As a renowned provider of beautiful and durable public seating solutions, this customer needed a wide range of extrusion, fabrication and finishing services. When we first got in touch with them, they were working with a whole host of suppliers, each delivering one aspect of the manufacturing process.
Since then, when we acted as a simple bar length supplier, we’ve expanded our partnership with this customer and now fulfil all their extrusion design, fabrication, finishing, assembly and logistics requirements.
As we project manage the entire process, the customer only has to deal with one point of contact. We’re able to provide an integrated service, with full control of project deadlines. And, because we work with a global network of suppliers, we’re able to offer consistently competitive prices and lead times, and reduce our customer’s inventory with no risk to product supply.
The detailed version
Initially, the customer took us on as a supplier of extruded aluminium bar length. But, as they continued to work with us - and their numerous other suppliers - they began to realise that our integrated range of extrusion fabrication and finishing services could be a more effective solution for their business.
Over the course of several years of collaboration, we’ve gradually taken ownership of all aspects of this customer’s projects, working with them on the design and prototyping of products to enhance their quality and functionality, taking over project and component management, providing them with a full assembly service, and holding and delivering their stock, which has reduced their inventory while maintaining a healthy flow to market.
Our stringent quality control service, and our ability to ship products anywhere in the world - complete with relevant informational inserts and branded packaging - has taken a huge task off the customer’s shoulders.
The outcome
We’ve been providing this customer with a fully managed service for some time, now, and it’s been a hugely successful collaboration.
Every aspect of their extrusion work is handled here at Edmo, resulting in an integrated approach to design, manufacture, stocking and supply that saves time, energy and money. And because we’re involved at every step, we’ve got to know what our customer needs, enabling us to foresee potential challenges, and even prevent them from occurring.
Our customer for this project is a global leader in remote working and conference communication technologies. They set up collaborative work environments for major brands, enabling staff at these companies to link up in real time with colleagues and clients across the world.
We were tasked with helping to design and create an attractive framework to surround our customer’s state-of-the-art technology. They’d already had one surround profile created, but it was angular, unappealing, and hardly the best advert for their slick conferencing set-ups.
The initial design suggested by our customer wasn’t extrudable, so we worked with them to design and prototype a profile that would work. Once the extensive testing stages were out of the way, we delivered a turnkey extrusion solution to the customer, supplying and machining the extruded profiles, and providing a bespoke powder coating finish.
The detailed version
When this customer got in touch with us via our website, it was with a simple enough request: to create a prototype for an attractive, extruded aluminium surround for their remote conferencing technology.
But, once we’d spoken with the customer in more detail, it was clear there was a lot more we could do to make their project a success.
During the prototyping stages, it became obvious that the design the customer was looking for wasn’t going to be easily extrudable. Given that the customer’s ultimate goal was to secure 2% of the global market for their industry, our challenge was to help them design a profile that was relatively cheap to manufacture but visually appealing enough to communicate the brand’s value.
Our design support team worked with the customer to achieve a design that was extrudable, offering additional assistance with the required corner mouldings and aluminium bending. The result was a perfected prototype that could be put into production.
During a tour of our facilities, the customer was impressed by our dedicated aluminium powder coating centre, where we’re able to offer 200 stock finishes, as well as a range of bespoke colours - ideal for matching to our customers’ exact specifications.
The outcome
We’re continuing to work with this customer. The design is complete and finalised, and the product has been put to market. Sales are starting to increase, and the customer’s on their way to securing a large market share, which will mean tens of thousands of units needed.
Our initial design support has enabled the customer to make significant savings on expensive aluminium tooling costs, and has created a product that is both functional and aesthetically on point.
A relatively new face on the affordable hotel scene, this customer came to Edmo with a simple plan: to create a modular pod set-up for their rooms, allowing the spaces to be fitted out affordably within a matter of hours.
The project had already hit considerable problems with a previous supplier, resulting in a product that was unfit for purpose. So when the customer came to us looking for extruded profiles that had been machined and powder coated, we were able to offer much more. Our design team worked to create a functioning product, working through tolerancing issues and developing a range of bespoke, cost-saving casts and fixings.
We powder coated the components, and brought the whole collection of parts together in a customer-ready assembly kit.
