NEWS

Short runs are a necessity for some customers. Like those in niche markets, where smaller product demand is the norm. Short runs are also critical to breaking into new markets with new product development.

Unlike most suppliers, Bixby International doesn't walk away from short-run opportunities. Of course, they're riskier because the end result doesn't always go as planned. But for us, the likelihood of failure is carefully managed via a process and business model to most effectively bring about successful outcomes.

Bixby's president, Dan Rocconi says it best, "We love those opportunities to work on products that are new to a market or that create new space, sometimes they do not work out, but they challenge us to expand our knowledge and capabilities. It is great when they are successful, and we know that Bixby has played an integral role in an exciting market growth process."

Sizable suppliers turn to Bixby for short runs, too.

Even large material suppliers come to Bixby to run prototypes or to push programs through. Often times it doesn't make sense for them to pursue these types of programs internally, but they don't want to abandon them either, so they come to us.

Suppliers and customers turn to Bixby because we're willing to partner with them to pursue these programs and help them find new solutions. Being a partner also means we're willing to provide resources and share costs, often reducing our customers' overall development costs and risk.

Another reason they come to us is that we're very fast at getting prototypes into their hands. We're quick because we've invested in the people, equipment, and business processes to provide rapid response solutions such as:

• A Pilot Line Dedicated to Product Development
• Full Polymer and Application Testing Capabilities
• A Staffed R&D and Product Development Team
• In-House Material Experts

We're also very flexible out on the manufacturing floor, where we're set up to quickly and easily change the equipment configuration to run the many different resins, different structures, and different surfaces required by our diverse customer base.

Our flexibility extends to everything up and down the line-

• The types of equipment we have
• The modularity of our equipment
• All of our business processes
• Even our IT is set up to make us flexible

Rocconi speaks to the importance of flexibility as it relates to customization, "The flexibility inherent at Bixby enables us to provide unique solutions to our customers, not a one size fits all. This requires focusing on the needs of the customer, not on our needs as a manufacturer."

Our flexibility is reinforced by our knowledge.

At Bixby, we're experts in materials, extrusion lamination, multi-layered structures, and applications development. In other words, everything you need to ensure the commercial success of your products. That goes for both long and short runs. With Bixby's proven expertise in product development and manufacturing, moving plastic products from conceptual prototypes to full commercial launch is done in a timeframe and at a cost that gives our customers a measurable business advantage.