What's new
What's new

Hows Business?

PBMW

Titanium
Joined
Aug 13, 2005
Location
Bremerton, Wa
We're gettin pretty busy here. I have about a 16 week backlog and more in the wings.
Ain't even got into any aerospace stuff...
 
Well, I'm just a 1 man show, only manual machines but I got stuff to keep me busy for well over another month if nothing else comes in. Right now its pretty much 1 large job which I try to do a certain quantity of parts for each week, then I fit in all the other stuff that I always usually turn around in a few days. I've only really been running my own thing full time for about 2 months but started over 2 years ago. I hope it stays busy. I haven't looked for any new customers yet and once I get thru all I'm working on now I'll probably look. It seems that everyone is the area is fairly busy, lots of new machines being bought.

Right now I'm saving up and trying to find land to build a shop/home as I'm pretty much out of space. I would really like to get another machine right now, perhaps a small cnc lathe or a Hardinge copy but I don't know if I'm better to wait until I get new shop, or to get the machine now and make it pay for the new shop. It's just so hard to get a machine down to my basement... arg.
 
Things have seemed to have cooled off a bit for me at least. Several engineers with my largest customer (Raytheon) say they are consciously tightening down on development, and they don't think they'll be all that busy for the rest of the year...so I've postpone my VMC purchase :(

But all of that can change on a dime. Feast or a famine...and currently I'm still eating well.
 
I'll add that I don't feel that it is a good time to get in long term debt. I think many do sense that things may slow down in the next year or 2 but time will tell.
 
I know what you mean
We need to build a larget shop. I could have a bunch of screw machine work as well, but have no space for another machine...
 
As far as tooling goes, CNC got saturday off finally and actually went home after 9 hours yesterday. 22 new molds on the job list, 14 with due dates...probably work through the rest of the year and the owner isn't planning on buying jack-squat. (I take that back, the new $20k server will be in next week....)
 
Been balls to the wall since a yr ago February. Then as of a week ago - I have NOTHING to do for the first time in almost 18 yrs!

Taking time to do maintainance and hooking up 3 newsed machines right now.

Have one project looming - but ???

Think Snow Eh!
Ox
 
Pretty good,got 60 hours work a week to do in 40 as per usual but piced up some nice contracts to add to my own product line.Went a bit slower just after christmas but still over 40 man hours per machine.
3 new guns on release for Q3 this year and most likely going to be about a month behind on them.
Moderators wise,it's going from a steady shower to a downpour lately.
Will be adding 2 new laser cutters but don't have plans for any larger bits of kit at the minute.(if I buy that Matsuura the wife will kill me) ;)


cheers Dave
 
Unfortunately for us things are slow. The work has slowed coming in so our new lathe purchase is also put on hold.
Its hard trying to get this old fart to drum up business. He is retiring in a couple of years and it is hard to get him or his wife to do anything.
 
Its been nonstop since last August for me, and then a little over a week ago BAM! I have nothing. Its been nice catching up on home projects, but that don't pay the bills.
 
Hey Jim,
At the risk of sounding nosey, what kind of shop rate are you bidding on, to get all that work, out on the west coast?
Here in sw Virginia, it's busy, but competitive as well. Way too many shops in my region are bidding on, and getting, cnc machine work in the $40 to $50 per hour range.
Even though I am a paid-for 1.5 man all cnc shop, I don't like to do any work for less than $60 per hour. Maybe that's why I am small. Nah, I'm small by choice.
But in order to grow, I've got to compete with all these local goofball shop owners bidding work too cheap!
Greg
 
My shop rate is $84/hr. I am winning about 60% of what I bid on. Most of it turns into repeat jobs. I could bid on the same stuff that the $40-$50 hr shops are fighting over, but I do more complicated parts. I'm trying to get more diversified by getting a little aerospace stuff going on, but I really don't want to bid against 1000 other shops for a little bit of work where I have to run 30 jobs a day. The setup'd kill me
 
I've got so many irons in the fire right now that I can't keep track of anything anymore. I feel like things are spiraling out of control. Of coarse it's felt like that for about 15 years now.
 
Here in sw Virginia, it's busy, but competitive as well. Way too many shops in my region are bidding on, and getting, cnc machine work in the $40 to $50 per hour range.
I'm curious how you've become privy to this information? This seems like information that would be hard to figure out, unless you flat out ask them.
 
It looks like a lot of guys are doing work requiring small tools. I can't keep in stock my CAT40 ER16 collet chucks. I sold over 150 in 3 weeks and I currently have a backlog of 30 till I get a couple hundred more next week, hopefully. Anyway I wish I knew that these would be such a big mover 6 months ago. I would of started stocking them then. Oh-well live and learn.

Anyway my job shop is also very busy. We were slow in the winter but now we are swamped. I am giving my programmers whatever O-T they want. I come in sunday nights just to give the machines coolant and do a little Q.C, then I let the machines run unmanned for 6-8 hrs till Monday morning.
 








 
Back
Top