MME Group says it operates with some of the fastest turnkey turnaround times in the nation.

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With 35 years of experience as a custom manufacturer of OEM products, MME Group boasts some of the fastest turnkey turnaround times in the United States. While the industry standard for the typical tool turnarounds is between six and 10 weeks, President Bob Archambault says his company averages four weeks.    

“We specialize in fast turnkey solutions for mechanical assemblies of medium-sized products,” Archambault says. “We’re a solution provider with multiple deliverables, including engineering, tooling, molding, metal molding, assemblies and supply chain management, all controlled by ISO 13485 quality management.”   

MME Group was founded by Don Chlebeck in 1974 as a tool-and-die shop in St. Paul, Minn. By the late 1990s, the company had grown into one of the top tool shops in the Midwest.    

Also in the ’90s, MME Group added injection molding to its capabilities. The company morphed into a contract manufacturer when it brought together engineering, tooling, molding and assembly capabilities.   

Archambault joined MME Group in 1992, became a minority owner in 1998 and evolved into the principal owner in 2001. Today, the company has two plants in Minnesota, with one consisting of its corporate headquarters, engineering, tooling, molding, clean rooms and assembly, and the other holding molding, assembly, warehouse and shipping/receiving. MME Group also has a tooling, molding and assembly partner in China.
    
Moving with Speed
Working with demanding customers in the medical, consumer, automotive and government sectors has kept MME Group on its toes in terms of its turnaround times. “Everything that we do is based around speed,” Archambault says. “We have suppliers in the supply chain, and we make sure they’re as fast or faster than us or we don’t use them.”   

In 2007, MME Group showed its worth as a provider of turnkey services when Motorola approached it with its order for headsets for the National Football League (NFL). Motorola reached out to MME Group in March 2007 with a deadline to bring the new product to market in time for training camp in July.    

Archambault says MME Group turned around 35 molds – complete with testing qualifications – in time for Motorola to choose its model and fill the order within the NFL’s timeframe. “Our historical knowledge, collaboration, a drive to lower our time to market and lean manufacturing were all put together for this,” Archambault adds.

Strategic Partnership
In the late 1990s, many U.S. manufacturers grappled with the onslaught of inexpensive overseas products and services taking their market share. Instead of fighting the trend, MME Group elected to embrace the globalization of the industry by establishing a presence in China.   

“We worked with companies to help them discern what’s good to bring to Asian and what’s good to bring here,” Archambault says. “We still do this today. For some of our largest companies, we help engineer and design their product launch so they’re qualified to go into Third World countries.   

“We have companies come to us and say, ‘Here’s this thing we’re making, we want you to finish the design and take it to manufacture.’ So, we’ll mold the product, work through testing, add assembly fixtures and make a turnkey system to ship it somewhere to have it made.”

New Technology
MME Group is adding technology for a new metal molding capability that Archambault says will revolutionize the metal molding industry. The company now offers Xyloy injection moldable metal, which will give customers the option to include aluminum and zinc alloys in their product designs.    

“This new product and process eliminates multiple steps that are more common with most metal molding applications,” Archambault explains. “This product also has faster cycle times with less operations and more consistency than any other metal.”

Developing Relationships
MME Group expects to attract new customers from the heat sync, gears, aerospace, medical and consumer sectors who will be looking to eliminate costs, streamline processes and change the mechanical property of their products. Archambault expects Xyloy injection moldable metal to represent more than 35 percent of the company’s sales by 2010.   

It will be a great way to recover for a company that isn’t accustomed to losing sales from year to year. Archambault says while he expects sales to drop from $17 million in 2008 to $13 million to $15 million this year, he also believes his employees will make it a point to turn the business around again.    

“This is the first year in our history ever to go backward, and it’s reenergized the work force and leadership to be more focused going forward,” he adds.