.
Almost without fail, a group of otherwise unrelated projects will to move ahead on a project at the same time… and yes, those that took a few weeks or months to get the design issues sorted will also make their decisions at the same time.
It’s uncanny how things tend to bunch up and I have yet to figure-out how it happens, it’s as if some unforseen force decides that, all of a sudden, project ABC and XYZ, which couldn’t be any different, simply must happen at the same time… along with projects 123 and 456.
Bunches of related projects out of the blue…
Another thing that’s interesting is that, all of a sudden, we’ll get a bunch of related projects from completely different customers within a short production cycle.
For instance, in the past week, we had two custom stainless steel memorials to construct and anneal, what’s interesting is that we’ve never made these before in the past few years CNCROi.com has existed and then, all of a sudden, two from completely different customers want them within a week of one another!
Consistent base load + jumps
2017 is the first year that CNCROi.com has established a base load of projects and customers, before that, it was famine or feast but after a few years, clients get established with our services and we can begin to “count on” a certain number of projects on a daily and weekly basis.
Having a base load is great, that’s one of the main reasons we moved a few weeks ago to a far bigger shop as there wasn’t any more physical room in the shop to handle both base load projects and the JUMPS we get in business.
These are signs of a maturing business, the jumps are great though but the base load helps cover overhead that also goes up as CNCROi.com expands with more customers.
Moving into the current shop, we have room to breath and with that, can make more capital equipment purchases to handle more volume, it’s like an increasing slide, more space = more machines = more project = less space = move to a bigger location!
Managing growth and expectations
As CNCROi.com keeps on growing, there is also close attention being paid to managing growth and customer expectations.
For instance, last month was our busiest month EVER… and so far, it looks like June will be even busier!
Quite astonishing considering June though August have traditionally been our quieter months due to the wonderful whether outside and people leaving on vacations etc.
With everything that’s going on at CNCROi.com, it’s quite amazing how everything has come together as we are really a quite unique business.
We aren’t an importer of promotional products or a traditional trophy shop, we make all our stuff from scratch using customer specs.
As such, there are no products we sell, we make what our customers want, whether it’s custom black and white boards (I’m overdue to make a video about our blackboard offerings by the way) or 316 stainless steel plaques.
Top of the line equipment
It always seems to go back to buying the very best equipment that’s on the market to complete work on our customer’s behalf.
Buying a dual-sourced industrial laser from Austria instead of a couple of Chinese machines means that we simply don’t break down like most other shops and can handle a massive variety of materials.
Same goes with our other equipment, when given the choice of cheap junk and high quality, going high quality has more than paid for itself in met deadlines and project requirements.
It does take longer to “save up” for the bigger and more powerful equipment needs CNCROi.com has but the advantage is that once we have it, it works right out of the box and works WELL, capable of 24/7 production cycles if needed.
Freedom of Design
When I attend networking events, once people understand what CNCROi.com can provide to them, they sometimes have a tough time understanding how a company that makes everything from scratch from just about any material at any size and spec can actually be run.
The problem they perceive is that if you don’t have ready-made products ready for sale, how do you develop the expertise, equipment and “passion” for making things for customers with wildly different spec requirements.
I tell them that honestly, that’s the FUN PART!
When the vast majority of your work is totally custom, requiring prototyping and spec flexibility (customer never tried this before, neither have we), then it’s like a puzzle where if you find a solution, you get a prize.
Our customer gets what they envisioned, we get money, so it’s a win-win! Hence, the fun part!
Need custom? Contact us!
CNCROi.com makes what you need, if you have a requirement, contact us and we’ll turn your ideas into a reality.