Case Study: Phoenix Bike WRX
Business Keeps Rollin’
- 2x faster with the Dragon
- "The Dragon has kept us alive and in business"
About Phoenix Bike WRX
Phoenix Bike WRX is a quality bicycle manufacturer specializing in recumbent bicycles. Unlike most bike companies today, Phoenix Bike WRX manufactures entirely in the USA. The unique frame designs of Phoenix Bike WRX bikes focus on quality and function with intentional and thought-out designs to provide the best ride for the customer. These designs minimize the weight on the rider’s hands for less aches and pains during riding. The low-profile of the bike and the rider position make the Phoenix Bike WRX recumbent bikes more streamlined and efficient to pedal compared to the traditional bike geometry. We talked to Jerrell, the owner of Phoenix Bike WRX, about his business and their use of the Dragon A400.
Dragon A400 Impact
In speaking with Jerrell he stated, “[Historically], I designed flat patterns that go on a big T slot flat table, put the pattern down on the table, and used a hole saw to cope by hand – it was extremely labor intensive.” Phoenix Bike WRX needed a tool that eliminated manual flat pattern transfer, they solved this labor-intensive process when they acquired the Dragon Software. Jerrell said, “What stands out about the Dragon is the software, it’s awesome. The Auto Import works real well for us to bring our STEP file designs in from Fusion 360 … the import function is vital. The Dragon Software putting the bend location is a big deal. The marks the Dragon makes are great and unique. Those bend marks help us get accurate bends easily.”
Bottom-Line Contribution
When asked if the Dragon A400 is profitable, Jerrell said, “Oh yeah, no doubt, more than that, the Dragon has kept us alive and in business; we wouldn’t do this anymore without it … we used to take about 18 hours to have a bike frame paint-ready, now it takes us eight to ten hours. The Dragon led to a revamping of the entire production process, including jigs and patterns, to be centered around the CNC automation of the Dragon.”
New Opportunites
The Dragon also provides new abilities. Jerrell said, “We are able to take on side jobs to bring in some extra manufacturing. We recently had an 8,000-piece angle iron job that we processed on the Dragon.” For a smaller company, the Dragon can be an uplift – Jerrell shared how his family, being a manufacturing team of three (Jerrell, Wife, and Son), means they typically have many different jobs to do with little free time, “I wear a lot of hats with all that I do to run the company, and the Dragon has freed up a lot of my time.”
