When Disaster Strikes - Minnesota Precision Manufacturing ...

JULY / AUGUST 2013 

When 

Disaster 

Strikes 

Social Media: Get Involved or Move Out of the Way 

SHOP PROFILE 

PG. 22 

SHOP PROFILE 

PG. 38 

LEADERSHIP INSIGHTS 

PG. 26 

Applied Engineering, Inc. 

Getting a Better Grip on Toolholding Systems 

with Haimer USA 

Hibbing Fabricators, Inc. 

Progressing on the Cloud with Epicor 

Marketing, Sales, and Service

Single setup 

Machine 5 sides 

Universal Edition 

Repeat (max profit) 

The UMC-750 | 3+2 machining | Affordable Haas price. 

Visit Us At: 

gister at www.productivity.com 

ReProductivity’s 

Oktoberfest 

20 13 

Sept. 

Tool Show 

24-26 th 

Haas Factory Outlet 

A Division of Productivity, Inc. 

15200 25th Ave. North, Suite 120, Minneapolis, MN 55447 

Tel: 763-742-1263 • Fax: 763-476-4092 

www.HaasCNC.com 

430 

MINNESOTA I 15150 25th Ave. N., Plymouth, MN 55447 

p: 763.742.1263 I e: hfomn@productivity.com

KEEP YOUR BUILDING 

COOL 

KEEP YOUR BUILDING 

and 

ENERGY EFFICIENT 

ACCELERATE YOUR PAYBACK. Because 

today’s new high-efficiency cooling systems are much 

more energy efficient than older systems, it makes sense 

to consider a cooling upgrade. Especially since Xcel Energy 

offers rebates that can offset your initial equipment costs 

and speed up your payback. 

Visit ResponsibleByNature.com/Business or call an 

energy efficiency specialist at 1-800-481-4700. 

ResponsibleByNature.com/Business 

© 2013 Xcel Energy Inc.

HOW MANY BANKS 

DO YOU KNOW THAT 

ARE OWNED BY A GUY 

WHO UNDERSTANDS 

MANUFACTURING? 

FC060313 CA060313 

Precision 

Manufacturing 

w w w . p m - m n . c o m 

Supporting Minnesota in becoming the world leader in precision 

contract manufacturing and related technologies. 

Editor & Publications Manager Amy Slettum 

Sales Manager 

Bill Remes 

Designer & Art Director 

Severyn Skoug 

www.frandsenbank.com 

MEMBER 

FDIC 

We understand manufacturing and how 

to finance it. To talk to a business banker 

who speaks your language, contact 

Eric Gundersen at 651.407.5726. 

MINNESOTA PRECISION MANUFACTURING ASSOCIATION 

5353 Wayzata Blvd., Suite 350 • Minneapolis, MN 55416 

952.564.3041 • www.mpma.com 

MPMA OFFICERS 

President 

Kimberly Arrigoni, Haberman Machine, Inc. 

Vice President 

Treasurer 

Secretary 

Executive Director 

Associate Director 

Daniel Meyer, International Precision Machining, Inc. 

Jennifer Salisbury, Mack Engineering Corp. 

Benjamin Rashleger, WSI Industries, Inc. 

Jaime Nolan, CAE 

Luann Bartley 

DENNIS FRANDSEN, owner of Frandsen 

Bank & Trust, Plastech Corporation, Miller 

Manufacturing and Industrial Netting 

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE 

Chair, Editor-in-Chief 

Brenda Kyle - blk@sppa.com 

Luke Bame - lukebam@lubetech.com 

Daniel Damas - dand@plasticsintl.com 

Michelle Gates - mgates@bpkz.com 

Chuck Remillard - chuckr@kurt.com 

Ted Roberts - troberts@robertsautomatic.com 

Andrew Skoog - andrew@hexpedite.com 

Fred Zimmerman - zimco@visi.com 

Precision Manufacturing, (ISSN 0273-7523) is published six times per year by 

IntrinXec Management Inc., 5353 Wayzata Blvd., Suite 350, Minneapolis, MN 55416. 

Precision Manufacturing is the only authorized regular publication of the 

Minnesota Precision Manufacturing Association (MPMA). Opinions and 

conclusions expressed in the magazine are those of the individual writer and 

do not necessarily reflect the official position of the MPMA or its officers. 

Advertising rates provided on request. Correspondence regarding the 

magazine, including industry news releases, photographs and press releases 

relating to precision manufacturing should be sent to Precision Manufacturing, 

Amy Slettum, c/o IntrinXec Management, Inc., 5353 Wayzata Blvd., Suite 350, 

Minneapolis, MN 55416. Electronic correspondence, including attached files 

in Word or plain text formats, may be sent to amy@mpma.com. Unsolicited 

materials will not be returned. 

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Precision Manufacturing, c/o IntrinXec 

Management, Inc., 5353 Wayzata Blvd., Suite 350, Minneapolis, MN 55416. 

For editorial, advertising or membership information: 

Phone: (952) 564-3041 

Fax: (952) 252-8096 

Copyright ©2013 Minnesota Precision Manufacturing Association. 

AWARDS 

- Association TRENDS 2009, 2010 

- American Graphic Design Award 2010 

- MSAE Award of Excellence. 2008, 2010 

MEMBERS OF 

follow us 

@ twitter.com/mpmajournal

CONTENTS July | August 2013 

11 

DEPARTMENTS 

Departments 

6 News Bytes 

7 MPMA Calendar 

9 President’s Letter 

43 Manufacturers’ 

Marketplace 

44 MPMA Member 

Directory 

49 Advertisers’ Index 

COLUMNS 

Columns 

Features 

FEATURES 

16 Industry Profile: Productivity Inc 

Measuring Downtime to Maximize Uptime 

by Melissa DeBilzan 

22 Shop Profile: Applied Engineering, Inc. 

Getting a Better Grip on Toolholding Systems with Haimer USA 


26 Leadership Insights Series 

Marketing, Sales, and Service 

by B Kyle, with contributions from Ellen Green 

36 Feature Story: Social Media 

Get Involved or Move Out of the Way 

by Dan Quattrini 

38 Shop Profile: Hibbing Fabricators, Inc. 

Progressing on the Cloud with Epicor 


16 22 36 38 

20 Made in Minnesota 

RES Specialty 

Pyrotechnics 

24 Who’s Who 

Roberts Family 

32 Best Practices 

CNC Machine 

Tool Probing 

40 Educator’s Corner 

An Unmanned 

American Dream 

E-CLUSIVES 

E-clusives 

E-clusives are online only 

@ www.pm-mn.com. 

