Transparency is one of our guiding principles here at A.R.E. Manufacturing. So, to provide greater clarity on our component manufacturing processes, we’d like to walk through some of the most common questions we receive from customers and how we address them. We’ll cover all the bases, from documentation requests to quality considerations to expedited timelines. Continue reading to find out more!
1. What documentation can you provide?
Many of our customers request access to specific certifications to adhere to their requirements and ensure we can meet their quality standards. Certifications we send to our customers most often include:
Quality certifications: When a customer asks for our up-to-date ISO certification, for instance, our team can send it over immediately.
Project-specific documentation: Certain projects require specific material or process certifications, like when plating or anodizing is involved. Our team will gladly include copies of this documentation in our component shipments.
Our rigorous documentation ensures that all necessary documents ship with the completed parts. However, a single piece of paper that holds critical information can easily be misplaced. To make sure nothing gets lost, the A.R.E. Manufacturing team manages digital copies of all documentation in ProShop, our ERP system. If a certification is needed tomorrow, next month, or years from now, we can quickly retrieve it from ProShop by tracking the customer’s specific work order and submitting it to our customer in no time.
2. How do you ensure accurate measurements?
Precision is of the utmost importance in our field—and it’s non-negotiable for many industries. That’s why customers often ask about the calibration of our inspection equipment, especially our Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM).
To respond to this concern, we have a rigorous calibration schedule, tracked and managed through ProShop.
Hand tool calibration: Our QA Manager calibrates our hand tools, such as calipers and micrometers, on an annual basis. Each tool gets pulled from the floor and rigorously tested to meet exact standards. If it passes, it gets marked for its next calibration date the following year. If it doesn’t pass, our QA team investigates what’s wrong, how we can repair the tool, or if it needs to be replaced.
CMM calibration: For more technical tools like our CMM, we have an external technician who services this equipment every two years. Upon completion, this third-party calibration provides us with a certification that we upload directly to ProShop for traceability.
Our meticulous approach means we can always trace back to every tool used on specific jobs. If a tool falls out of calibration, we can identify which parts could be out of tolerance, a critical step in our risk management process.
3. How can you help us lower costs?
Reducing costs without compromising quality is a priority for most (if not all) of our customers. One of the most effective ways we work with customers to identify potential savings is design optimization. Collaborating with our customers’ engineers helps us identify design modifications that maintain functionality while lowering production costs. By consulting with our customers and leveraging our team’s rich DFM expertise, we can help them make informed decisions that can lead to significant cost savings.
4. Can you expedite orders?
We certainly can, and we do it frequently!
A.R.E. Manufacturing excels in meeting tight deadlines. Last fiscal year alone, we maintained a 95.3% on-time delivery rate—no doubt a feather in our cap! We take pride in adjusting schedules and reallocating resources to meet urgent deadlines. What’s more, our skilled team and adaptability allow us to accommodate expedited requests so we can deliver quality products on time, even with tight turnarounds.
5. Can you rework imported parts?
For customers who receive parts from overseas suppliers that may not meet quality specifications, A.R.E. Manufacturing offers rework services. Some of our customers bring parts to us for adjustment, knowing that we can fix issues thoroughly and quickly. For instance, our team has redrilled holes, added Heli-Coils, and even resized threads in large quantities of parts with too-large threads. Our team is skilled at these (and other) types of fixes, offering customers some relief after they’ve received substandard parts from another supplier.
6. Does this project align with your capabilities?
We receive inquiries about our equipment and capabilities relatively often. And while we may not have every precision machining tool on the market, our innovative team can often produce components with our existing equipment.
For instance, a customer recently reached out asking about our 5-axis capabilities. We shared with them that we don’t currently offer 5-axis machining but asked that they send us their specifications just in case. Our customer was delighted to learn that the project didn’t actually require 5-axis machining as they thought and would be perfectly suited to our 4-axis mill. Asking us this question saved this customer time and effort, as we were able to get started on their parts right away.
Even when a project isn’t the best fit for our capabilities, we’re happy to recommend a partner better suited to the job, leveraging our network of fellow contract manufacturers in our region. We may not have gotten the job, but our customer gets what they need—and that’s alright with us!
Partner with A.R.E. for Top-Notch Precision Machining Services
At A.R.E. Manufacturing, we’re more than just a supplier. We’re a manufacturing partner committed to quality, transparency, and customer satisfaction. Whether we’re reordering our schedule to meet expedited lead times, working with customers to lower their costs, or reworking subpar components from other suppliers, we’re here to deliver the exceptional results our customers deserve.
Ready to get started? Request a quote from A.R.E. Manufacturing today!