Aegis Manufacturing LLC is an exciting startup focused on the design and manufacture of vocational truck bodies and components. Aegis is developing a revolutionary new way of manufacturing, utilizing cutting-edge designs and materials in an industry that is 20 years out of step with current technologies and processes. The company is primarily focused on engineering and market development at present, with plans to have a prototype launched by the end of 2020. 

Vocational truck bodies are a multi-billion dollar industry, however, the industry is very fragmented and inefficient.  Aegis is focused on changing that.  The complexity of building a truck and providing it to an end user rivals some of the most complex supply chains in the world.  The reasons behind this complexity can be summed up by illustrating the major steps involved in getting a completed vehicle to a customer. 

Simply put, accomplishing a completed product requires the alignment of three completely independent labor forces and supply chains, all of which must align in order to deliver a product in a timely manner.   

• OEM Chassis Manufacturers like Ford, GM, RAM, International, Hino, Freightliner, Isuzu and the like produce an incomplete chassis cab – i.e. without a body on it.
• Body Manufacturers produce hundreds of varied types of bodies, from tanks, to crane trucks and service bodies – from garbage trucks to trucks that are designed to intentionally be crashed into. Frequently these bodies are custom builds, which have lengthy lead times. 
• Upfitters& Distributors are the businesses that actually put all of the pieces together.  In order for them to do their work, they have to receive the chassis cab and a body from both manufacturers in order to do their upfit.   

The fly in the ointment is that OEM manufacturers often have months long lead times, and frequently can have delays due to delayed components such as axles.  Body manufacturers can also have lengthy lead times, also experiencing delays.  If either of those manufacturers timeline is misaligned with the other, the upfitter can have assets sitting for months or longer waiting to complete their work.  Moreover, most upfitters install additional pieces of equipment (compressors, generators etc.) that have their own lead times as well.   

Throw all of that together, and you get a very disjointed industry with long lead times and a complicated and winding supply chain to the end customer.  Aegis has developed several methods of resolving some of these pain points.  When implemented, Aegis Manufacturing’s process will streamline some of the more complicated pain points for upfitters and end customers.