Technology is Not The 

Problem - It is The Solution 

Saving the Next 

Generation of 

Manufacturing Workers 

3-D Printers An Emerging 

Industry 

July | August 2013 PRECISION MANUFACTURING | 5

CASH RAFFLE 

WIN UP TO $ 25k 

For the first time ever, MPMA is doing a 50/50 

cash raffle to raise money for the Foundation. 

MPMA is selling the raffle tickets now until the 

annual meeting on October 24, 2013, where the 

drawing will be held. 

The tickets are $100 each and there are 500 of 

them. Lets do the math: that means each person 

buying a ticket has a chance to win up to $25k! 

If all of the raffle tickets are sold, the MPMA 

Educational Opportunities Foundation will get 

$25k to help fund more technical education 

programs and scholarships! 

Purchase your raffle ticket(s) today by contacting 

Dave Fiedler at dc_fiedler@msn.com. 

NEWSBYTES 

Check out some of the latest news and events happening around MPMA and the manufacturing 

industry. If you have something you would like to submit for publishing to our news section, please email 

newsbytes@pm-mn.com. For more news and events be sure to check out www.pm-mn.com. 

$2 Mil. 

S A V E D 

ANNUALLY 

17.2 

MILLION 

J O B S 

33% 

OF JOBS 

With MnTAP’s assistance, Minnesota businesses have realized the 

reduction of over 18 million pounds of waste, 7.5 million 

kWh and 350 thousand therms of energy and conserved over 

42 million gallons of water. Combined, these reductions saved 

companies $2 million annually. Source: www.mntap.umn.edu 

Manufacturing supports an estimated 17.2 million jobs in 

the United States - about one in six private-sector jobs. Nearly 

12 million Americans (or 9 percent of the workforce) are employed 

directly in manufacturing. 

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics (2012), with estimate of total employment supported by 

manufacturing calculated by NAM using data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (2011). 

Each manufacturing job supports another 1.9 jobs elsewhere in the 

economy through supplier purchases and employee spending. In 

total, manufacturing accounts for nearly 850,000 jobs or 33 

percent of all jobs in Minnesota. Source: www.positivelyminnesota.com 

Attention Small Business Owners - Taxes Increase in MN 

Minnesota has one of the highest state income tax rates in the country. This impacts the ability of businesses to invest in their companies and employees as well as 

compete in the market. Companies are forced to raise prices or cut costs to offset these additional taxes—this may mean reducing the number of employees and/or 

paying lower salaries to existing employees. Contact your local legislator to voice your concern! 

RECENTLY IN THE NEWS 

Anoka Technical College … 

Congratulations to Nick Graff, director, Advanced Technology 

Center with Anoka Technical College for winning the 

Individual Achievement Award as a Customized Training 

employee at the annual CE/CT conference (MnCCECT). 

Graff won this for the many programs he has developed, his 

passion for the students and all of his hard work he has done 

over the past 7 years. 

Alexandria Technical and 

Community College … 

Congratulations to Alexandria Technical and Community 

College who was awarded the 2012-2013 Minnesota State 

Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) Academic and Student 

Affairs award for innovative partnering and collaboration. 

This award acknowledges ATCC’s participation in Distance 

Minnesota, an online consortium between four MnSCU 

institutions that enhances student access and opportunity. 

Matsuura Machinery USA … 

Matsuura Machinery has appointed Yamazen as its exclusive 

dealer in a 13-state territory consisting of Connecticut, 

Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New 

Hampshire, Ohio, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia and 

part of Illinois and Wisconsin. The partnership in expected to 

expand Matsuura’s business in the United States. 

Top Tool … 

Top Tool is pleased to announce the quality management 

system has been certified by SAI Global for ISO 13485:2003 

Certification. “Attaining ISO 13485 certification fits well with 

our manufacturing vision of offering inventive solutions for 

implantable medical devices and surgical instruments,” said 

Mark Erickson, president of Top Tool. “Control and managing 

risk are key and essential to developing innovative solutions 

for our medical customer base.” 

6 | PRECISION MANUFACTURING July | August 2013

MPMA EVENTS: 

JULY 2013 

JULY 16 

29TH ANNUAL OPEN 

GOLF CLASSIC 

Time: 1:00 p.m. - 

Shotgun Start 

Location: Tartan Park Golf Course 

11455 20th Street North 

Lake Elmo, MN 55042 

AUGUST 2013 

AUGUST 6 

MPMA BOARD MEETING 

Time: 3:30 - 5:00 p.m. 

Location: MPMA Office 

5353 Wayzata Blvd., Suite 350 

Minneapolis, MN 55416 

SEPTEMBER 2013 

SEPTEMBER 3 

MPMA BOARD MEETING 

Time: 3:30 - 5:00 p.m. 


5353 Wayzata Blvd., Suite 350 


SEPTEMBER 19 

MN HORSE & HUNT CLUB 

Time: 

11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. 

Location: MN Horse & Hunt Club 

2920 East 220th Street 

Prior Lake, MN 55372 

SEPTEMBER 26 

MPMA MEMBER PROGRAM 

Topic: Healthcare Reform 

Time: 

11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. 


5353 Wayzata Boulevard, Suite 350 

St. Louis Park, MN 55416 

SEPTEMBER 24 

MINNESOTA MANUFACTURING AWARDS 

Time: 

6:00 - 8:30 p.m. 

Location: Aria 

105 North First Street 


Hoff Online Auctions is your solution in the ever changing 

manufacturing environment. Whether your goal is to increase 

space, raise capital, or upgrade your current equipment; 

Hoff Online Auction’s proven “Machinery Exchange” sale is 

a great option. Our worldwide audience yields the best value 

for your equipment while our seamless process is minimally 

disruptive to your daily operations. 

No Upfront Costs. Proven Track Record. 

