Our Approach

We love to take on big, complex projects. The only way to produce flawless quality on time and within budget is to break projects down into small, manageable steps. We select a dedicated team for each project, hand‐picked for that specific job.

There are no islands at ENI — everyone is included from start to finish so that each team member involved takes ownership of their role and is held accountable for their work.

Our approach is to build a strategic partnership with the client from the start, offering creative input, technical guidance and industry expertise throughout.

Here is a look at how a typical ENI project unfolds:

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Receive RFP

It all starts with an RFP. Send us your requirements and we’ll let you know how we envision the project coming to life.

Larger customers tell us what they need and when. Maybe they include a drawing pack, a specifications list or a draft copy or a purchase order.

Smaller clients often just send a drawing when they need a part machined — or maybe they’re doing budgetary pricing or nailing down a delivery date.

Email
Email
U.S. Mail
U.S. Mail
Fax
Fax
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Puzzle Pieces
Decision to Pursue

We discuss every request to determine whether it’s a good fit. Do we have the capacity and capability to complete the job? Does it match our vision, strategy and interests?

Our contracts administrator does not enjoy sending denial letters, but we don’t accept projects just because we can pull off the job. We love to push the boundaries and sometimes accepting the normal means we can’t take on that so‐called “impossible” project when it comes our way. Our commitment to our project standards means we can dedicate our team to tackle the projects that change the way we — and our clients — do business.

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Quoting/Estimating and Team Selection

Projects that do get the green light enter the system and are assigned to a quoting team. This critical stage reveals the advantage of our approach. We insist that the engineers who will ultimately work on the project are included in the quoting process — a crucial step that many similar outfits neglect to take.

This intentional overlap ensures that one team doesn’t hand over what should have been a colaborative task to another team cold, and instead provides continuity throughout the life of the project. The engineering manager is tasked with ensuring that the right team is assembled for each job. He chooses people based on their expertise, current workload, and past experience.

Team Member
Your Team
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Negotiation
Negotiation

We then submit the quote to the client, which triggers a back‐and‐forth discussion about price and delivery date. Our customers know what they expect from a partner, and they take this opportunity to make sure we’re technically competent and that we understand what it is we’re quoting. They may seek an interim proposal if circumstances have changed.

Each quote has a validity date — we prepare a timeline and select the team based on capacity and other upcoming projects. When we assign a team to your quote, they are your team to completion.

If the proposal is unconventional, developmental or otherwise tricky, ENI will recommend manufacturing improvements, suggest realistic tolerances and propose modifications to reduce cost or shave time.

ENI is a true creative partner, not just a shop that follows plans.

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Planning Chart
Planning

If the client accepts our best and final price within our proposal’s validity date, the project goes to the planning team, who is responsible for:

  • Ensuring the appropriate materials are chosen.
  • Writing the CNC machining programs.
  • Drawing up detailed work instructions.
  • Handling all submittals and procedures that the government or customer may require.
  • Creating a workflow that prioritizes the project’s most critical aspects.

This planning ensures that when the materials arrive, the team can hit the ground running.

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Purchasing Materials

Purchasing raw materials is a tricky, but critical, step. It can take months for raw materials to be delivered. Best and final quotes come with validity dates because there is fierce competition in the industry for limited supplies of exotic materials. We are able to leverage our relationships to secure even the most scarce metals, but if a customer delays too long in responding, our suppliers may have to sell the requested materials to a different vendor who needs the same material for their own project.

Material
Material
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Scheduling

We use an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, which helps us produce a schedule and ensure on‐time delivery of even the most complex manufacturing projects. Our production teams work closely with production control expediters to coordinate workflow. We hold frequent planning meetings to make adjustments based on scheduling updates and have systems to manage arrival dates, as well as manage capacity. Since the complexity of our — and our clients — business makes it inevitable that some circumstances are not easily scheduled, we work together to model, predict and manage those variables.

Scheduling
Quote Completion
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Calendar
Production

We now have a plan, we have the materials, we have the teams in place, and we have schedules and deadlines set.

It’s time to get to work.

The operations manager and production supervisors are the ones tasked with doling out the work on a daily basis and ensuring that progress matches the timeline.

We provide engineering support throughout, which provides transparency and keeps the client informed of progress, issues and, of course, any changes. Here, again, continuity is key — the client has the same, familiar contact from quote to delivery.

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Packaging and Delivery of Product and Certifications

When we deliver the finished product, we deliver all necessary certifications right along with it. These certifications might include the certified material test reports, dimensional inspection data and testing results. This provides even further transparency and ensures the customer knows they are receiving exactly what they ordered. It also helps all parties conform to any government regulations or requirements.

Delivery
Delivery
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Certification
Certification