lenny baledge
Cast Iron
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2006
- Location
- NW Arkansas
Rockfish,
I agree with jackal. There are many niche markets. Find the mnf companies in your area that run multiple shifts and have machinery that can & will go down. They don't care about cost, they don't care if there replacement part is made on a 200K CNC, a 2K manual or chiseled out with a beaver tooth duct taped to a welding rod. They just want it done quickly and correctly. Larger production shops often can't work these guys into their schedule easily and the little guy can fill this niche perfectly. As a bonus you get $100+/hr vs. $30/hr. In our area, it's chicken processing plants. We got tons of 'em and they all have equipment with bearing/shafts/cams, ect. All Stainless of course. They all have maintenance departments & many of them have equipment, but they still farm out a ton of machining every month. I would guess that the poultry industry in just NW Arkansas spends 200K/month or more on outside machining. This number could be even a low estimate.
One things for sure, if you are supplementing your income & you purchase your startup equipment wisely (sounds like you did), you can't really go backwards. You will get some work, make some money, maybe it will work great, maybe not. If it doesn't you can sell your equipment for the same amount you have in it most likely and just be out a little time doing something you enjoy anyway.
Oh BTW, I don't know crap about machining. I have never worked in much less owned a machine shop. However, I do own my own electronic manufacturing business that started small and now does fairly well with 40+ employees. We spend about $200/month on machining with a local semi-retired machinist. Most of it he does on his manual equipment. However, one job, he actually programmed his CNC to do the 20 pieces.
Lenny
I agree with jackal. There are many niche markets. Find the mnf companies in your area that run multiple shifts and have machinery that can & will go down. They don't care about cost, they don't care if there replacement part is made on a 200K CNC, a 2K manual or chiseled out with a beaver tooth duct taped to a welding rod. They just want it done quickly and correctly. Larger production shops often can't work these guys into their schedule easily and the little guy can fill this niche perfectly. As a bonus you get $100+/hr vs. $30/hr. In our area, it's chicken processing plants. We got tons of 'em and they all have equipment with bearing/shafts/cams, ect. All Stainless of course. They all have maintenance departments & many of them have equipment, but they still farm out a ton of machining every month. I would guess that the poultry industry in just NW Arkansas spends 200K/month or more on outside machining. This number could be even a low estimate.
One things for sure, if you are supplementing your income & you purchase your startup equipment wisely (sounds like you did), you can't really go backwards. You will get some work, make some money, maybe it will work great, maybe not. If it doesn't you can sell your equipment for the same amount you have in it most likely and just be out a little time doing something you enjoy anyway.
Oh BTW, I don't know crap about machining. I have never worked in much less owned a machine shop. However, I do own my own electronic manufacturing business that started small and now does fairly well with 40+ employees. We spend about $200/month on machining with a local semi-retired machinist. Most of it he does on his manual equipment. However, one job, he actually programmed his CNC to do the 20 pieces.
Lenny