UPCOMING MACHINERY 

EXCHANGE DATES: 

JULY 

s m t w t f s 

1 2 3 4 5 6 

7 8 9 10 11 12 13 

14 15 16 17 18 19 20 

21 22 23 24 25 26 27 

28 29 30 31 

SEPTEMBER 

s m t w t f s 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 

8 9 10 11 12 13 14 

15 16 17 18 19 20 21 

22 23 24 25 26 27 28 

29 30 

Listing Deadline Sale Start Date Sale End Date 

July 3rd 

August 28th 

For more information or if you 

would like a full calendar 

Contact Ryan Olson at 612.521.5500 

www.hoffonlineauctions.com 

612.521.5500 

1325 Quincy Street NE 


July 11th 

September 5th 

AUGUST 

s m t w t f s 

1 2 3 

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 

18 19 20 21 22 23 24 

25 26 27 28 29 30 31 

CENTRAL MACHINE WORKS 

Complete Large Capacity Machine Shop 

Open Bidding July 10 to July 24 

• Mazak HD Lathe 30” x 320” 

• Mas V063 7’ x 20” Radial Arm Drill 

• Gray Planer Mill 24” x 56’ Table 

• Tooling Inspection More! 

www.hoffonlineauctions.com 

July 25th 

September 19th 


Save the Date 

2nd Annual 

Shoot for ScholarShipS 

Location: 

Minnesota Horse & Hunt Club 

2920 East 220th Street 

Prior Lake, MN 55372 

Date / Time: 

Thursday, September 19, 2013 

Registration - 11:00 a.m. 

Lunch - 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. 

Shoot - 1:00 – 5:00 p.m. 

Social / Raffle - 5:00 – 6:00 p.m. 

Shooters can purchase / rent supplies from the club 

$10 gun rental / $8 per 25 shells / $.50 ear plugs 

Minnesota Precision Manufacturing Association 

More details coming soon: www.mpma.com/shoot

Forging Ahead 

SUPPORTING THE EDUCATION FOUNDATION 

by Kimberly Arrigoni 

PRESIDENT’S LETTER 

KIMBERLY ARRIGONI 

Controller 

Haberman Machine 

KimA@habermanmachine.com 

Ahhh … the big moment of what to bring to Show and Tell Day has arrived at our house. 

Remember those days of bringing your most prized possession to school to show (or 

should we say “show off ” perhaps) to all of your friends? 

The suggestions have led to discussions, as the thought process has my 7 year-old thinking quite 

intently on what he should bring. I suggested fossilized shark teeth, because that sounded unique 

and cool, right? However, to my surprise that was old news, as “all the kids have seen shark teeth 

before.” Then I suggested some of his Minnesota Wild pictures and autographed pieces, and his 

thoughts were, “maybe,” because—little did I know—someone in his class already had brought real 

dinosaur bones. Then I wondered, whose show and tell this was becoming? So I let it go, because 

how can I trump dinosaur bones, right? 

Needless to say, days like these are special, and one that we all enjoy when it is our turn to show and tell. 

So, here’s my moment of show and tell for all of you. There have been many great discussions about the 

MPMA Educational Opportunities Foundation and how we need to take care of our own. A great need 

exists, now more than ever, for scholarships and program funding. The MPMA Foundation provides a 

wonderful opportunity for you to support the education of the future workforce. 

I would like to tell you the difference we are making by supporting various programs such as 

SkillsUSA and Supermileage, and providing scholarships to technical colleges, with a few thank 

you notes from funding recipients. 

A mother of a student at Hennepin Technical College writes: “Just a short note of thanks from 

the mom of a student. It takes a lot to get to college today, and we don’t have much to help him 

with. It also teaches him about giving to others. Thank you.” 

A student from Alexandria Technical and Community College writes: “Thank you very much 

for sponsoring the MN SkillsUSA and donating prize money. I am going to use the money to 

purchase some more tools and a top tool box for my job in Perham, Minn.” 

A student at Dunwoody writes: “Thank you for the gift of this scholarship. I always have been 

interested in how things are made and am very excited to have the opportunity to work in an 

industry that will allow me to fully examine my curiosities on how things work.” 

An instructor from Mahnomen High School writes: “We would like to thank you for your 

generous support of the Supermileage Competition. Without your donations and effort to support 

the competition, none of this would be possible. This has been an outstanding way to combine the 

vocational “hands on” classes with many of the math, science, engineering and physics classes. It 

blends the creative thinking with many real world problems.” 

These are just a few reasons out of the plethora that make a difference by contributing through 

time, talent, or treasure—our workforce depends on us investing in their future. 

Please consider one of these donation options: a private donation at any time, year-end giving, 

silent auction purchase(s) at the MPMA Annual meeting, and/or purchase a 50/50 cash raffle ticket 

(our most recent fundraising activity). Imagine winning a pool of cash up to $25,000 because you 

purchased one of 500 raffle tickets. 

For those of you wondering what my son brought to school ... It was something important to him, 

which represented a season of hard work in the Mites program of hockey—his trophy. A perfect 

example of how important a sense of pride is regardless of age. 

I am proud of the efforts of the MPMA Foundation and how far it has come in the efforts to raise 

money and to support education in Minnesota. We already have made a difference in many lives 

and we are just beginning a major effort to keep our industry in the forefront of many people 

and groups. We need to continue this effort and provide financial support for our industry 

foundation—taking care of our own and making a difference. 

PM 


State 

County 

Employee, 

vs. 

Your Company, 

SUMMONS 

Plaintiff, 

Defendant. 

District Court 

Judicial District 

Court File Number: 1234567890 

Case Type: Negligence 

Summons 

THIS SUMMONS IS DIRECTED TO THE BUSINESS OWNER. 

1. YOU ARE BEING SUED. The Plaintiff has started a lawsuit against you. The 

Plaintiff's Complaint against you is attached to this summons. Do not throw these papers away. 

They are official papers that affect your rights. You must respond to this lawsuit even though it 

may not yet be filed with the Court and there may be no court file number on this summons. 

2. YOU MUST REPLY WITHIN 20 DAYS TO PROTECT YOUR RIGHTS. You 

must give or mail to the person who signed this summons a written response called an Answer 

within 20** days of the date on which you received this Summons. You must send a copy of 

your Answer to the person who signed this summons located at: 

Too Busy To Protect Your Business? 

___________________________________. 

3. YOU MUST RESPOND TO EACH CLAIM. The Answer is your written response 

to the Plaintiff's Complaint. In your Answer you must state whether you agree or disagree with 

each paragraph of the Complaint. If you believe the Plaintiff should not be given everything 

asked for in the Complaint, you must say so in your Answer. 

Even the best businesses can have claims. 

Contact your local Federated representative to 

learn more about employment practices tools, 

like sample harassment and discrimination 

policies, designed to help protect you and 

your employees. 

4. YOU WILL LOSE YOUR CASE IF YOU DO NOT SEND A WRITTEN 

RESPONSE TO THE COMPLAINT TO THE PERSON WHO SIGNED THIS 

SUMMONS. If you do not Answer within 20 days, you will lose this case. You will not get to 

tell your side of the story, and the Court may decide against you and award the Plaintiff 

everything asked for in the complaint. If you do not want to contest the claims stated in the 

complaint, you do not need to respond. A default judgment can then be entered against you for 

the relief requested in the complaint. 

