A manufacturer of drug-discovery equipment took a robotic imager from concept to customer in just 90 days. The company credits MFG.com, Atlanta, with shaving two months off the delivery cycle. MFG.com, an online service that helps companies find shops, helped Formulatrix, Atlanta, save more than $20,000 per month and establish 20 new cost-effective supplier relationships during the project.

“Online services transformed sourcing to a more efficient and flexible operation,” said Formulatrix project leader Jorge Barrera. “It let us concentrate on R&D and move the product from concept to customer without phone calls, e-mails, or even licensed sourcing software.”

MFG.com helped Formulatrix find suppliers from a global pool, not just the handful the company already knew. The rapid sourcing cycles let the manufacturer conduct full-fledged prototyping without an in-house machine shop, according to Barrera. Sourcing a part takes less than four weeks with MFG.com versus 12 weeks the traditional way.