How Athena Stands Out in the Global Manufacturing Marketplace
Many OEMs have started seeking out overseas vendors to handle their contract manufacturing solutions (if they haven’t already done so). It’s a common perception that sourcing components from low-cost countries will result in inexpensive prices and accelerated production. However, working with an overseas manufacturer may not be worth the risk.
Don’t get us wrong – there’s a time and place to use an overseas manufacturer, particularly when you need uncomplicated pieces at a low cost. However, when multiple supply chain steps are necessary, it’s best to work with a trusted company that can make adjustments as needed. As a privately held company, Athena Manufacturing has the flexibility to make decisions quickly; this allows us to get parts to market with greater agility than our overseas competitors.
From our automated equipment to our talented team members to our location, Athena Manufacturing has systems in place to ensure a seamless experience for our customers.
Athena’s Automated Solutions
Our continuous investment in automation directly supports our ability to compete in the global manufacturing marketplace. The benefits of our automated solutions are threefold:
Competitive Labor Costs
One of the main reasons OEMs decide to source their components from overseas manufacturers is their perceived cost savings. The labor costs in the U.S. are much higher than in other low-cost countries, but Athena’s automation offers cost-cutting solutions that put us at a similar price point to our overseas competitors.
In the welding department, for instance, our team utilizes collaborative robots that work alongside our welders to increase throughput. When we have one operator running four weld cobots, that one team member is doing the work of four welders. So while our wages may be four times the labor costs of overseas manufacturers, our welders are doing four times the work with the help of our in-house cobots.
Greater Quality
Robots, cobots, and the other automated technologies in our shop yield highly repeatable processes. When our welding cobots produce the same welds each time, the Athena team yields consistent products with efficiency.
Quicker Speed to Market
The use of automation has streamlined our production processes and significantly reduced our time to market. One notable instance when automation added value was when we needed to increase our volumes from approximately 15 to 20 semiconductor frames per week to anywhere from 30 to 100 per week. This particular client used both Athena and an overseas contract manufacturer to produce this component. By integrating cobots into this medium-volume work, we utilized automation to quadruple our weekly rate. Additionally, our go-to-market time was only three weeks, whereas the overseas manufacturer took six months to reach these high volumes at the necessary speed.
Dynamic, Highly Trained Teams
Athena Manufacturing has a robust workforce solutions program that allows us to maintain a pipeline of capable employees and quickly scale to support increased demand when needed. An example of our ability to tackle new part introduction (NPI) projects occurred recently when both Athena and an Asian supplier were chosen to dual source a component by one of our customers. Our commitment to new hire training programs and a flexible workforce skilled in NPI allowed our team to reach production volumes on the new part over one year before our Asian competitor. Our ability to reach production volumes on this component helped protect our customers' project timeline from slipping as we were able to fulfill both our projected demand and the delinquent parts from Asia. At this moment, we didn’t just compete with an overseas manufacturer, we surpassed them completely as a result of the skill and flexibility of our teams.
Greater Ease of Communication
Getting in touch with a domestic manufacturer is much easier than with an offshore supplier. If you need to make a change to a production run with Athena, you can call our management teams who will respond to your needs immediately. If you’re in the Austin area, you can even arrange a time to stop by our shop to meet with us in person and take a look at our facilities. We take pride in our commitment to building strong relationships with customers and showing off some of the cutting-edge equipment on the shop floor.
Our team won’t just make the change, they will update you on how costs and lead times may be impacted so you can adjust your schedule accordingly. This type of communication could lag for weeks if you’re working with an international vendor.
In addition, Athena offers comprehensive DFM input before products go to market. As a result of our expertise in sheet metal fabrication and precision machining, our design and engineering team can offer solutions to streamline production and bring down costs.
Land Travel from Our Prime Location
Our location in Austin, Texas, in the heart of the state, not only makes us a leader in Texas contract manufacturing, it also puts us in an excellent place to serve the rest of the country. Working with a domestic shop for your contract manufacturing services means parts are not crossing an ocean. By avoiding transport by sea, which is inevitable when working with many international suppliers, OEMs can experience the following benefits:
Greater speed: Parts arriving from overseas can take upwards of six weeks to arrive. Meanwhile, Athena offers shipping times of a few days and even same-day shipping for expedited shipments and local customers.
Less risk: When components are shipped across the world, they can incur damage from being tossed around onboard for weeks at a time. Aside from scratches and dings along the surface, a metal’s composition can change drastically. When exposed to humid sea air, material oxidation can become an issue, potentially resulting in something that is practically a curse word for the Athena team: R-U-S-T.
No customs delays: When components arrive from other countries, they need to go through customs, a process that can occur relatively quickly in the best of times or create multi-week delays in the worst of times. Using a domestic supplier like Athena eliminates this step and the indefinite lead times that go along with it altogether, resulting in faster, more predictable lead times.
Lower transportation costs: As mentioned above, a lot of manufacturers choose to work with overseas vendors because they believe there will be a significant cost reduction. Something that some OEMs overlook is the costs associated with transporting components across borders, namely the expenses of increased fuel usage and the necessary tariffs that contribute to the overall cost.
High-Value Domestic Contract Manufacturing Services from Athena
At Athena, we’ve put systems in place not only to compete with international competition but to beat them on cost and quality in many instances. Partnering with Athena Manufacturing rather than an overseas supplier offers design collaboration, cost competitiveness, quality and speed to market.
Don’t hesitate to connect with our team to learn more about our automated facilities, diverse certifications, and get-it-done approach. When you’re ready to get started, request a quote to see how quickly our team can support your needs and add value to your production.