Visit www.federatedinsurance.com 

to find a representative near you. 

Federated Mutual Insurance Company • Federated Service Insurance Company* • Federated Life Insurance Company 

Owatonna, Minnesota 55060 • Phone: (507) 455-5200 • www.federatedinsurance.com 

*Not licensed in the states of NH, NJ, RI, and VT. © 2013 Federated Mutual Insurance Company

Part 

One 

Risk Management Series 

When 

Disaster 

Strikes 



COVER STORY 

November 8, 2011, started out as just another ordinary day at Kurt Manufacturing’s die casting facility in Fridley. The shop was busy, 

machines were humming, and workers were trying to keep up with orders. Suddenly, around 8:30 a.m., employees heard a loud “pop” in 

the operations area. They looked up and saw flames spreading across the ceiling. 

Several employees ran to the nearest fire extinguishers and attempted to put out the blaze, but the ceiling was too high; the fire 

retardant couldn’t reach the flames. Seconds later, the company’s sprinkler system kicked in, water and smoke began covering 

everything in sight. As several attempted to put out the fire on their own, 911 was called, the power was shut off, and the building 

was evacuated following safety protocols they had been taught. 

Just a few minutes earlier, it had been business as usual. Now employees were standing outside, unsure when they would be able to 

re-enter and get back to work. They heard sirens coming and watched as firefighters entered the building, climbed onto the roof and 

attached pumping equipment to the building sprinkler system. Meanwhile, cameras from several television news outlets arrived on the 

scene and a helicopter flew overhead. One reporter interviewed an employee about what happened. 

Soon after, firefighters had the blaze under control and began looking for clues to explain how it had started. They traced the source 

of the problem to some moisture from a water line that had sprung a leak that gotten into a ladle, causing an eruption of molten 

aluminum. The explosion reached the ceiling, igniting the insulation. 

That simple chain of events cost the company more than $100,000 in damages and hundreds of hours of lost production time. Ironically, 

much of the damage was due to the sprinkler system, which ran for 2 to 3 hours. 

“There was probably 4 to 6 inches of water on the floor,” said Steve Carlsen, president and CEO. “It was everywhere. A lot of the issue 

was around what had gotten wet and where the water had moved to. We knew we had a big job ahead of us.” 

PREPARING, NOT 

PREDICTING 

A fire wasn’t something Kurt could’ve predicted that 

morning, but it was something the company had prepared for. 

Concern for employee safety is their first priority. Beyond having 

adequate insurance coverage, Kurt provides ongoing safety 

training for employees. It welcomes annual inspections from the 

fire department and the company insurance provider each year 

to identify and eliminate potential fire hazards. 

Kurt also had a backup plan in place. As soon as he arrived 

on the scene, Carlsen began assembling a “re-deployment” team, 

which included dozens of maintenance technicians, electricians, 

and employees to help clean up the mess. It was all hands on 

deck. As a result, the company was able to resume much of its 

production by mid-afternoon. 

Though not every fire or disaster can be avoided, Carlsen said 

being prepared certainly helped minimize losses due to damage 

and lost productivity. 

“Certainly, planning and safety training were key,” he said. 

“Because we have extensive safety training, employees knew when 

and how to get out. They also had a clear understanding of where 

all the water valves, circuit breakers, and main electrical panels 

were so they could assist the fire department. And because the fire 

department had been doing yearly assessments of our building, they 

knew what they were getting into when they were called. They knew 

the dangers associated with water and molten aluminum baths.” 

Obviously, having adequate insurance coverage is another key 

component of disaster planning. Ray Newkirk, owner of Custom 

Mold and Design in New Hope and Team Vantage in Forest 

Lake, knows this firsthand. When he was owner of Tape Inc., a 

tooling and automation equipment manufacturer in Plymouth, 

he experienced a series of unforeseen disasters. In 1968, a fire 

spread through the building. In 1987, high winds ripped part of 

the roof off the building, exposing the production area to damage 

from several inches of rain. Some time later, an employee was 

caught embezzling tens of thousands of dollars in payroll checks. 

The damage from the fire and severe weather necessitated 

that the shop be shut down for several days. Yet the financial 

losses from these unforeseen events were relatively minimal. 

“You need to have full coverage,” Newkirk said. “The damage 

from one storm resulted in a $500,000 claim. And a very large 

amount of money was embezzled, but all it cost us was our 

deductible. Sure, preventive maintenance is very important, but 

those actions can only take you so far. Some things are going to 

happen despite your best planning and preventive actions. The fact 

that we had good insurance coverage made all the difference.” 

CAUGHT OFF GUARD 

Merit Enterprises, Inc., a metal plating company in Isle, 

Minnesota, wasn’t as fortunate. A fire destroyed the 25-yearold 

company on Friday, November 28, 2008—the day after 

Thanksgiving. It was never rebuilt. 

Mike Eye, the company’s president, never will forget receiving 

a call at 5:30 a.m. that morning from the local fire department. 

When he arrived at the facility a few minutes later, he could 

only stand by and watch as his family-owned business went up 

in flames. Meanwhile, authorities ordered the evacuation of 

several nearby homes, concerned that toxic chemicals were being 

leached into the air. 

“I was one of the first ones there,” Eye recalled. “It was bitterly 

cold that morning and very windy. The wind just pushed the fire 

through the building and burned the whole thing to the ground. 

Five different fire departments were called in, but it was too 

smoky to send anyone in.” 

[continued] 


COVER STORY 

TYPES OF 

CATASTROPHIC LOSSES 

1986-2005 

Tropical Storms / Hurricanes 47.5% 

Tornadoes 24.5% 

Winter Storms 7.8% 

Terrorism 7.7% 

Earthquakes 6.7% 

Wind / Hail / Flood 2.8% 

Fire 2.3% 

Civil Disorders .4% 

Utility Disruption .1% 

Water Damage .1% 

SOURCE: Institute for Business and Home Safety 

Protect Your Business from All 

Natural Hazards 

 

Protect Business Records and Inventory 

 

Install a Generator for Emergency Power 

Protect Your Property from Fire 

 

Dealing with Vegetation and 

Combustible Materials 

 

Replace Roofing with Fire-Resistant 

Materials 

Protect Your Property from Flooding 

 

Build With Flood Damage Resistant 

Materials 

 

Raise Electrical System Components 

 

Anchor Fuel Tanks 

 

Install Sewer Backflow Valves 

Protect Your Property from High Winds 

 

Maintain EIFS Walls 

 

Protect Windows and Doors with Covers 

 

Reinforce or Replace Garage Doors 

 

Remove Trees and Potential Windborne 

Missiles 

 

Secure Metal Siding and Metal Roofs 

 

Secure Built-Up and Single-Ply Roofs 

 

Secure Composition Shingle Roofs 

 

Brace Gable End Roof Framing 

Source: FEMA 

The company immediately was thrust 

into recovery mode. Eye began contacting 

employees, telling them they wouldn’t be 

reporting to work as normal on Monday. 

