MakeTime founder Drura Parrish’s comfort driving innovation in advanced manufacturing made him a natural if pointed fit to offer a keynote talk at the second annual AutoVision conference.
The Kentucky Automotive Industry Association (KAIA) brought hundreds of automakers — including suppliers, engineers and industry executives — to Lexington in mid-September.
Parrish’s Lexington-based company is making a name for itself as a full-service, on-demand CNC machining marketplace. He was invited to speak about “disruptive trends,” an AutoVision focus as technology pushes automotive advances at an unprecedented pace.
“We’re in the business of opportunity,” said Parrish. “It’s not about control.”
After its inaugural year in Louisville, KAIA executive director Dave Tatman promised that this year’s conference would be “bigger and better” at its new location at the Lexington Center. Designed to address innovative, hot-button topics in the auto industry, KAIA’s two-day event was themed around workforce, supply chain and logistics, technology and connectivity.
Parrish, among roughly two dozen speakers at the conference, talked about trying to shake up often rigid supply chains. The auto industry, in particular, is plagued by a lack of domestic flexibility and reliable outsourcing.
“This all leads to this crazy problem that I’m obsessed with: that in automotive, a 20- cent part is worth more than a $30,000 car,” said Parrish. “Our goal is to subvert that at all costs.” For automakers, these anachronisms in the traditional supply model often mean lag at the machine-shop level and a lack of knowledge of available alternatives.
The solution, according to Parrish, is in distributed manufacturing, which connects machines across geographically dispersed facilities. This practice of decentralization has the potential to combat idle capacity, inconsistent pricing and unpredictable quality. MakeTime works in these margins to provide opportunity and capacity, Parrish said.
“Survival in the 21st century will depend not on how much capacity you can get, but the speed with which you can get it,” said Parrish.
Using instant matching and pricing algorithms, MakeTime aggregates unused machine time and coordinates a network of suppliers to meet buyers’ needs. The company also strives to get parts to production more quickly, minimizing manufacturing fl ow down to a two-week process.
“As we look at these disruptive forces, we have a chance to remake the way we sell and deliver our vehicles” said KAIA’s Tatman.” Our role is branding the industry and being the advocate.”
KAIA’s AutoVision and the growth of companies like MakeTime underscore Kentucky’s growing place in the nation’s manufacturing picture. Parrish believes that the state’s auto industry is at the forefront of the post-Detroit move.
“Kentucky is the land of tomorrow,” he said.