At Cobb Tool, nothing is more important than satisfying the expectations of our customers. We are committed to making sure that not only do our products meet specifications, but that the experiences our customers have with Cobb Tool are professional, respectful and friendly. In the end, that will benefit our customers – but it will also reflect well on us! This applies to all our work – from simple CNC machined parts to custom-designed welding fixtures.

Recently, a welding supply house sold a fairly elaborate robotic welding system to one of their best customers. It was an expensive system and the first of a series of planned purchases. The Nashville-based customer planned to produce their own fixtures, but they still needed a basic fixture mounting frame. While Cobb Tool quoted the frame, the customer chose another shop based on price.

However, upon delivery, it was immediately clear that the fixture mounting frame wasn’t right. It wasn’t flat. It wasn’t square. And it wasn’t rigid enough to provide the positional repeatability that is essential in robotic welding.

The customer called the other shop in to remedy the problem. They did make a few small changes, but then said they were done. The changes they made did not provide the versatility or repeatability that the customer needed to run the wide range of parts they produce.  Now the welding supply house had a disgruntled customer … and a hold on an order for another $200,000 plus welding system.

At this point, the welding supply house called in Cobb Tool to review the situation. In truth, our on-site meeting was a little chilly. The company owner was now having trust issues with all tooling shops. We reviewed the project and got a clear understanding of what the customer needed to accomplish. It was obvious that if it had been addressed properly from the beginning, this was not a challenging project. We left the meeting with a clear mandate, but no order.

We immediately developed a concept proposal and reviewed it online with the customer and the welding supply house. We were headed in the right direction, so we developed a quote.

The welding supply salesman wanted to present the quote in person. I felt it was important that I follow through – so I joined him back in Nashville. I wanted to reinforce that if they ordered the tooling from Cobb Tool, the experience would be very different from what they’d experienced.

When we walked in together, the company owner was surprised to see me. But the effort made the intended impression. Our meeting went well. In fact, it went better than expected. Not only did the customer order the Cobb Tool replacement tooling frames, they purchased an additional robot for their second plant along with a second set of frames.

In the end, Cobb Tool enhanced its reputation and its relationship – not only with the Nashville customer, but with the national robotic welder manufacturer. And we gained a valued customer.  In fact, we were recently told that the customer intends to buy two more robotic systems and four for frames in the very near future.