Case Study
ABCO Automation Inc. Uses 3,000 MISUMI Automation Components to Engineer a High-Speed Packaging Machine
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o sustain growth and profitability in a competitive market, a company must be receptive to innovation in all forms. In recent years, the volatility of the custom machine building market has proven to challenge many growing companies. However, one custom machine builder has learned how to thrive in such an environment. ABCO Automation Inc. in Greensboro, North Carolina, has consistently decreased costs and increased profits by constantly looking for new opportunities to source custom components used in machine builds. ABCO Automation, Inc. is not a typical custom machine builder because the company builds machines for a vast number of industries as opposed to a single focus on a few select industries. “We have an extremely diversified customer base, which is crucial to our success,” explains Brad Kemmerer, the President of ABCO Automation. Kemmerer noted that by servicing customers from a variety of industries, ABCO is less susceptible to economic fluctuations that may impact any single industry. “If an industry goes into an economic slump this does not affect ABCO because we have a diversified customer portfolio covering many industries,” noted Kemmerer. ABCO is well positioned to face competition within industries with this diversified business model. As Kemmerer further elaborates, “The other side to a diversified customer portfolio is that you face a lot of competition, which puts a lot of cost, time, and performance pressures on us.” This creates an environment where ABCO must rely heavily on continual innovation if it is to remain competitive in the extremely dynamic custom machine building market. Competition and sustainable growth in such a market requires that ABCO develop long term, mutually beneficial relationships with customers. To this end, ABCO is committed to providing customers with a single source for innovative solutions, automation services, and manufacturing support. ABCO has found these to be key contributors to programmatic success; the company prides itself on exceeding expectations for quality, execution, and service in all customer interactions. Kemmerer explains, “In this business we see competitors come and go all the time so it’s either you dedicate yourself to your customers and put them first or you simply disappear.”
The search for a cost-effective component solution ABCO is constantly searching for new sourcing methods for the custom components it uses in projects with the goal of reducing the total quantity of custom components
14 | IMDQ |
Q3 2022
The MISUMI component list for this machine includes: linear shafts, flanged linear bushings, strut clamps, locating pins, locating bushings, belts, bearings, plates, bolts, and rollers.
that are employed in machine builds — including a more cost-effective source for machined linear shafts. The procurement process for usable machined shafts entailed first purchasing blank linear shafts from a distributor and then machining the shafts using the internal machine shop resources at ABCO. This process was quite costly for ABCO, and in looking for ways to save resources, the company reached out to MISUMI and discovered configurable linear shafts with the ability to specify length, diameter, shaft end style, material and surface treatment. Furthermore, drawings are not required because ABCO engineers can use the MISUMI online CAD Configurator to design shafts to their specifications and then download the corresponding native CAD files directly from the MISUMI website. This revelation made ABCO quickly realize that it would be far more cost and time effective to procure MISUMI linear shafts instead of blank linear shafts, requiring secondary machining operations, which had been ABCO’s previous workflow. From this realization, ABCO began investigating other custom components they could replace with MISUMI configurable components. “We found that by reducing the number of custom components per machine we are