The detailed version
The customer in this project came to Edmo with a host of good ideas and bad experiences. Their plan was to bring a new level of cost-effectiveness to the hotel fit-out process by creating a modular pod for their rooms, reducing the time needed for a fit-out from a number of days to a matter of hours. The pods would house the bed, electrical services, and the shower room facilities, transforming an empty space into a neat, comfortable, ready-to-rent hotel room.
The customer had previously worked with another extrusion supplier, with very poor results. The ‘completed’ product didn’t fit together: dimensions and tolerances for mating parts didn’t add up, and the machining requirements were incorrect. Despite the considerable investment, the customer decided to write off this disastrous first attempt and start again.
We were initially tasked with providing extrusion, machining and powder coating services. But, on hearing of the problems the customer had encountered, our design team worked to create a functioning product, working through the tolerancing issues and developing a range of bespoke casts and fixings, resulting in a saving of over £100k for the customer.
We applied a specialist anti-graffiti and anti-bacterial powder coating to the pod, and brought the whole collection of parts together in a customer-ready assembly kit.
The outcome
This is a project that’s full of potential. Because the pod we created for the customer is modular, there’s room for adaptation in future. The customer in this project has just been bought out by a much larger chain, which means that the extruded framework is ready to roll out across thousands of hotels.
Our competitive prices and turnkey solutions have stood us in good stead with this customer, and we look forward to working with them again in future.
Not for us: we’re proud to achieve a 99% on-time delivery rate as standard. We’ve got decades of experience in global sourcing, and our logistics department can account for any delays that might occur. In the unlikely event your delivery is delayed, we’ll always let you know as soon as there’s a problem. We’ll also keep you informed as we try to catch up.
Our global sourcing service is designed to benefit companies of any size, no matter how large or small. The fact is, if your business needs aluminium extrusion, there will always be plenty of opportunities to save money, avoid unnecessary expenses, and streamline your operational flow. For small companies, it’s often our global network of supply contacts and our extensive storage facility that are the big draws: we can connect you to affordable, premium quality suppliers across the world, and store large volumes of extruded aluminium profiles and components on your behalf, helping yo to fulfil ambitious orders from even the smallest of premises.
To find out how our global sourcing service can help your small business, contact us today.
Rising labour and material costs will always be an issue. Our global sourcing service involves monitoring the global markets and identifying any significant, localised changes in materials and labour costs. We’re not reliant on anyone supplier, which means we’re able to shop around whenever an issue of this kind arises. We also offer a guaranteed fixed price to customers who place orders 12 months in advance, so if there are any sudden price fluctuations, we’ll absorb that cost rather than passing it on to your business. This gives you up to a year to plan for any long-lasting price increases.
Yes, wherever possible, we enlist the help of UK suppliers to help us fulfil our aluminium extrusion solutions. This is simply common sense: if we’re able to source something close to home, it’s good news for costs, turnaround times, and the environment. Having a global portfolio of suppliers enables us to offer comprehensive extrusion solutions, but we’ll always check what’s available here in the UK first, before comparing price and quality with alternative suppliers.
With any sourcing service, there will always be potential issues relating to product liability, product loss, damage and claims. However, we take these issues off your hands: our global sourcing service is fully and appropriately insured, and managed here in-house, so you’ll never have to deal with any problems that might arise. Our global sourcing team works with a large network of trusted partners and suppliers, all of whom have proven to be reliable over a number of years, so your goods are in safe hands with us.
Like any kind of operational cost, shipping and delivery prices can be dealt with using clever logistical management. Because our global sourcing service is so popular with customers, and because we have long-standing arrangements with suppliers across the world, we’re able to mitigate shipping and delivery costs through volume, and advanced/repeat arrangements. And because we’re able to leverage our network to alleviate freight costs, our global sourcing service is usually a far more affordable option than going direct to suppliers.
We do everything in our power to keep our component management service competitive, not just in terms of cost, but in terms of service and quality. Working with a global network of suppliers allows our component management team to find the absolute best quality and price for you, taking into account global metal prices and exchange rates. And because we’re not tied to one supplier, we’re able to shop around for the lowest prices, as well as avoiding any interruptions in supply. Likewise, when we’re sourcing larger volumes of components, we’re able to go to two or more suppliers in order to fulfil your requirements.
How can we help your business?
Let’s talk about how we can make your next project a success.
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.
If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.
3rd Party Cookies
This website uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous information such as the number of visitors to the site, and the most popular pages.
Keeping this cookie enabled helps us to improve our website.
Please enable Strictly Necessary Cookies first so that we can save your preferences!