Blog

A secret sauce isn’t just for cooking; it’s an essential ingredient for any process-based business, including manufacturing. Every successful shop has one, and it’s crucial to identify and maximize it as your point of difference. In today’s highly competitive manufacturing landscape, knowing what sets you apart and nurturing that advantage is key to sustained success.

Listening is the best way to uncover how your unique approach to manufacturing resonates with customers, suppliers, and employees. By asking the following questions to a diverse sampling of these groups, you can gain valuable insights:

What are our strengths and weaknesses?
What is the one thing we do better than anyone else?
What is our corporate culture/personality?
The answers to these questions define your brand identity. While brand image reflects how you want others to view your company, brand identity represents how your customers, suppliers, and employees actually perceive you. Aligning these two concepts should be a priority. Once you’re aware of your true brand identity, you can begin making course corrections to bring it closer to your desired image.

One effective way to focus on your unique strengths is by eliminating or outsourcing materials and processes that don’t directly enhance what you do best. This approach frees up resources to further develop your core competencies and sharpen your competitive edge.

An Example from TCI Precision

At TCI Precision, our secret sauce is efficiency. We prep materials for finish machining more efficiently than anyone else—and that’s all we do. For metalworking manufacturers, focusing on high-value finish machining processes might be the heart of their expertise. Tasks like squaring, flattening, and milling materials to net or near-net dimensions, while necessary, don’t add as much value as the final machining processes that determine quality and precision. By outsourcing these preparatory tasks, shops can redirect resources to their primary, high-value activities.

Benefits of Focusing on Core Competencies

Concentrating on high-value processes allows you to:

• Invest in Advanced Technologies: Implement the latest CNC machines, automation systems, and precision measurement tools to improve productivity and part quality.
• Develop Workforce Expertise: Build deep specialization within your team, fostering better problem-solving and innovation in your core domain.
• Streamline Operations: Outsourcing low-value tasks to specialists improves efficiency, reduces lead times, and eliminates operational bottlenecks.
• Enhance Reputation: Specializing in what you do best builds trust with customers and partners, attracting repeat business and long-term contracts.
• Risks of Doing Too Much

Trying to handle too many processes can dilute your focus, strain resources, and lead to subpar performance. For example, taking on material preparation without the right expertise or equipment can create inefficiencies and quality control issues, ultimately affecting your core operations.

By sticking to your strengths, your shop can remain at the forefront of technological advancements. This strategic focus ensures that resources are channeled toward relevant R&D, enabling you to adopt cutting-edge techniques and materials that further bolster your competitive advantage.

At TCI, we understand the value of focusing on what you do best. Material preparation is our secret sauce. We start with full sheets and plates and prepare them for finish machining, so you don’t have to. This allows our customers to concentrate on their high-value processes, delivering superior results with greater efficiency.

Thanks for reading -
Ben