I am access to a VMC machine and possibly purchase one myself. I am just curious how do I get started? I live in tampa,florida. What industry needs parts made? Better yet what type of businesses need parts made? I know the industrys but what particular businesses need parts made?


Please let me know.

-garrett

if it was that easy to pry open someones list of customers then that company would go out of business very quickly. i suggest you start like everyone else and go knock on some doors.

if it was that easy to pry open someones list of customers then that company would go out of business very quickly. i suggest you start like everyone else and go knock on some doors.

I am just looking for who uses machine shops on a regualr basis besides the government and stuff.

I noticed there is a food industry I have no idea what "food industry" uses machine shop services. Does the local grocery store need a machine shop?

Please if you can steer me in the right direction.

i didn't want to sound like a Jacka$$ before but really i don't know if the grocery store in your area needs a cnc machinist. go knock on the managers door and find out. if they do let me know. maybe even post it here so everyone knows and can go knock on their stores doors.

aside from the usual goverment and stuff, there is automotive, aerospace, nautical, industrial, environmental, etc. that all need parts and things made from time to time. the hard part is finding the companies that want to do business with you.

I Does the local grocery store need a machine shop?
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of course they do! how else do you get the tapers turned on the carrots?

From the looks of the carrots in my grocery store, they need a better machinist.

I am just sayin...

Ok. Seriously. Finding work for a shop can be tough. Most work goes to shops where either someone's buddy works or to a shop that has established a solid reputation for well rounded customer service - good pricing, fast turn around and quality that meets or exceeds the customer's expectations. A lot of times it's not who you know, but who knows you. If you think that opening your trenchcoat (your shop) is going to get the women (parts or contracts) to come running, you are halucinating. Having a well outfitted shop is less than 20% of the game - finding customers and keeping them is the part that is sometimes impossible, unless you have something nobody else in your area has - like the largest lathe, largest heat treating furnace, longest grinder or whatever.

It might be a better idea to come up with a product or two that you can make for a niche market - like parts for remote control cars, or something along those lines. Maybe branch into powder coating or anodizing or polishing. Offering a variety of services can fill gaps in orders and it can also bring unique jobs or opportunities.

It's not an easy game to play.

Scott

Ok. Seriously. Finding work for a shop can be tough. Most work goes to shops where either someone's buddy works or to a shop that has established a solid reputation for well rounded customer service - good pricing, fast turn around and quality that meets or exceeds the customer's expectations. A lot of times it's not who you know, but who knows you. If you think that opening your trenchcoat (your shop) is going to get the women (parts or contracts) to come running, you are halucinating. Having a well outfitted shop is less than 20% of the game - finding customers and keeping them is the part that is sometimes impossible, unless you have something nobody else in your area has - like the largest lathe, largest heat treating furnace, longest grinder or whatever.

It might be a better idea to come up with a product or two that you can make for a niche market - like parts for remote control cars, or something along those lines. Maybe branch into powder coating or anodizing or polishing. Offering a variety of services can fill gaps in orders and it can also bring unique jobs or opportunities.

It's not an easy game to play.

Scott


Thanks for your advice. I know all about the have your own product. I noticed that almost every job I had in machining they manufactured their own product. The ones that didn't have their own product either lost that contract because they company wanted to do it in house or china.

mxtra's advise is on the money.

Making parts for other people is extremely difficult. That market is cut-throat and the lowest bidder usually gets the work. And when you establish a customer, you'll have other machine shops fighting and clawing at your customers to get their foot in the door. If your customer is willing to listen just for a second, that other shop WILL beat your price...now your work is worth less to your customer.

Now, some buyers have realized that they get what they pay for, and will gladly pay more for great customer service and high quality and consistent parts. But they already have a relationship with a supplier and won't listen to you.

I started off in that market, but realized I couldn't make money there. Then, we started making our own products. Our business decisions and the market control the value of our products, not somebody else with a Bridgeport in their basement, or a shop willing to lose money just to get in the door. But I will say, to be successful with your own product, you will also have to be a better businessman than a machinist.

The big money is both Gov. & Industrial jobs, at least at my job.

