How does the young company grow its client base and services menu while still maintaining a reasonable margin and a quality product? Sal, and right hand man John Ordaz, worked the problem very carefully. John, as Sales Manager, is responsible for acquiring new business and the bidding process. Typically, the initial answer is to increase staff to handle the new levels of work. From the beginning it was very clear to both Sal and John that increased staffing was not the solution. John had strong misgivings about the easy answer. “The ability to hire all the personnel possible to do all the work necessary was not feasible…” Wary of increasing overhead to manage what might be intermittent demand, Sal and John began a careful analysis of Redwood looking for opportunities to increase capacity while maintaining the smallest overhead possible. After a short time it became clear that labor was the key. John felt “Labor is the most costly item in the exhibit fabrication equation. By cutting down on labor on one project, it allows for the addition of more jobs to be brought in and completed. This saves time and generated more income for the business.”

The first step towards labor reduction is to identify where your labor is being spent.

The manufacture of the booth often took place with design drawings not specific enough for a true manufacturing process. Dimensions and specifications were generally very loose. This demanded a very slow and arduous manufacturing process with custom fitting being the rule instead of the exception. Without these drawings, the use of outside vendors to take advantage of CNC technology or any other labor saving opportunities that were computer driven was completely out of the question. Sal was also responsible for the floor set-up of the booth. The fact that booth set-up was done either completely from memory or with hand drawn set-up drawings that were lacking in detail, made it difficult to use a reputable Installation and Dismantle company.

So it was concluded that Redwood could greatly benefit from and reduce labor by the effective use of CAD drawing throughout it’s manufacturing process. Still, while construction and set-up drawings might significantly reduce labor costs within Redwood, what would be the cost of acquiring those services? Can we go outside the company for such an important function? Keeping in mind the goal of minimizing overhead, Redwood chose to look outside the organization for CAD help. “After careful analysis of our need for construction and set-up drawings, Midpoint CAD Services capabilities were chosen.”

Midpoint CAD Services, also a California based company, provides Computer Aided Drafting services to those companies that have chosen not incur the overhead of in-house staff, or companies that have immediate demand that the in-house staff can’t manage. Focusing on the Exhibit Industry, Midpoint has been providing CAD services to approximately 20 Exhibit clients for over six years. While the exhibit industry is the main focus for Midpoint, founder Jamie Thomas has architectural and mechanical clients as well. Jamie worked for Giltspur Exhibits for three years as a Project Manager before deciding to provide CAD services to the industry as an independent. Jamie cites her experience in the industry and ability to provide quality drawings on very short notice as a definite key to her success.

John at Redwood seems very satisfied with the results of the relationship. “By not having to hire a CAD designer, we do not have to concern ourselves with keeping that person busy. There is a specific need, but not one that would keep the designer busy full-time. This allows us access to CAD capabilities without a large financial investment in one employee.” He goes on to say “Midpoint’s understanding of the industry that we work in and the emphasis on detail has given us the set-up drawings needed to install exhibits in record time. This detail is also important for the actual construction of the exhibits themselves. By having precise dimensions for each piece, we are able to construct the parts and know that they will go together where they should.”

A specific project sticks out for both companies as a good example of the Redwood/Midpoint team working well together under less than optimal circumstances. John describes the situation. “One booth that Midpoint was indispensable on was the Ipsilon project. We had a 40’x40’ design concept with a model, but only five weeks to build it. The client required crates and graphic fabrication. This was a large undertaking, due to the fact that it was 24’ high, with a suspended Plexiglas ceiling. A structural engineering stamp was required.” Jamie’s thoughts suggest the project was technically demanding. “The entire booth for the Ipsilon project was interdependent. Meaning that any dimension anywhere in the booth that was incorrect could possibly affect the fit somewhere else. We had to watch for stacked tolerances in every step. There was significant modification to the design of the booth as the manufacturing was taking place, fortunately we had production meetings throughout the process to make sure of the end result. Of course the Project schedule being collapsed made everything more challenging but we were able to beat the deadline.” John finally stated “Midpoint came in, gave us construction drawings to build with, drawings that the engineer was able to approve, and drawings to erect the structure at the show site. We were able to concentrate on the fabrication, graphics, and services, knowing that Midpoint would deliver the materials necessary for us to provide an excellent product and service to our client.” At the conclusion of the project, Redwood Exhibits moves on to the next booth without being encumbered with excess CAD capacity and Midpoint continues working with one of it’s other clients. A very fruitful and productive relationship continues on to team up another day.

In this instance, with these two players, an external provider of CAD Services was just the right ticket to help allow the growth of Redwood without some of the pain. As always, having a service provider that truly understands your business and requirements is tantamount to the success of any long-term business relationship. Over the years, Redwood and Midpoint have worked together on hundreds of projects, developing an effective cohesion that allows for many satisfied clients. Repeat business from such companies as Varian, Mattson Technologies, and Mitsubishi is an excellent indication that Redwood Exhibits has been very successful in it’s endeavor to grow the business, minimize cost, and maintain an extremely content client base.