September 15th, 2009 by Ron Jr "Reg" Gustafson

Hurdles which prevent speed to market; purchasing requisition and fund allocation.

At Clinkenbeard we turn requests for quotation around in 24 hours or less. As we go about our daily business quoting work for customers, it is not difficult to identify hurdles which can prevent successful speed to market during this stage in the process.
(Indeed, the whole process must be streamlined to eliminate bottlenecks which stall the process of prototype part procurement. One of those potential bottlenecks we will address now.)

One common reason for delay in this process comes during the stage of obtaining “signatures” or approval for funds to purchase initial prototype hardware. As we make follow-up calls to check status on recent quotations, we speak with purchasing agents who have spent weeks to obtain purchase requisitions and approval to spend funds – only to find the process stymied at this stage in the development.

The purchasing agent then informs the supplier that the quoted delivery date must still be maintained, in spite of the two weeks spent obtaining authorization to spend funds. At this point, stress levels are high and relationships can be damaged. Contingency plans must be put in place to prevent or address these types of internal delays so that the authorization process can be expedited, just as the rest of the process is expedited to procure prototypes quickly.

August 11th, 2009 by Ron Jr "Reg" Gustafson

Here are two good articles about the future of rapid manufacturing.

The first one is, “An Electronic CEO Fireside Chat With Ron Gustafson, Clinkenbeard,” on Product Design & Development’s website. In this article, PD&D Editor David Mantey asks Ron Gustafson questions such, What is the greatest challenge you’ve ever faced at Clinkenbeard?, What’s the method behind the “Fasterestest” madness?, What is the future of rapid prototyping and additive manufacturing?, and more.

The other article is called, “Realizing the Rapid Manufacturing Dream,” by Adina Shorr, CEO of Objet Geometries, and appears on Next Generation Manufacturing’s website. Shorr’s article begins, “Over the past seven or so years, the world of rapid prototyping has increasingly embraced digital technologies, bringing further gains in flexibility and even greater savings in time and cost. Some of these technologies and the accompanying materials can be applied in other realms – with rapid manufacturing as one of the promising avenues under exploration.”

Where do you see the future of rapid manufacturing heading?