In the material handling manufacturing industry, to call yourself a turn-key company isn’t just a catchphrase or hashtag to promote clickbait. Any company referring to themselves as turn-key is easily found out if this is not the case. To be a turn-key company involves multiple steps, all taken within the manufacturer’s internal network. You work with your customer to realize the best solution for their material handling requirements, and you support the job for the lifespan of the product. What comes between design and product support is what makes up a truly turn-key manufacturing company.
What creates a truly turn-key material handling manufacturer?
- Site visits and professional consultations: The company hired to design/build your material handling equipment must visit your facilities, review your needs, whether they are assembly, manufacturing or MRO, and take this information to their in-house engineering department.
- Conceptual and applications engineering: A talented and innovative engineering department will then develop the material handling solution to be reviewed by the client and any changes made to satisfy the requirements.
- Comprehensive approval drawings and schematics: These will be created by the in-house design team after all concerns have been tabled and a solution realized by both the client and the turn-key company.
- Procurement and manufacturing: Once the approval drawings have been signed off on, the purchasing of parts and components and steel can begin. In-house manufacturing of the material handling solution(s) will follow.
- Factory acceptance tests with quality oversight: An FAT is performed with the client present in the design/build firm’s manufacturing plant. This is where sign-off by the client announces the equipment is working as intended and is ready to be shipped to the site.
- Packaging, logistics and freight: The in-house management of all logistics offers further peace of mind to the client, knowing that all of these processes are being done in-house and overseen by the same group responsible for designing and building your material handling equipment.
- Installation, commissioning and O&M training: Once the equipment has been delivered, it will be unpacked and installed by your design/build firm’s own installation professionals. Following the installation, the same team will offer training in the operation and maintenance of the material handling solutions.
- Parts, maintenance and ongoing support: A project can remain a part of the design/build firm for as long as the client requires them. Planned maintenance and ongoing support of your material handling equipment are integral in keeping it running efficiently and safely, extending its life and your relationship with your turn-key design/build firm.
- IIoT – The Internet of Things: A bonus feature that has taken the manufacturing world by storm, which allows your material handling equipment to ‘talk’ to you. Dramatically reduce downtime by understanding your equipment’s needs before they become a problem.
In essence, every customer looking to create efficient, reliable and safe material handling products for their MRO, assembly or manufacturing facility should be looking at a turn-key design/build firm to get the job done. When every detail is managed through one company, all eyes are on the project from conception to completion, and that sort of dedication to your material handling solutions is priceless.
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