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PRODx

LOCATION:

New Berlin with national network of machining partners

FOUNDER:

Bill Berrien

FOUNDED:

2021

SERVICE:

Production-volume expedited parts machining

WEBSITE:

prodx.tech

GOAL:

Build the world’s most valuable manufacturing network

EXPERIENCE:

Berrien has owned Pindel Global Precision since 2012.

ANDREW FELLER PHOTOGRAPHY

Bill Berrien

With PRODx, Bill Berrien wants to build ‘the world’s most valuable manufacturing network’

By Arthur Thomas, staff writer

PINDEL GLOBAL PRECISION entered 2020 making no ventilator parts for its customers. The New Berlin-based precision machining manufacturer exited the year having made thousands of parts for five customers.

Bill Berrien, chief executive officer of Pindel, and his team were among the companies that moved quickly as the COVID-19 pandemic hit to find a way to contribute. The experience led Berrien to start a new venture in addition to Pindel called PRODx, short for Production Expediting Technologies.

The idea behind PRODx is fairly simple. Buyers at larger manufacturers will turn to PRODx when they run into issues with their existing supply chains. PRODx will then take the order to a network of machining companies, ask them to quote it and then return it to the buyer, ideally fulfilling what Berrien describes as the buyer’s “hair-on-fire” need.

“There is actually an incredible amount of excess capacity across these machine shops and when you really dive into the numbers and the true levels of utilization, there is a ton there,” Berrien said.

On the surface, it would seem Berrien might be better off replicating his 2020 experience as these opportunities come up by fulfilling them at Pindel. He acknowledged that might be the better short-term play, but he’s more interested in the potential long-term benefit.

“There’s a scalability aspect to it,” he said, noting that the PRODx markup from the network partner provides an attractive margin as well.

PRODx launched with a half-dozen manufacturers from around the country that Berrien is familiar with and has another dozen identified for future growth.

The pitch is that the company will have an opportunity to use excess capacity, see a breakdown of PRODx revenue from an order, and will get full access to the buyer’s purchase order and the opportunity to pursue their own business development when the project is done.

Berrien hopes sharing best practices and innovation will help eventually grow the network into “the world’s most valuable manufacturing network.”

“It might be a little too ambitious, but why not think big?” he said.

Berrien discussed his plans in more detail on a recent BizTimes MKE Podcast episode. Hear more at biztimes.com/podcast n