ALEXCO partners to bring more than just aluminium
Today, more than ever, manufacturing companies need to look for ways to reduce cost, increase output, retain quality and keep competitive.
“Balancing the need to also lean into robotics, automation and technology; at Aluminium Extrusion Co (ALEXCO) we have stood fast on our value of relationships,” says the company’s director, Jason Parkin. “We believe that the foundation of good business relationships adds to the bottom line without compromising quality, and it’s that sort of relationship that we have built with companies like Metalmorphic.”
He says that ALEXCO has always promoted itself as specialising in small mill runs and one-off projects and one such recent project example with Metalmorphic – a well-established Wellington fabrication firm – put this approach to the test.
Tasked with delivering a large-scale architectural balustrade system for a new surf club build, the project had all the usual tight time and financial constraints. The balustrade and screening system had tight margins which meant every step of the fabrication process needed to be streamlined to avoid unnecessary labour or material waste.
“ALEXCO worked with us from the outset. We realised that there were lots of cut lengths in the project, and fabricating out of standard lengths was going to be very wasteful. ALEXCO were happy were happy to cut the mill run on the specific lengths we wanted straight off the press. The savings this created were huge,” says Bill Martell of Metalmorphic.
Parkin’s team sat down with Metalmorphic to understand exactly how the company works.
“Investing in time up front with our customer allows us to approach projects as more than a materials supplier. Understanding how the material would be handled, fabricated, and installed, allowed us to come up with solutions to save Metalmorphic time, and lower our pricing offered as well,” says Parkin.
“We were able to eliminate unnecessary packaging, reduce labour hours, and significantly cut waste.” Parkin says that this is typical of its smaller customers. “Our customers like to work with us, as they know they will be dealing with our small team, our customer facing staff are experienced, and have the knowledge to make decisions to make sure we are offering the best solution we can. We’re prepared to look at the wider picture, not just process an order or die design as presented to us.
Although smaller customers, such as Metalmorphic, make up an import part of ALEXCO’s customer base, the recent larger press installed has allowed the company to work with customers that would have been previously too large.
“The most satisfying thing over the last few years has been successfully bringing back work that was being imported from Asia. We have proved to New Zealand manufacturers we can be competitive with low cost imported material, particularly when the challenges of holding stock, quality control, increased lead times and risk are considered. It’s pretty special to bring back some big volume customers who were sourcing from overseas to using NZ produced material.”
Martell is full of praise: “They weren’t just supplying aluminium; they asked the right questions. That kind of thinking is rare. They saved me days’ worth of labour recutting and deburring standard lengths as well as eliminating thousands of dollars of scrap.”
Parkin adds that ALEXCO approaches supply as a collaboration, not just a transaction.
“Our size gives us the ability to move quickly, adapt to our clients’ processes, and remove unnecessary complexity from the supply chain.”
Sponsored content: For more information phone +64 4 388 1091 or visit www.alexco.co.nz.