He also began contacting customers, 

telling them their parts were or weren’t 

available. Some of the parts on the 

loading dock, which was a good distance 

away from the fire, were salvaged. But the 

vast majority of parts were gone. Merit 

spent the holidays cleaning up after the 

disaster and working with customers to 

find different plating shops. 

Unfortunately, the cause of the fire 

was never identified. The damage was 

so severe that no evidence could be 

recovered. Eye is thankful that the shop 

was closed and no one was injured. But 

many of his vendors, customers, and 

employees suffered financial losses. 

“It would’ve cost $4 to $5 million to 

re-build,” he said. “The cost of the cleanup 

was way over what insurance was 

willing to cover. The following January, I 

had to tell our 35 employees that it didn’t 

make financial sense to reopen. That was 

a tough conversation. A lot of employees 

had invested decades of their professional 

careers with us.” 

Some employees found jobs at other 

plating shops. Others ended up changing 

career paths entirely. Eye found a job at 

Douglas Finishing in Alexandria, which 

is where he works today. He had been 

in negotiations to buy Merit Enterprises 

following the death of his father, who 

owned the company and had passed away 

just months earlier. 

LESSONS 

LEARNED 

In hindsight, Eye said he isn’t sure if 

anything could’ve stopped the fire from 

burning the building to the ground. 

However, the company did not have a 

properly installed sprinkler system, which 

may have been a contributing factor. 

With regard to insurance coverage, 

Newkirk’s advice is to work with an 

insurance consultant who is independent 

from any insurance agent. This person, he 

said, understands the insurance business, 

identifies the best coverage options, and 

negotiates the best prices. He noted that 

the best coverage plans often are not the 

cheapest. Newkirk continues to take steps 

to prepare for future disasters. “We have 

a disaster recovery plan in place that we 

review annually,” he said. “Today, if you 

sell to large companies, you have to show 

them that you have a good plan in place.” 

Finally, at Kurt, all fire extinguishers 

were replaced with ones that could 

reach the ceiling. The company also 

pays for a third-party assessment of the 

building each year to identify any fire, 

safety, or electrical safety hazards that 

may have been overlooked. Carlsen said 

this helps with insurance premiums and 

OSHA compliance as well. “All things 

considered, we were very fortunate that 

no one got hurt and the damages were 

relatively minor,” he said. 

EVERY COMPANY 

IS AT RISK 

Though it may not be viewed as a 

top priority when the focus is on getting 

the next shipment out the door, disaster 

planning plays a critical role in business 

continuity following a fire, natural disaster, 

or other serious disruption to operations. 

Research shows at least 25 percent 

of small businesses never reopen after a 

major disaster; yet, more than half of small 

businesses operate without a continuity 

plan. That’s because many small business 

owners are overly optimistic about the 

likelihood of being affected by disasters. 

Like the lottery, however, no one can 

predict when it will happen. 

According to the National Fire 

Protection Association, more than 

40,000 fires involving industrial and 

manufacturing properties were reported 

to U.S. fire departments between 2006 

and 2010. Shop tools and industrial 

equipment were involved in about a third 

of the structure fires on those properties. 

Locally, at least 10 fires were reported by 

Minneapolis manufacturers in 2011 alone. 

Federated Insurance, which serves a 

large number of Minnesota manufacturers, 

said most of the fire-related claims it 

receives point to four leading causes: 

spontaneous combustion, improper use 

of electrical cords, careless smoking, and 

improper storage of flammable liquids. 

However, fire is just one type of 

disaster that will strike unsuspecting 


COVER STORY 

manufacturers this year. The number one 

threat? Severe weather. Tornadoes and 

winter storms alone account for more 

than one-third of all disaster claims, 

according to the Institute for Business 

and Home Safety. 

In recent years, severe weather has been 

no stranger to Minnesota. June 17, 2010, 

proved to be the largest tornado outbreak 

in one day for Minnesota when 48 tornados 

ripped through homes and businesses. On 

May 22, 2011, a tornado swept through 

north Minneapolis, damaging thousands 

of structures and businesses. And 2012 was 

a year of extensive floods in northeast and 

central Minnesota. 

Finally, last winter was a perfect 

example of how heavy snow and ice can 

immobilize a region, city, and even a 

company for a brief period of time. 

“Aside from worker’s comp and autorelated 

claims, weather damage claims 

are the most common ones we see in 

terms of frequency and severity,” said 

Nate Oland, national account executive 

with Federated Insurance. “A lot of small 

business owners don’t plan for weatherrelated 

disasters because they hadn’t 

thought about it or they don’t know 

where to get the resources to prepare for 

them. But it’s important to plan ahead 

before it’s too late.” 

Experts recommend all small 

businesses have a business continuity 

plan, which provides a roadmap for 

responding to a variety of problems. The 

first step invariably is to identify critical 

assets and how to protect them—or at 

least minimize downtime—in the event 

of a major disaster. 

The Institute for Home and Business 

Safety has a property protection and 

recovery planning kit for small- to 

medium-size businesses that can be 

downloaded off its website free of charge. 

It includes a variety of forms and checklists 

that cover critical business functions, key 

equipment and machinery, key vendors 

and suppliers, voice/data communications, 

and other areas that need to be considered. 

The American Red Cross and FEMA have 

similar resources on their websites for 

small business owners. 

Finally, experts recommend small 

business owners take the time to sit down 

with their insurance agents and analyze 

whether their coverage is adequate each 

year. Many small business owners have 

insurance on the facilities themselves, 

for example, but not on the machines, 

computers, and other things inside. In 

fact, some experts recommend business 

owners take 10 minutes to walk through 

their companies with a camera or video 

camera to capture these contents. It’s far 

easier to replace items from a picture or 

tape than from memory. 

