Hello, and welcome to our brand new web-based series,
Design on Demand.
I'm Matthew McMaster and here at Design on Demand we give you an in-depth look at
some our best products,
as well as covering some various applications that our products can be used for.
Best part of all this is that we break our series topics up into small
digestible chunks, which by the way are not harmful if swallowed.
Anyway, enough with the introductions and onto this week's topic, which is:
Black Chrome Plating. In this series,
we will be covering what black chrome plating is and why, in most cases,
black chrome plating is superior to other plating systems.
You'll be led down your black chrome journey by our two Product Managers,
Jayme Stockton
and Ryan Middlebrook. They'll be kicking off Part 1 of the series by introducing you
to the MISUMI Configurable Model, as well as covering our pricing structure,
our shipping and machining locations, our shipping options,
and where and how you can get sales and engineering support when you need it.
So with that, on to Jayme and Ryan.
Jayme: Let's get started. We want to first talk about what MISUMI is all about.
Ryan: What are we about? The Configurable Model.
Jayme: That's right.
Ryan: What, you might ask, is the Configurable Model? Well, on our website
and in our catalog you'll find a range of different componentry with configurable
options.
You can configure, for example, a linear shaft like this one
to the exact length that you need it to be, potentially with
end machining like you see here, and major diameter, err I'm sorry, and OD thread.
This particular shaft is in fact hollow, I'm not sure if you're able to
see that or not but
but it is, and so we actually have configurable options that
facilitate basically any conceivable machining
that you could probably put on this type of product.
And we have it for linear shafts, radio shafts,
a range of different other componentry used in
industrial automation.
Jayme: Wow, that's great. So one of the other things that MISUMI
likes to do is they like to offer very low pricing.
But I think a lot of folks in the industry
kind of confuse the fact that the pricing that we offer is so low,
with that, that must mean that our quality is actually
poor as well. And that's actually 100 percent incorrect.
Misumi is very prideful
on the fact that they have a high quality producto
So in addition to high quality you get a low price, which is certainly not the way
that it works in most
of the industry. What I did was I went to
MISUMI's website and I configured a miniature linear guide,
or an MLG,
similar to the one I'm holding up now. So that part number that I
came up with on our website, and I would encourage you at home to go to our
website and try the same thing,
misumiusa.com, I configured
an SEB8-100, and when I did that I
clicked the orange price button right on the screen and I came up with the price
for one piece, of $35.48.
So then I went to one of our competitors websites
and found a similar linear guide, a miniature linear guide,
these are all fairly standard in the industry,
so it's pretty easy to go to any site that you would like
and configure a similar size model. I did that and came up with a price that was
more than
double the $35.48 for a comparable product,
and I was actually quite shocked.
Ryan: Is that, do you think that's due to set up fee? or is there some other extenuating
circumstance that we're not seeing there?
Jayme: I feel like Misumi's prices are honestly just that low,
and the reason why we're doing that is to try and increase our market
penetration and compete in the United States marketplace.
Ryan: Interesting.
Jayme: It's definitely and an intentional price.
So what else do we have that's good about MISUMI, Ryan?
Ryan: We stock and ship a range of different
product quite quickly. Even with
end machining on a linear shaft like this, we have express options that
facilitate
one day shipment. Which is really unparalleled in
in the US. Typically you are
looking at least a 3-5 day lead time associated with this type product,
but we can actually get machined shafts out the door, in many cases
with that express option, same day.
A very standard lead time for a product like this in low quantities is about
three days.
Jayme: Well, that's good. So,
we can do it in one to two days and it says machining in the United States.
Where is the machining actually taking place?
Ryan: Yeah, we actually machine
our shafting in Addison, Illinois.
It's greater Chicago area so
right outside Chicago, and we also have our fulfillment center
close to Chicago as well, in the Midwest, and we've got another one in the
greater Los Angeles area,
so a significant base of
really manufacturing and fulfillment in North America.
Jayme: And just as a baseline,
you know, it says on here no setup fees.
What would, you know, one of our, a local machine shop or
somebody else that sells machine shafting in the industry,
what's a typical setup charge?
Ryan: I mean, I think it ranges based on
the organization that you're looking at, but certainly we offer
economical pricing whether it's one piece or 1000 pieces
of a machined product,
and we feel that, that's where we really excel, because if you're
working on a prototype for eventual production, we're not going to
kinda "stick it to you" from our price perspective on the front of your project,
where maybe others might do that.
Jayme: Well I think it's safe to say for a machined shaft like this at one piece,
a machine shop or somebody else
in the linear industry would be looking at somewhere in a
$50-$100 setup charge I think just to make
one piece for you, I mean that's, it takes a lot of time andset up and things like
that and yet we we don't have a setup charge.
Ryan: Absolutely, yes.
Jayme: We value the individual new customer that
maybe is doing a prototype or something like that.
So that's great, so right out of the United States, 1-2 days
on most the most of the products. If you do have a product
that needs to be configured like, so let's say a linear actuator
or let's say, I don't know, a linear guide that maybe is a longer length or has some
plating on it or something like that that wouldn't be stocked,
we can turn that around and get that out the door
from one of our United States distribution centers
in seven to 10 days is the typical lead time.
So let's say you want an actuator that's,
I don't know, 355 millimeters of stroke,
that's not something that we would normally stock, your lead time is
probably,
and our website is going to tell you what the lead time is and and be pretty
accurate,
it's going to be about seven to 10 days.
Ryan: Yeah, absolutely.
Jayme: So, in comparison to most other folks in the industry,
you're looking at generally three to four weeks whenever we do a custom
actuator from most other suppliers.
Ryan: It's probably important to note that
there are some suppliers that will sell actuators
in less time to than that but they are typically a stock stroke length, so you end up paying
for stroke that you're not actually going to use which is not
always the best of solutions.
Jayme: Right, sure, paying for something you don't need. So what about our local sales
and engineering support, Ryan?
Ryan: Well, we've got a range of different application support engineers
at our US headquarters here in Schaumburg, Illinois,
so greater Chicago again. We've got our regional sales
staff based throughout the country and we've also got our
our product management folks here to answer any potential questions you might
have. So basically,
Ferrari so so basically
available 8-7 Monday through Friday.
Jayme: And let's not forget about our friends in Canada.
We also have a sales support and engineering support
right up in Canada as well.
Ryan: Can't forget the Canadians.
Matthew: Thank you for joining us today at Design on Demand.
I hope you enjoyed Part 1 of this four part series on black chrome plating.
I invite you to return tomorrow for Part 2, where Jayme and Ryan will discuss what
low temperature black chrome is,
black chrome's advantages, and how black chrome holds up in corrosion tests.
Very interesting stuff. In the meantime, check our social media and our brand new
blog, the MISUMI MECH LAB.
You can find the links in the description below.
Or you could watch some of our other videos.
If you like this or any of our other videos, please subscribe to our channel
as we will be uploading tons of great new content in the weeks and months to come.
Thanks again for joining us, and we look forward to having you back.