Metal Flow

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Quality Meets Flexibility: Metal Flow's Strategic Advantage

Metal Flow, a precision metal stamping company renowned for its production of airbag and fuel system components, has been able to achieve a fluid balance in its labor requirements by partnering with Veryable. The nature of the automotive industry dictates a cyclical demand pattern, and the company needed a solution that could scale up or down in line with their production requirements, which can reach up to a million parts per day, catering to a diverse clientele base in fourteen different countries.

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Right-sizing at a moment's notice

This is where Veryable came into play, offering the flexibility Metal Flow needed to adjust its labor force according to the workload. Veryable met Kelly Springer, the President at Metal Flow, at a Lakeshore Advantage Meeting in Holland. After discussing the benefits of short-notice flexibility in the automotive landscape Metal Flow jumped right in. This partnership has allowed Metal Flow to maintain a flexible labor pool that can be expanded or contracted as needed, greatly easing the strain of variables such as heavy workloads or new projects. “Using, Veryable, lets us be able to flex our labor quite a bit. With a flexible labor pool of about ten to fifteen percent with Veryable, we're able to do it day by day week, by week. If we’ve got a heavy workload off the presses or a heavy workload in quality, we're able to flex the labor quite a bit,” said Michael Hawkins, VP of Manufacturing at Metal Flow.

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By leveraging Veryable's marketplace, Metal Flow has effectively created an extension of its team, with workers familiar with the company's processes and quality standards, thereby ensuring the continuity of operations. “That flexibility and being able to get them back and have that repeatability, almost like an extension of the team,” said Hawkins. The labor pool that they built has become integral to the company's workflow. Historically the team at Metal Flow has the platform for their quality inspection opportunities. Due to the nature of the items they are producing, low defect rates are a requirement.

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Elevating Quality Control

The agility of this model becomes evident when customer-specific requirements arise, particularly during the early launch process. Rather than pulling workers off their regular tasks, Veryable's flexible workforce can undertake these inspections, ensuring business continuity and upholding Metal Flow's commitment to quality. “So with using Veryable and having the flexibility to bring people in, and do those inspection criteria for maybe a week to three weeks to a couple of months, definitely helps out with the flexibility. Not having to pull people off of the regular production of the parts to do those and do the inspections,” said Hawkins.

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Maximizing Economic Efficiency

Besides the tangible benefits of operational flexibility, partnering with Veryable has brought financial advantages for Metal Flow. By avoiding over-hiring and being able to dynamically match their labor pool to their needs, the company has saved on labor costs, creating a competitive edge in the industry. “Once you hire somebody, you're carrying that cost. I think from the labor standpoint of not over-hiring, that would give us our competitive edge. The key that we learned with Veryable was, that once we developed our labor pool, we were able to pull from those people when we needed them,” said Ed Ploeg, Director of Quality at Metal Flow. This dynamic labor pool, developed in partnership with Veryable, has played a pivotal role in helping Metal Flow accomplish its operational goals and maintain its reputation for quality and reliability in the automotive industry.

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A Closer Look: Scaling With Demand