True, many manufacturers escape 

disaster or major disruptions each year. 

Yet they still can be impacted indirectly 

if disaster strikes a vendor or customer, 

causing materials to be unavailable 

or parts to be delayed. In 2012, major 

weather events such as Hurricane Sandy 

affected hundreds of businesses with 

floods, destruction, and extensive power 

outages. Though Minnesota was nowhere 

near the disaster, local manufacturers 

undoubtedly felt its effect. 

Disasters can happen anywhere, 

anytime. It’s not a matter of if, but when 

and how they will affect your company. The 

question is, will your business be ready? 

This article is the first in a series of 

risk management articles and focuses on 

ways to protect physical property and 

assets from disasters. The next two articles 

will focus on ways to protect intellectual 

property and information technology as 

well as day-to-day operations that may 

result from sudden personnel changes. PM 

MELISSA DEBILZAN is a contributing writer 

for IntrinXec Management, Inc. She can be 

reached at melissa@mpma.com. 

DEVELOP A PLAN 

 

Keep phone lists of your key employees and customers with you, and provide copies to key staff members. 

 

If you have a voice mail system at your office, designate one remote number on which you can record messages for employees. Provide the number 

to all employees. 

 

Arrange for programmable call forwarding for your main business line(s). Then, if you can’t get to the office, you can call in and reprogram the 

phones to ring elsewhere. 

 

If you may not be able to get to your business quickly after an emergency, leave keys and alarm code(s) with a trusted employee or friend who is closer. 

 

Install emergency lights that turn on when the power goes out. They are inexpensive and widely available at building supply retailers. 

 

Back up computer data frequently throughout the business day. Keep a backup tape off site. 

 

Use UL-listed surge protectors and battery backup systems. They will add protection for sensitive equipment and help prevent a computer crash if 

the power goes out. 

Purchase a NOAA Weather Radio with a tone alert feature. Keep it on and when the warning signal sounds, listen for information about possible 

severe weather and protective actions to take. 

Source: American Red Cross 


Measuring Downtime to Maximize Uptime: 

A Novel Approach to Continuous Improvement 

Most shops know how many hours 

their employees are putting in each 

week. But how about their CNC 

machines? Do they know exactly how 

many hours their machines are sitting 

idle during any given hour, shift, 

month or year? 

Though machines are a company’s 

most expensive asset, they go on 

“breaks” for lengths of time and 

reasons that often go unnoticed. If 

employees were allowed to do this, 

efficiency and profitability would drop. 

It’s no different with machine tools. 

For this reason, Productivity Inc has 

developed Uptime-PRO ® , a CNC 

monitoring and reporting system that 

enables manufacturers to manage 

machine time as effectively as 

possible with all the data they need 

at their fingertips. 

Lost time is lost money. It’s that 

simple. With the right data, however, 

shops can take steps to identify 

problem areas, make changes and 

maximize machine time. Uptime-PRO 

is a cloud-based software program 

that automatically collects data from 

every machine tool on the shop floor 

and reports their utilization rates in 

real time. 

As a result, manufacturers can 

instantly see how many of their 

machines have been or currently 

are in production—anywhere at any 

time. They also can take a closer look 

at data from individual machines to 

determine when and why they aren’t 

in production more often during the 

day or week. The numbers often 

surprise management and engineers, 

spurring them to make changes that 

lead to greater efficiencies. 

“Almost every shop guesses they’re 

doing a lot better than they actually 

are,” said Productivity Account 

Manager Greg Raleigh. “The reality 

is there’s all kinds of wasted time that 

you aren’t aware of. You can walk out 

into a shop and think you’re making 

parts, but the numbers usually tell a 

different story.” 

When a privately-held manufacturer 

in Plymouth, Minnesota, recently 


INDUSTRY PROFILE | PRODUCTIVITY INC 

> 


INDUSTRY PROFILE | PRODUCTIVITY INC 

We are starting to gather enough data and are 

now able to question, change, investigate, 

resolve, and reward folks, and it relates to 

increasing production. 

- Curt O., Operations Project Manager 

Check out some 

of the reporting 

available to you. >>> 

Time is money and your machines are on the clock. 

Productivity introduces Uptime-PRO, a low-cost system 

that monitors and measures CNC machine utilization, 

providing the data you need, to maximize efficiency 

and profitability. 

AUTOMATED 

• Continuously gathers uniform data from makers of all 

machines with a PLC or CNC control. 

• Generates reports on department and machine 

efficiency for any given time period. 

• Provides the ability to view capacity and utilization 

trends by shift, machine and department for up to 25 

months of data. 

ACCESSIBLE 

• Access data instantly from any web-enabled device— 

whether it’s your computer at work, or on your smart 

phone while traveling. 

AFFORDABLE 

• Requires very little capital investment or extra 

hardware; uses standard input/output modules. 

• Provides unlimited access to data and reports for a low 

monthly fee, no licenses, no maintenance fees and is a 

month to month subscription. 

• The smaller the company, the lower the cost. 

FLEXIBLE 

• Add or change machines as necessary. 

• Include department or shift goals. 

SECURE 

• Stores data and back-ups off site. 

• Protects privacy through secure password encryption. 

• Machine operator has no access to the data. 

Go to Uptime-Pro.com or call 763.302.9698 

for more information. 


MADE IN MINNESOTA 

RES Specialty Pyrotechnics 

PLAYING WITH FIRE 

by Daniel Damas 

Left to right: Steve Coman, Camille Coman, 

Tracy Vanasek and Erv Haman. 

We all have our favorite memory of a 

firework show. Yours might have been over 

a particular holiday at home with the family, 

or maybe while visiting a theme park or, 

perhaps, when your favorite Minnesota 

Twin hit a home run. Some might even say 

a concert by their favorite band provided 

the most memorable display of fireworks 

or pyrotechnics they have ever seen. For 

many of us, we enjoy the show, perhaps 

noting how cool it was, but never thinking 

about it again. That was not the case for one 

fellow Minnesotan, who as a former rocker 

hung up his guitar but never lost his love for 

playing with fire on the stage. 

Steve Coman had an inner spark that 

led him to build a hobby business in his 

garage and grow it into RES Specialty 

Pyrotechnics, a global leader in specialty 

pyrotechnics. RES not only puts on a 

great show, but also designs and builds 

standard and custom pyrotechnic devices 

that are in demand around the world. 

