Outsourcing trend not just overseas
Flinchbaugh Engineering rapidly growing business but worries government could forget those like them.
Outsourcing is a word nearly synonymous with China, Mexico or elsewhere outside the United States.
But York County manufacturer Flinchbaugh Engineering is making a good living — even despite this economy — as a place for companies from Caterpillar to Volvo Trucks to outsource their production.
Whereas some companies might outsource low-skill production, Flinchbaugh welcomes companies handing off their precision-part production to them.
Tom Frauman, business development manager for Flinchbaugh, said a big advantage Flinchbaugh has is that it makes a lot of high-grade parts, while a typical company only makes a few precision parts that are needed to finish its overall product for market.
And considering the types of parts it seeks to make, it can sell the idea of quality to its customers who are pondering outsourcing out-of-country.
Frauman used the example of a part on a wind turbine failing because it was mass produced overseas with what he called "standard" quality.
"Two hundred feet in the air, and there’s a problem? That’s a problem," he said.
In part because of the overall tactic, called Strategic Cell Migration, Flinchbaugh has been able to pretty much double its workforce and triple revenue since the last time U.S. Rep. Todd Platts visited about four years ago.
The York County congressman was on hand again Monday.
