Small Quantity/High Mix Tubing Offers Value to R&D Facilities

In the US, many high-volume tubing suppliers have moved production facilities overseas to low-cost producers like China or Mexico. Minimum buys are now the rule, leaving many US manufacturers with a quandary—how to get small quantities of a wide variety of tubing needed for research and development or smaller production runs. Into this void have stepped a few purveyors of “small quantity, high mix” tubing, providing high quality products without requiring the purchase of thousands of pounds. How do they make the business model work? By taking what major mills produce and redrawing it quickly to meet customer specifications. With a mix of raw materials, a large selection of dies, and using lean manufacturing principles to level-load the facility, niche tubing manufacturers are maximizing efficiencies to meet customer demands.