Leap of Faith 

Coman always had an interest in 

fireworks. After earning his Biology degree, 

from what was then known as St. Mary’s 

College in 1978, he went on to work in the 

medical device industry. While working at 

several prominent companies in Minnesota, 

he continued to tinker with his hobby 

fireworks business part time. Then one 

day, Coman had a chance to work with a 

well-known recording artist at Paisley Park 

Studios who needed help with pyrotechnics 

for his tour. Coman was able to wow 

audiences with his contributions to the 

concert tour—others started to take notice 

of his great work. 

In 1995, Coman took a leap of faith. 

He left a stable job and ventured out on 

his own to play with fire full time. It was 

a challenging time—some companies in 

the industry were going out of business 

at the same time he was getting started. 

His determination and passion, while 

working full-time by day, going home 

to have dinner with his wife, and then 

heading over to the shop for an action 

packed night, paid off. 

Coman not only continues to work with 

the music industry for their concert tours 

(i.e., KISS European tour this year), but also 

provides specialty pyrotechnics shows and 

products for major sporting events (i.e., 

Twins, Vikings, Timberwolves, Gopher 

Football), theme parks, Las Vegas shows, 

corporate events (i.e. Target, ReMax, Cargill, 

Microsoft), power speakers, ad agencies, and 

pyrotechnic effects companies that travel 

with other shows and concerts. If you were 

tuned in for the London Olympics, you got 

to see Coman’s handy work firsthand! 

Making Connections 

Over time, Coman was able to make 

connections in the Far East. Today, about 

30 percent of his business comes from 

Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the 

Philippines, and Macau. This may sound 

counterintuitive, since the retail and large 

outdoor traditional fireworks products all 

come from Asia. 

Coman was able to differentiate 

himself by being a niche player in 

proximate or theatrical pyrotechnics. RES 

started off doing shows, but eventually 

started making specialty pyrotechnic 

products as well, including products that 

could be used indoors in close proximity 

to performers and audiences, and also 

could be choreographed or synchronized 

with a show or presentation. 

Coman now travels the world working 

with customers and other companies in 

coordinating shows and products. His 

demanding schedule still allows him 

to find time to support the American 

Pyrotechnics Association, having served 

as a past president. My conversation 

with Coman reminded me of something 

my father told me as a young man: “Do 

something you love and you will never 

work a day in your life.” 

Continued Growth 

RES Specialty Pyrotechnics is a truly 

unique company in Minnesota. As the 

services portion at RES continues to grow, 

and they are able to take on larger standing 

orders for repeat shows, RES continues 

to work with customers to help provide 

unique services with quick turnaround. 

The next time you are at a Twins, 

Vikings, Timberwolves, or Gopher 

Football game and you see the beautiful 

fireworks display in front of you after a 

win—think of our Made in Minnesota 

RES Specialty Pyrotechnics—a hard 

working, Minnesota company that loves 

playing with fire. 

PM 

DANIEL DAMAS is with 

Plastics International. He 

can be reached at DanD@ 

plasticsintl.com. 

20 | PRECISION MANUFACTURING July | August 2013 

sponsored by HEGMAN MACHINERY

Made in Minnesota 

It’s more than a label. 

It’s who we are. 

Hegman Machinery was founded in Minnesota in 1982 by 

Ralph Hegman. We are proud to support our state’s strong, 

skilled manufacturing community. 

We supply precision machine tools and related technology — 

the building blocks of American innovation and Minnesota’s 

economic base — to manufacturers from virtually every 

industry sector. 

Our parts, service, sales, and application engineering 

teams are dedicated to helping our customers improve 

manufacturing productivity. 

Contact us today to learn more. 

8718 Monticello Lane North 

Maple Grove, MN 55369 

(763) 424-5622 

www.hegmanmachinery.com

Applied Engineering, Inc. 

GETTING A BETTER GRIP ON TOOLHOLDING 

SYSTEMS WITH HAIMER USA 

10 benefits of a Haimer 

shrink-fit system: 

1. Unsurpassed accuracy 

A properly produced shrink fit chuck can 

guarantee 0.00012” (3 microns) maximum runout 

at three times the cutting tool diameter. 

This accuracy is very repeatable from operator 

to operator and is guaranteed for life. 

2. Availability of slim profiles 

Shrink fit chucks are available with threedegree 

draft angles and very slim profiles. 

They also can be modified to be straight 

walled if needed, in order to prevent 

toolholder collision with the workpiece. 

3. Gripping torque 

A shrink fit chuck grips the cutting tool 360 

degrees around the shank. This leads to a 

very high gripping torque that prevents the 

cutting tool from moving during roughing or 

finishing operations. This greatly aids in the 

reduction of scrapped parts. 

4. Extended reach options 

Shrink fit chucks can utilize shrink fit 

extensions that provide the user with many 

options with standard products. When 

machining deep cavities, one can place 

shrink fit extensions into standard shrink 

fit chucks, getting unsurpassed toolholder 

lengths with very little run-out. 

5. Balance repeatability and options 

Shrink fit chucks offer the best balance 

repeatability of any toolholding system 

on the market since there are no moving 

parts. In many cases, there is no need for 

additional balancing. 

6. Reduction of tool changing time/less 

toolholder accessory inventory 

Nothing beats the tool change time of shrink 

fit chucks if the process is joined with a 

capable inductive shrink fit machine. Tool 

changes can be done in 5 to 10 seconds, 

and most importantly, consistently. This 

allows the toolholder assembly more time 

in the machine making chips, than out of 

the machine waiting to be changed. Also, a 

shop needs very little additional toolholder 

accessory inventory (i.e., collets, nuts, seal 

disks, etc.). This simplifies the process. 

continued >>> 

Like many shops, Applied 

Engineering, Inc., spends quite a bit 

of money on tools each year. So it 

was pleasantly surprised when a new 

toolholding system began doubling tool 

life and cutting overall costs. 

“We’re always looking at ways we 

can improve our processes,” said Greg 

Husman, the company’s optimization 

manager. “What we’ve found is that 

balancing and heat shrinking our 

toolholders give us repeatable and 

predictive results.” 

Based in Yankton, South Dakota, 

Applied Engineering is a 165-employee 

shop that specializes in short- and longrun 

aluminum components for several 

industries, mainly aerospace and aircraft. 

Many of those components are used in 

navigation and weather radar systems 

for commercial aircraft. The company 

also launched its own line of compound 

bows, making itself more diversified and 

competitive in a different market. 

With dozens of horizontal machining 

centers that rotate up to 20,000 RPMs, 

Applied Engineering knows that proper 

toolholding is critical to extending its tool 

life and investment. It’s also a key factor 

in machining accuracy and repeatability. 

