When a large OEM railroad communications provider experienced a huge surge in demand from their top customers, Fabricated Metals stepped up to ensure they had the enclosures to meet their needs.

Driven partially by the federal government mandate requiring railroads to implement positive train control by the end of the year, the surge in demand required Fabricated Metals to increase output by over 50% in only one month…. Manufacturers normally utilize overtime as a way to meet temporary increases in demand. However, sustaining such a large increase in throughput for a longer span of time required a different approach….

Manufacturing, Engineering and Human Resources leaders met internally and developed an aggressive solution to the increased demand.

The plan called for working overtime, hiring 20 new qualified employees, creating new production cells, purchasing new equipment and machinery, developing standard work processes and aggressively attacking any re-work situations.

Manufacturing leaders brought the entire team together- production, quality, sales, and support functions- to rally the team together to gear up for the increased output. Welders, assemblers, and quality inspectors all received the message… why it was important to meet the goal and how they were critical to achieving it. Signs were developed and placed all-around the factory to emphasize the importance of the program to employees, driving home the message, and to demonstrate the company’s commitment and desire to meet the needs of the customer.

In the end, Fabricated Metals Sales Professionals partnered with the customer to better understand the products needed and to develop a production schedule that enabled both parties to operate efficiently meeting the increased demands brought to the client by regulation. All of this in a very short time frame to increase production, while making sure the customer’s needs were satisfied.

In addition to the increased production, weekly meetings with the customer’s manufacturing team are now staples, ensuring both Fabricated Metals and the customer’s factories stay in synch with each other, ensuring goals are met and deliverables are consistently delivered.

The company looks forward to celebrating milestones with employees and it’s customer along the way.