Big Rocks Engineering

"We'll just bring it in-house" is the most expensive sentence in manufacturing.

I'm not saying it's always wrong. Sometimes it's exactly the right call.

But I've watched it go sideways enough times to know the math rarely works out the way people expect.

Here's what usually gets underestimated:
1️⃣ The ramp time. Getting a new internal capability up to production quality takes longer than the optimistic timeline almost every time.
2️⃣ The overhead. Equipment, space, trained operators, quality systems — these costs don't show up in the initial proposal.
3️⃣ The opportunity cost. While your team is standing up the new capability, what isn't getting done?

Outside engineering and manufacturing isn't a crutch. For a lot of companies, it's the smarter allocation of resources — especially for specialized work that isn't your core competency.

The question worth asking isn't "can we do this in-house?" It's "should we?"

Happy to think through that with you if it's a decision you're facing. http://www.bigrocksengineering.com

What happens when manufacturers, engineers, and innovators get together for one night?

The strongest partnerships are built on a solid foundation.

Come discover what's possible when great minds come together at the Manufacturing On The Rocks event, hosted by Big Rocks Engineering.

📅 June 11
📍 Conflux Co-Learning, 8221 Minnesota Ave, St. Louis, MO 63111,

Tag a colleague who should attend! 👇

Great engineering removes friction. It anticipates problems, eliminates them upfront and delivers something so seamless that the end user never notices how much work went into it.

That’s when engineering stops being visible—and starts being trusted.