Keats SW: How Our Second Facility Meets Customer Needs

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Customer service has always been at the forefront of everything we do here at Keats.

Since our founding in 1958, maintaining unparalleled customer service has been the driving force for all of our business decisions; it also factored in to our decision to augment the manufacturing capabilities of our original Wheeling, IL facility with a second full service facility, located in El Paso, TX.

Keats Southwest

Keatssw Noticing a growth in manufacturing in Mexico and the American Southwest, particularly in northern New Mexico, we began to look into the possibility of opening a second facility location in the area. It had even been suggested by a few customers.

In order to test the feasibility of operating a second full-time facility, we assembled a team of our best qualified staff members in Illinois and tasked them with setting up a test facility only a few miles away from our primary facility in Wheeling. We wanted to ensure that a second facility could not only operate smoothly but truly thrive independently, establishing its own engineering and support networks.

The experiment proved to be a resounding success. The team shipped off to El Paso, Texas and, by the end of 1994, Keats Southwest (Keats SW) was up, running, and supplying 15 important customers.

Growth at Keats SW

IMG_4505In the past 22 years, Keats SW has grown tremendously. The Keats SW client base has grown from 15 companies in 1994 to hundreds of companies today, many of whom are globally recognized brands. A staff of 45 keeps the facility running 24 hours a day, 5 days a week.

Keats SW, which carries the same ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and TS 16949 certifications as our Illinois facility, is fully equipped with top of the line equipment from Niagara, Bliss, Baird, Stamtec, Nilson, and other renowned manufacturers. With more than 35 multi-slide and four-slide machines and 11 stamping presses, Keats SW can accommodate orders of any size — from prototypes to runs of up to 50,000,000 pieces.

The Value of Keats SW

Keats SW provides great value to our southwestern US and Mexico-based customers in a few different ways.

Primarily, it helps us save money for our customers while improving client relations. Centrally located, staff at Keats SW can more easily perform face-to-face product and manufacturing evaluations with local clients. We can also provide on-site engineering support, as we frequently do for a customer in Mexico, at a moment’s notice.

Another benefit is that Keats SW can fulfill Just in Time (JIT) requirements for borderland-area clients. From El Paso, we can ship to our clients on a weekly, or even daily, schedule — this allows them to keep minimal inventory at their own plants, therefore reducing their overall costs. We can even work with clients to streamline their supply chains, or develop new ones, to maximize their efficiency and cost savings.

Work with Keats SW

Aside from providing top-quality metal stampings, wire, and assemblies, the focus at Keats Manufacturing Company has always been, and will always be, on excellence in customer service.

Keats SW has been integral to that goal. Our additional location has allowed us to enhance the level of customer service we provide for customers in the American Southwest and Mexico, including consultations, part and process evaluations, JIT delivery, and more.

keats_supplychainTo learn more about Keats SW and how to integrate us into your supply chain, download our free eBook, How to Add Keats to Your Supply Chain, or visit KeatsSW.com today.

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