Value-Added Services

New Product Introduction Process (NPI)

From design to fabrication, our New Product Introduction Process (NPI) helps our customers accelerate their entrance into new or developing markets ahead of the competition. With NPI, you can gain a significant competitive advantage in your target market while reducing your capital investment in manufacturing. Our Engineering team has the resources and experience to work on our customers’ products and efficiently transition their product lines to our plant floor. We work closely with your team through all phases of the NPI process, including project mapping, prototyping, simulation, and project execution.

Design for Manufacturability (DFM)

At Special Products & Mfg., Inc., we are experienced in all phases of precision sheet metal fabrication. Our experienced Engineering team will work with you to help you get the most out of your product design. When our planners and programmers review our customers’ parts, they search for possible problem points or opportunities for failure. If a problem is identified, they will offer DFM solutions to the customer. We can also make suggestions to improve the design of our customers’ products for better performance, faster manufacturing, or better cost savings.

Customer Education & DFM Support

Through SPM University, we help customers better understand manufacturability, cost drivers, quality considerations, and how to design parts and assemblies that work well in production. Our customer education covers topics like Metal Fabrication 101, Design for Manufacturability, and Design for Cost Reduction & Quality — delivered on-site or virtually.

Rapid Prototyping

When our customers need to see a prototype of their parts fast, our Rapid Prototyping service coordinates the quick manufacturing and delivery of high-quality prototypes. With our brilliant FasTrak system, we measure lead-time in days and can typically go from design to production in as little as one business week. An automated FTP recovery system notifies us every half hour if new files are dropped so that we can begin producing prototype production immediately. This program is only available to a trusted selection of our customers.

Inventory Management

At SPM, we are experts in inventory management. We have a 10,000-square-foot offsite inventory warehouse, plus additional inventory space in our Rockwall and Round Rock facilities. We can base our inventory management program within our own facility, our customers’ facilities, or both.

Our inventory management system reduces your overhead costs on inventory and facility space, as well as minimizes excess inventory and product obsolescence costs. We offer a variety of inventory management techniques including KanBan, Just-In-Time (JIT), Built-to-Schedule, and Vendor-Managed Inventory (VMI). Each of these can be completely customized to suit your strategic plan and goals.