Home / Partners
Become a partner shop
We hold one exclusive machining partner in this niche, and that is us. What we look for outside the machine shop are the processes an airframe needs that we do not run.
What we place with partners
A UAV assembly rarely stops at machined metal. When a job needs one of these, we quote it openly as partner work rather than pretending it happens here.
- Sheet metal forming and stamping
- Casting and forging
- Carbon fibre and composite layup or CNC routing of CF plate
- PCB assembly and wire harnesses
- Injection moulding
- Plating, painting and powder coating
Also welcome: logistics and customs people who move small, high value shipments to the United States, Japan, Singapore and South Korea without drama.
How it works
We send you a drawing, a quantity and a date. You quote it. If we win the job you get a purchase order from us and you deal with us, not with our customer.
We keep the partner list short. Every partner sees real drawings, so a long list is a leak waiting to happen.
Your name stays off this site unless you ask us to put it on.
What we ask
Five things, none of which are a certificate.
A straight answer
On what you can and cannot do. A no today is worth more than a late yes in six weeks, and it is the single fastest way to earn a second enquiry.
Real experience
UAV work or comparable light structure work, described in your own words. No customer names needed, the part types tell us enough.
Documents with the parts
Material certificate, process certificate, dimensional report where the drawing asks for one. We forward them to the customer unopened.
The same end use rule
Civilian and commercial aircraft only. No weapons, munitions, targeting or military programmes, on your side as well as ours.
Confidentiality
Drawings we send stay with the people quoting and making the part. We sign an NDA both ways when you want one.
Bad news early
A lot running late or out of tolerance is a problem. Hearing about it after it shipped is a different and much larger problem.
What you get back
- Named work, not a bidding pool. We send the drawing to the shop that fits the job, not to eight shops to see who blinks.
- A technical counterpart. The person you talk to reads drawings and has already looked at the part.
- Terms that are kept. Agreed before the first order.
- Repeat cycles. UAV programmes iterate, so a part that works comes back with a revision rather than disappearing.
- No exclusivity demanded. Work with whoever else you like. We are asking for capacity, not for your business.
Who this is not for
- Trading companies and agents. We place work with the shop that makes the part.
- Shops that want to quote before they have read the drawing.
- Anyone whose minimum order is larger than a UAV programme ever runs.
- Machine shops looking for machining work, because that is what we do ourselves.
- Anyone who needs the work to be defence related to be worth their time.
Questions before you fill anything in? Write to partner at uavmfg.com.
Introduce your shop
Five minutes. We read every one ourselves and reply within 24 business hours, including when the answer is that we have nothing for you right now.
If you would rather send a capability sheet, email it to partner at uavmfg.com with your company name in the subject.
Supplier questions
What kind of work would you send me?
Processes we do not run: composites and carbon fibre, sheet metal and stamping, casting and forging, plating and painting, PCB assembly and harnesses, injection moulding, silicone and rubber parts. Quantities are usually small, between a handful and a few hundred pieces, on a repeat cycle.
Do I deal with your customer?
No. You get a purchase order from us, you quote us, you invoice us and you deal with us. We carry the customer relationship and the risk that goes with it. That is the deal, and it is the reason the partner list stays short.
Will my company name appear on this site?
Not unless you ask us to put it there. We do not use a partner list as marketing, for the same reason we do not publish customer names.
What documents do you expect with parts?
Material certificate where the material matters, process certificate for a treatment, and a dimensional report where the drawing calls for one. If a lot deviates, we expect to hear it from you before it ships, which is the same rule we hold ourselves to.
Do you pay on time?
Terms are agreed before the first order and we keep them. A partner who is financing our cash flow stops answering the phone, and we would rather have a partner who answers.
I am a buyer, not a supplier. Wrong page?
Yes, the RFQ page is the one you want. This page is for shops and processors who want work from us.