Save yourself some time, forget automotive (unless you get lucky & find a niche).

If I had only one cat. to pick from it would be Industrial jobs, most of them will pay a high price for good work. Automotive is usally low dollar high quanity jobs (again unless you get lucky & find a niche market).

A little note about other companies under bidding you. We had this 1 company that kept (non-stop) trying to low ball us on price, hell it got down to almost the cost of material, they kept on with threats of taking the job someplace else, after about a year of this we finally told them they can have the job back (see ya!). Heck it's not like we lost money, If anything it freed up a dedicated screw machine to run other jobs on. Anyway, about a year after they pulled the job from us, they called back saying they really needed us to run that same ole job that they pulled from us, here is the funny part, when we said ok, but It will cost more than when we ran that very first part some 2 years ago (take it or leave type of thing. :) ). What had happend was the new supplier they ran to, that underbid us, pretty much ran crappy parts, hey you get what you pay for.

My point is, run the very best parts you can, & make quality number one, If they ever leave you, chances are they will be back...


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man, you guys are killing me with the STORE joke. carrots? knock on the door and ask the manager? hahhahahhahahahhahahha man that is funny as hell. i would love to see the look on that guys face when he ask him. PRICELESS. :)

The big money is both Gov. & Industrial jobs, at least at my job.

Save yourself some time, forget automotive (unless you get lucky & find a niche).

If I had only one cat. to pick from it would be Industrial jobs, most of them will pay a high price for good work. Automotive is usally low dollar high quanity jobs (again unless you get lucky & find a niche market).

A little note about other companies under bidding you. We had this 1 company that kept (non-stop) trying to low ball us on price, hell it got down to almost the cost of material, they kept on with threats of taking the job someplace else, after about a year of this we finally told them they can have the job back (see ya!). Heck it's not like we lost money, If anything it freed up a dedicated screw machine to run other jobs on. Anyway, about a year after they pulled the job from us, they called back saying they really needed us to run that same ole job that they pulled from us, here is the funny part, when we said ok, but It will cost more than when we ran that very first part some 2 years ago (take it or leave type of thing. :) ). What had happend was the new supplier they ran to, that underbid us, pretty much ran crappy parts, hey you get what you pay for.

My point is, run the very best parts you can, & make quality number one, If they ever leave you, chances are they will be back...


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CNC work though right?

I know you can't be competitive with manual machines and a welder but that is all I got.

I was thinking about learning how to repair and rebuild hydraulics

Anybody help me out?

Switcher, we had the same situation- our customer kept saying he could get the parts cheaper in China- we just could not figure how they could do it so cheap so we had to give in and refuse to lower our price anymore- a year later they were back at the door with "we got crap parts... can you take the job back?". Needless to say I hiked the price over the original price... we've still got the job 3 years later.

You get what you pay for.

CNC work though right?

I know you can't be competitive with manual machines and a welder but that is all I got.

I was thinking about learning how to repair and rebuild hydraulics

Anybody help me out?

No (cnc), we run the job on a 6 spindle screw machine. Parts come off both sides of the machine.

That machine is a dedicated machine, for that specific part, it runs 2 shifts.

The screw machine is at least 25-30 years old, it will run circles around a cnc, unless it's also 6 spindles :) .

That's how we keep the parts cost competitive, the machine was payed off when I was just a kid. :)

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Switcher, we had the same situation- our customer kept saying he could get the parts cheaper in China- we just could not figure how they could do it so cheap so we had to give in and refuse to lower our price anymore- a year later they were back at the door with "we got crap parts... can you take the job back?". Needless to say I hiked the price over the original price... we've still got the job 3 years later.

You get what you pay for.

Yeah, your always going to have those folks that will push you as far as they can, on price.

If your not turning a profit, whats the point...?

It really is funny when they come running back, gotta have this, gotta have that, ASAP (sure, It'll cost you :D ).


