Value Engineering at Ajax
How does Ajax maximize the value we deliver?Value Engineering
Everybody in the metal forming business wants to get better at what they do. No one wants to see their company fall behind or lose customers to a competitor. We at Ajax just take that idea a little more seriously than most. That’s why we apply Value Engineering.
It all starts with continuous improvement. Each year, Ajax will process well over 200 CI initiatives. We examine and tweak our production processes to 1) increase part quality, 2) lower the cost of production, and 3) shorten turnaround time. Those are the big three.
But Ajax also looks at safety, workforce development, customer response time, logistics, and other aspects of our business. We’re constantly in the hunt to find ways to improve. We’ve learned through experience that even small steps can make a huge difference in customer satisfaction.
Apply The Idea
What if we “value engineer” a process for specific metal formed parts or a specific customer job? Could we compound the benefits? Absolutely.
For instance, take product lifecycle. Why form a part designed to last 50 years when its applied to a machine that is designed to last 20 or 30 years? That would add unnecessary costs that must be passed along to the customer and eventually the end user.
An Example
Consider this example of a mass volume appliance part formed through progressive stamping. With the price of stainless steel fluctuating almost daily, alternative materials can make the difference between profit and loss in mass volume precision appliance stampings. But can you really replace 304 stainless steel in an appliance part designed to last through 500,000 cycles in a highly corrosive environment?
Ajax found an alternative to stainless steel that reduced materials costs by 50 percent with no sacrifice to quality. We even paid for the testing to prove it. Results to date: 10 MM parts produced with 0 PPM.
Value engineering at the customer job level is a great way to improve the customer experience. But only well trained and very experienced salespeople and engineers have the skills to assess customer applications and make reliable recommendations that meet specifications.
At Ajax, we have these skills in abundance. We believe that our investments in workforce development, capital equipment, and innovative methods will keep us in a leadership role for decades to come.
We invite you to contact us today and find out more about the Ajax approach to value engineering.
