Hi I'm in a situation not too unlike this one. It's all in the pros and cons; if you get enough machine time, in a few months you will be able to compete with the outsourced guys on the small easy stuff, but with a greater turn around. I also point out that to pay a contractor you must add on the taxes. You need to earn $1.50 to pay $1.00 (depends on tax rate) and office costs too often left out. Basic tooling is not a big deal. If a production machine is down for something simple; organising, driving, pick up and fitting costs heaps. If you can do it yourself, minutes, I've had machines for something as simple as a washer or small shaft, down for a long time; sometimes contractors cannot just drop what they are doing. I am now logging all my work to put a proposel for a cnc machine. We are all manual at the moment. it's not just now, I'm looking to the future, more capability will mean better performance with less. But if we don't start now we won't have the skills to move forward; so even if it's not justified now it may change a lot sooner to be the best thing you have done!
Look for another thread asking which cnc machine should I buy in the near future. :-)  |