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In-House vs. Outsourcing Manufacturing – 8 Factors to Consider

OEMs are wise to consider their entire product development needs, including the manufacturing requirements, before deciding where to do the work—internally or externally. Whether you manufacture your product components in-house or you outsource to a manufacturing supplier, consider which option would have the biggest impact on your organization’s vision and goals. The following eight factors…

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Dimensioning and Tolerancing for Aluminum Extrusions

Defining accurate tolerances for your aluminum extrusion design prints could be considered an acquired skill, honed over years of creating new product designs. While some engineers use block tolerances on their prints, others may be overzealous by assigning too many critical-to-function (CTF) tolerances. Here are successful tips to determine your CTF tolerances that enhance component…

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Working Smarter

A product-manufacturing path seldom travels in a straight line. Instead, it can resemble our childhood games like Candy Land with a winding track or Chutes and Ladders with tracks all over the place. The path typically consists of more than one manufacturing process, with different tasks for each process. Individuals working in separate manufacturing areas…

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Communicated Changes to Your Forecast. Check.

In a previous customer newsletter, we shared information with you about the five things your annual forecast influences regarding Alexandria Industries. It is one of the most crucial pieces of information we need from you. Customer forecasts drive our business planning for the year. This includes planning our production capacity, capital investments, operational changes, raw…

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Costing More Than Money to Offshore

Sixty percent of manufacturers use a basic (and flawed) cost model to determine the costs to offshore their product manufacturing needs.[i] They base decisions to do business in other countries on: Wage arbitrage – Countries where there is an abundance of labor and the cost of doing business is lower than in the United States.…

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Consequential Strangers

Think for a moment about the multitude of people, strangers or acquaintances—whose paths crossed yours in the past week: the barista behind the counter at your favorite coffee shop; the mechanic who worked on your car; the quirky characters you’ve seen on the street; the parents with whom you made small talk in the stands…

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Unprecedented Times

Like a roller coaster with unexpected drops, curves and corkscrews, unpredictable circumstances can affect your supply chain. No matter how much manufacturing suppliers prepare in advance to secure raw material resources, there will be times when factors, such as the Section 232 and Russian sanctions, affect their supply that they cannot anticipate, nor control. First,…

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Retention Comes Before Recruitment

With the combination of 5.8 million[1] job openings and a 4.1 percent[2] unemployment rate, many companies are upping their anti when it comes to recruiting employees – especially skilled ones. To grow, smart companies know they need creative recruitment strategies to attract new employees. Spending time, money and effort on finding the right employees can…

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