Supply Chain Consolidation

As the premier steel tubing manufacturer with in-house capabilities to produce the tube, fabricate (bend, press, form) powder coat and assemble a finished component packaged for shipment as a sub-pack boxed and ready to be inserted into their master package. Hofmann Industries partnered with a world leading barbeque grill manufacturer – consolidating their supply chain, compressing lead times and trimming production and handling costs.

Problem
The company’s supply chain for a line of grill legs did not efficiently support product growth and inventory cost control. Truckloads of inventory located at multiple locations and outside vendors stalled production, tied up working capital and extended lead times.

Solution
As a solutions supplier, Hofmann Industries invited their team to visit our Michigan facility to observe our operations first-hand. From our high-speed tube mills to in-house powder coating, tube fabrication and value added assembly and packaging services, Hofmann offered a one-stop shop to produce a box-ready product.

To manufacture the grill legs, Hofmann implemented a front-end system for specifying and testing raw materials to ensure they correctly aligned with specifications. The Company then designed a tube fabrication cell that quickly moved product through tube bending and multiple pressing operations. After determining optimal batch sizes, Hofmann designed and implemented a final assembly station with tact-time designed to work in tandem with the speed of its powder coating line to insert and assemble custom hardware and plastic components through to final bagging and packaging.

Results
With our “one-stop shop” approach to manufacturing these grill legs, we provided a straightforward solution that consolidated production, reduced transportation expenses, and scaled down inventory costs. We continue to supply hundreds of thousands of units annually.

To learn more about how our end-to-end custom steel tube manufacturing capabilities can positively impact your production model, contact us today.

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Supply Chain Consolidation Highlights