The Client
Since 1966, Wayne Machine, Inc., of Wooster, Ohio, has provided high quality precision machining and manufacturing services to an expanding group of diverse customers.
Wayne Machine, Inc. strives to keep up with the technological advances in the machining industry. The company's state of the art CNC machine tools are the norm rather than the exception. They produce single prototype parts out of steel, aluminum, brass, bronze, titanium, Inconel, niobium or even plastic and have the capacity to produce on a large scale as well. They service many industries including firefighting equipment, hydraulic and pneumatic industrial mowing oil field parts, as well as offering repairs on farm, industrial, and oil field machinery.
The Problem
Wayne Machine was originally a small machining shop with a two-man cost estimating department. The cost estimators used manual estimating and quoting methods, which relied almost entirely on their machining experience to estimate feeds and speeds, factor in handling times, account for machine wear and tear, and the many other factors that go into job costing and quoting.
"The estimators knew their shop's machine and production capabilities cold," Gary Cassidy, General Manager at Wayne Machine said, "but there were many costing opportunities for miscalculations and inconsistencies during the quoting process."
Cassidy added that another vital reason needing to computerize their estimating and costing was that the company's long time estimator was readying for retirement. With his assistance, the company was able to transfer his estimating and costing knowledge into the estimating and quoting software, leaving vital information for his successor.
Wayne Machine precision machine shop searched for new estimating and costing methods that could help increase their quoting efficiency, accuracy, and productivity.
How Costimator Helped
The Costimator cost estimating software was purchased in December 2007 and was the technologically advanced method of estimation, and costing that Cassidy was looking for. It quickly increased the machine shops' costing and quoting efficiency, accuracy, and productivity, slashing its average quoting time in half, while dramatically increasing its cost estimating accuracy. "The learning curve was short and the benefits were instant," said Cassidy.
Brandon Clark, Senior Estimator for Wayne Machine, Inc. concludes, "Costimator is incredibly straightforward and user-friendly. The process plans and other reports look great to a customer. It gives them the feeling that we have done our homework when estimating and costing their parts, which they appreciate. When I am on the phone talking to a customer, they may want to get an estimate for a different quantity than originally requested, or have me estimate a similar part. I can keep them on the line, while I calculate the new estimate. Customers love that type of instantaneous response, which I believe helps us to get more orders."
Estimating Software
