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Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP)

Better Bidding for Rural Utah's Metalcraft

With the help of: University of Utah Manufacturing Extension Partnership (UUMEP) Center

About

For over 30 years, Metalcraft Technologies has been a premier aerospace manufacturer of complex aircraft components and structural assemblies. They are a strong rural Utah employer in Iron County specializing in sheet metal fabrication, machining, and chemical processing, Metalcraft Technologies builds and supplies components to some of the most sophisticated aircraft flying today in the military, commercial and private aircraft sectors.

The Challenge

In 2020, Metalcraft noticed changing markets due to increased competition caused by COVID and its direct impact on commercial and business travel. Commercial airlines had canceled many orders during the year, and a large contractor cut its production rates dramatically.  Metalcraft wanted to revise its bid estimating process, margin calculations, and formulas in order to remain competitive in a contracting market.

We are grateful for the resources provided by the Utah-MEP. This project was another relationship builder for us. COVID was definitely a time when manufacturers needed support. The Utah-MEP is constantly discussing how they can assist us in ways that matter to our business.  They work based on our needs and coordinate well with our other local resource partners to make sure we maximize our returns.

— Megen Ralphs, VP Business Systems

MEP's Role

The company identified new bidding software that would greatly assist with the new needs. The Utah-MEP system, part of the MEP National Network™, had allocated funding toward supporting this type of need. With a grant, Metalcraft was able to facilitate the purchase of software to organize their process for estimating part prices and gain efficiencies that enable them to quote more opportunities in order to compensate for a lower win rate.
Created August 4, 2022, Updated August 2, 2023