There are myriad reasons why companies go out of business, whether it’s economics, quality issues, or maybe just the retirement of owners or key players. When the company going out is your machine shop and you rely on them to produce your parts, their demise could trigger a chain of events that negatively impact your own business.

A safety industry manufacturer that machines some of its own parts in-house didn’t have the labor available to meet growing customer demands. The company needed to outsource several of its components and was looking for a partner that could uphold both its schedule and expectations of high quality.

A long-time customer wanted to re-source several machined castings but did not have access to the molds, which were controlled by a different supplier they worked with. Having established a proven track record of helping this customer solve challenging problems, they turned to Rathburn to provide a better product at a lower cost.

A new-to-us customer was outgrowing its current supplier of machined components for construction equipment. They chose Rathburn because they needed a partner who could verify the design of its laser cut blanks, help develop design improvements, and ramp up production quickly for a seamless transition.

Our customer had been using an off-the shelf spray nozzle component that had a very short life, causing the need to stop the line and change out the part after only a few production shifts. With no original documentation and not knowing the nozzle’s material, we reverse-engineered the part, provided design assistance, and suggested a new material to produce a more efficient and longer-lasting component.

For a long time, we worked with other companies to machine sand cast aluminum pistons for an off-road truck manufacturer for a long time. It was profitable business for us that highlighted our skill and quality. Unfortunately they had always struggled with quality issues related to porosity of the cast parts, which led to a very high foundry scrap rate. Over time, their volume decreased but the cost of castings increased.

Manufacturing offshore can have some advantages—until issues with shipping, quality, and tariffs get in the way. A local supplier of stainless steel rail components found themselves dealing with critical timing issues. Parts they had ordered overseas had been delayed by two weeks, and they were now completely out of inventory so they could not meet their production demands. Through a mutual connection associated with Citizen Swiss equipment, they learned about Rathburn.

A local manufacturer had been machining their own parts in-house for a number of years but found market demand for their products outpacing their ability to produce quality parts at the new volume required. The customer needed to find a new partner who could not only meet their quality demands but also ramp up quickly to both address the backlog issues and help the company prepare for a new product launch only six months away.

We were helping a long-time customer produce clutch brakes for transmissions in heavy trucks using a one-piece, stamped design they developed in-house. That particular design required removal of the entire transmission to replace the clutch brake.

For a number of years we produced a bearing housing for heavy trucks. After our customer redesigned the part to combine two components into one, it ultimately saved the customer money but became more complicated to produce. The new design called for a completely different process flow that included machining using complex datums, followed by induction heat treatment.