Machinery Acquired Through Government Grant Helped Machine Shop Become More Competitive and Recapture Largest Customer
Problem/Challenge
A medium-sized machine shop (30 employees) lost its largest customer (multinational giant, representing 50% of its business) to the competition. The problem was a combination of lack of price competitiveness and longer delivery timelines. To meet clients’ price and delivery expectations, the company needed faster and more-efficient equipment. It decided to purchase a DMG GMX-400 Linear Machining Center to do the job. Hoping to take advantage of government grant funding, the company called in Fair Grant Writing to help.
Solution
Fair Grant Writing (FGW) identified an available government funding opportunity that paid one-third of the cost of the equipment. Taking up just a short amount of company executives’ time to understand the firm, FGW’s team completed the grant application in just a few weeks’ time. The grant was approved.
Outcome
With the financial assistance provided by the grant, the client purchased the Linear Machining Center. The equipment saves the company 30% on its cost of goods manufactured compared with traditional machining equipment, helping them to reduce the cost to customers. Six months after the equipment became operational, the company won back Siemens’ business.
“Overall, the improvements in price and productivity made us more competitive in the US market, where our customers are demanding price reductions. We would not be able to manufacture those specific products at all without the machining center,” said client’s president.
“The center is an integral part of our capabilities,” he added. “It even exceeded our expectations when it comes to functionality, productivity and machining efficiency.” Further, he said that the machining center “plays a key role in generating new export orders to the United States because now we are more competitive than similar facilities in the US.”
The president said that Fair Grant Writing took away the paperwork burden from the company that is required in applying for government grants. “Thank goodness we found Fair Grant Writing. Igor Chigrin and his team took over the entire application process. They completed the application and other required documentation in a timely and professional manner, and kept us posted throughout. They made the process quick and stress-free. We received the funding and installed the equipment. Grants work when you have the right team at your side!”