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Dude, if this will help you, go to Eric Warren Designs on Nebraska Ave. He builds custom choppers and was voted the #1 custom bike builder in your state a few years ago. I used to build parts for him but being 9 states away sucked. He's a nice guy and if your parts are of good quality I know he's always looking for a good local machinist. Just do me a favor and please don't tell him I sent you, just stop by, check out his bikes and then mention kind of in a round about way that you are a machinist with a VMC, (he might not know what that term means,) he's extremely friendly and I bet you'd probably get some work out of him or one of his buddies...

Good luck!

BTW, talking to him would be good practice on how to pick up work...

Also, it might be advantageous to you to just happen to have a part you built in the back seat of your car to show him, lol, that's how I picked him up as a customer! :) Getting customers is one of the easiest things I've ever had to do. I know a lot of people think its difficult but I've NEVER found that to be the case~ He pays crazy fast too if he likes you...

DISCLAIMER:
Everyone else who reads this, please do NOT contact Eric, he has a business to run and is not a big enough company to spend his time talking to a bunch of CNC owners trying to get work out of him, he's a high quality, low volume builder who only needs a good local machinist to help him out... Now, the reason I didn't just private message this guy was so other people could get my perspective on getting a new customer and I felt giving a real world example would be better than being all hypothetical!

..... I was thinking about learning how to repair and rebuild hydraulics

Anybody help me out?

I am not sure I can help you out if you mean explain hydraulics. What I can say is that if you learn hydraulics up, down and sideways; in other words become a specialist in hydraulics, in ten years time or so you could have a really good, profitable, steady business. The first five years of these ten you may have to live on macaroni and cheese and work ungodly hours holding one or two jobs to make ends meet; the second five years might not be so rough.

The bottom line is, bust a gut, choose something and make it work, don't cut corners, like the Ford slogan said quality is job one. Work towards getting the reputation as the guy that solves the problem, CORRECTLY, not cheapest, not quickest but CORRECTLY!!!!!! It takes time and it takes effort but when you get there it is worth it because people come to you and are even willing to wait if you are busy because they are confident you are the place to get the correct solution to their problem.

isn't there a trade or cert for a hydraulic mechanic? imo it's nuts doing a start up in an area you don't know when you're the sole practitioner. find out about an apprenticeship or something to get you started - you'll develop recognized expertise and at least some cash flow in the short term. unless you already know hydraulics how do you propose to fix the first thing, say, a crane on a truck that comes in the door? trial and error? , you need the skills & knowledge to properly service the crane before you hang out your shingle, "hydraulic repairs are us". Remember, a lot of hydraulic applications carry serious safety issues - put the wrong rated part on and someone dies. Plus, start up business's have a high failure rate.... while I like the go for it attitude, if you get the trade first not only will you know what you're doing, you won't be a ground zero if it fails.

isn't there a trade or cert for a hydraulic mechanic? imo it's nuts doing a start up in an area you don't know when you're the sole practitioner. find out about an apprenticeship or something to get you started - you'll develop recognized expertise and at least some cash flow in the short term. unless you already know hydraulics how do you propose to fix the first thing, say, a crane on a truck that comes in the door? trial and error? , you need the skills & knowledge to properly service the crane before you hang out your shingle, "hydraulic repairs are us". Remember, a lot of hydraulic applications carry serious safety issues - put the wrong rated part on and someone dies. Plus, start up business's have a high failure rate.... while I like the go for it attitude, if you get the trade first not only will you know what you're doing, you won't be a ground zero if it fails.


I understand this. That is why I have been calling up eaton and others for training.

I'm in the jewelry business, so I'm here to learn, too......But - when somebody mentioned automotive, I thought of custom work, too. Anyway - the food business. I once knew a guy who did that work by contract - he was the designer, not builder, and no, it wasn't carrots (very funny, though), it was assembly lines and packaging. Bread baking ovens 100 yards long, that sort of stuff. Pick and place, sorting operations, conveyor belts, egg crackers, dough kneaders, vegetable peelers, mixers. All big time, automated stuff, people like Wonder Bread, Campbell's, sugar plants, ice cream, frozen pizzas. It's a huge industry, but doubtful that a one man startup should look at it as an option, probably. I'm no expert in machinist's jobs - the opposite, really. Just thought I'd share that with ya'll.