While the level of service may differ from a minor sub-assembly to a completed product, one aspect always remains the same – the way we manage your program. Called the business unit, it is a dedicated team approach to account management that makes your life easier.
Under the leadership of business unit directors, each customer-focused team has responsibility for all sales, engineering and customer service functions. But in addition to that, the business unit director pulls in expertise from around the company, depending on the nature of your project. It can include design assistance, printed circuit board development, prototyping, test development, supplier management and/or manufacturing services. That team then becomes your point of contact throughout the life of your program.
Experience has proven that this engineering-intensive program management approach results in quicker response times, more accurate information and communications, greater flexibility and more technical support than ever before. It also allows Mack to “feel small” to its customers, despite continued growth.
Assembly & Test Development
As soon as you decide to have your product made at Mack, the business unit director will employ manufacturing, electrical, process and test engineers to develop the process that will transform your design into a finished product. That process includes assembly estimates, preliminary line layouts, initial prototype builds, design for manufacturability reviews, parts flow/material handling analyses, fixture design and development, failure modes & effects analyses (FMEA) and mistake-proofing, as well as test design, fabrication and development.
Mack’s three main objectives in designing your manufacturing layout are to achieve:
- cost- and time-efficiency,
- ergonomics and
- quality assurance.
Distribution Management
An international shipper, Mack can deliver product directly to you, your distribution site or to a third party. Our Logistics Department monitors freight costs, and is constantly probing from a cost/performance/flexibility viewpoint for better delivery solutions for our customers.
Mack’s headquarters plant in Arlington, Vermont, includes a 94,000 sq. ft. warehouse with 19 loading docks.
Production Management
A cost-efficient, high quality product. In the right quantity. At the right place. On the right day. No exceptions.
These are the fundamental principles that guide each manufacturing unit, which is composed of managers, engineers, production planners, technicians and assemblers. The manufacturing unit is tightly linked with your business unit to manage the production process and all the engineering and scheduling changes that go with it.
Your first interaction with a manufacturing unit happens long before your product is production-ready. A manufacturing engineer will begin working with you and the business unit to understand your design and its manufacturing requirements. At the same time, he will be evaluating your product from a manufacturability and cost reduction viewpoint. This early interaction helps us strike the critical balance between your ultimate part design and a manufacturing process that will yield the quality and price you need.
At Mack, quality begins with training and further developing our already outstanding workforce. The second step is to build quality into the product with mistake proofing, or designing devices that prevent assembly errors. Finally, we inspect for quality, and measure quality performance statistically for each production line and customer.
Product Design
Mack is a full-service contract manufacturer that specializes in plastics design, prototyping, molding, sheet metal fabrication, machining, and full product assembly. The first key element of contract manufacturing is a good part design that not only meets your criteria for appearance and function, but can be manufactured to satisfy quality, cost and time-to-market requirements. For more details on our capabilities, visit the Product Design & Development section of our site.
Supplier Management
In support of its contract manufacturing arm, Mack’s procurement department is organized into commodity teams who are responsible for new product introduction purchasing support, quality criteria, key supplier partnerships, component tooling development and engineering changes. The overall goal is cost management. Data tracking, pricing and process flowcharts, material acquisition plans, demand/pull agreements and electronic document control are just a few of the tools they employ to manage the process and drive down costs.
To ensure high quality levels, all suppliers have to complete Mack’s typical, stringent qualification procedure, including a supplier survey and site audit, a 30-piece capability study, first article inspection, 100% dimensional check, part and tool design reviews, quality plan and packaging reviews, and more.