But until recently, proper toolholding 

came at a high cost. 

Pressure is On 

Applied Engineering had been 

spending $40,000 per year on parts for 

its existing toolholding system, which 

required specially designed collets to be 

pressed into toolholders. Though the 

system achieved decent runout, the costs 

were difficult to justify. 

A few years ago, Applied Engineering 

began searching for a comparable system 

that was less expensive. It found one in 

2012, while visiting the Haimer USA 

booth at the IMTS show. 

Considered by many to be the 

industry standard for heat shrink 

toolholder systems and toolholders, 

Haimer’s shrink fit system claims to 

The Tool Dynamic TD 1002 Modular 

Balancing System from Haimer increases 

cutting volume, tool life and spindle life. 

have higher gripping torque, accuracy, 

and balance repeatability than do other 

systems. A key difference is that it uses 

heat rather than collets or hydraulics to 

grip a part. With the push of a button, 

the toolholder is heated up and the 

cutting tool is inserted. Then the holder 

is cooled down in 30 seconds. As a 

result, the toolholder and cutting tool 

become virtually one piece. 

Applied Engineering decided to 

give the Haimer system a try and the 

results were eye-opening. They reflected 

a dramatic improvement in runout, 

gripping force, and balance, the three 

main variables in toolholding. Tool life 

increased from 80 parts to more than 600 

parts on a consistent basis. 

“The Haimer system paid for itself 

in less than a year,” Husman said. “Not 

only have we increased tool life on many 

of our tools, but the quality of our parts 

is increasing just from the repeatability 

of tooling. We’ve also noticed an 

improvement in surface finishes and 

cycle times. Though we still use both 

systems in order to remain diversified, 

the Haimer system is a better fit and 

much more economical.” 


PAID SUPPLEMENT

SHOP PROFILE 

Another key benefit was balance 

repeatability and balance options. Because 

there are no moving parts with the shrink 

fit system, additional fine tuning is not 

often necessary. However, the company 

decided to purchase Haimer’s modular 

balancing system to improve tool life for 

its other toolholding system. 

“The balancer alone has helped us beat 

tool life expectations by at least 20 percent,” 

Husman said. “When combined with the 

shrink fit system, which helped us improve 

runout from .0007 to .0002 of an inch, 

we can achieve near perfect conditions. 

Haimer’s balancer can be used for any of 

our toolholdling systems; the heat shrinking 

just takes it one step further.” 

Because of the high gripping torque 

of the Haimer shrink fit system, Applied 

Engineering also noticed a reduction 

in scrap. In fact, the company was able 

to cut its scrap in half last year, thanks 

in part to the new system. Now the 

company is spending less money on 

tools and toolholding, but achieving 

many more benefits, including higher 

quality parts. Ultimately, Haimer is a 

good fit (pun intended). 

“We’ve been very pleased with the 

products and service offered by Haimer 

USA,” Husman said. “They provided 

training on the shrink fit system and 

balancer soon after delivery and have been 

quick to answer additional questions. 

They’ve been very good to work with.” 

About Haimer 

Haimer is a medium-sized family 

business located in Igenhausen, 

Germany. Founded as a one-man 

business in 1977, it has become a market 

leader in the field of ultra-precision 

toolholders and special machines 

designed for specific applications. 

Haimer’s product line includes 

toolholders, balancing machines, 3-D 

sensors, centering tools, and inductive 

shrink machines and accessories. 

The 300-person company invests 

heavily in education and continuous 

improvement. Haimer educates staff inhouse 

through its 3-year apprenticeship 

program and invests 8 to 10 percent of 

profits in research and development for 

its product development team. 

Haimer USA is located in Chicago, 

Illinois to provide local and immediate 

delivery, training, service and installation 

of its equipment. 

PM 

7. Setup cleanliness and consistency 

A shrink fit chuck typically is a sealed system 

by design. Therefore, the introduction of 

contaminates in the bore are minimized. In 

addition, Haimer’s shrink fit holders provide a 

consistent accuracy from one tool change to the 

next, allowing for production reliability. This is 

especially beneficial for those shops running 

lights out. There are no variables—such as 

over-tightening or under-tightening a collet 

nut or not cleaning out a chuck sufficiently. 

Everyone in the shop sets the tools the same. 

8. Coolant options 

Shrink fit chucks allow for easy delivery of 

coolant or air/oil mist down to the cutting 

edge of the cutting tool. This helps with the 

proper removal of chips and can also aid in 

providing better finishes. 

9. Availability of shrink chucks 

Most of the major toolholder builders in 

the world now offer shrink fit chucks as a 

standard. Therefore, shops are not roped 

into proprietary high precision collets or 

press fit systems that are only available from 

one manufacturer. 

10. Lifetime guarantee/no maintenance 

When a shop integrates a full Haimer shrink 

fit system, it has the assurance that the 

toolholder will last the life of the machine 

tool without any required maintenance. 

< < < THE POWER CLAMP COMFORT NG 

from Haimer is an inductive shrink fit 

machine that can be adjusted to the length 

and diameter of the chuck. As a result, only 

the clamping range of the chuck is heated, 

which considerably reduces cooling time 

and increases safety. 

For more information 

about Haimer USA 

contact Matt Rubenstahl 

at 630-833-1500 or 

matthew.rubenstahl@ 

haimer-usa.com or visit 

www.haimer-usa.com 

PAID SUPPLEMENT 


WHO’S WHO 

Roberts Family 

AROUND THE DINNER TABLE 

Video 

Check out a video interview of the Roberts 

family online @ pm-mn.com. 

by B Kyle 

The Roberts family, circa 1978. 

Six pairs of eyes. All alert, curious, 

enthusiastic. Ready smiles. I just wish 

I could have met Mary Jo. Because she 

really runs things, you see. Who am I 

introducing, you ask? 

Roberts Automatic Products, Inc., 

a leading supplier of quality, precision 

production machining, is a thirdgeneration 

company owned and managed 

by a team of five siblings. And run it they 

do. I spent a delightful afternoon with them 

and their father, Walt Roberts, secondgeneration 

leader and current chairman. 

Let’s introduce the cast of characters. 

All Aboard 

Let’s see … first there’s Ted, the 

oldest sibling of the Roberts family and 

president of Roberts Automatic. He 

attended the University of Minnesota 

for both his undergraduate and MBA 

degrees, and is married. One year apart 

is Jim, executive vice president, U of M 

graduate, with an MBA from St. Thomas. 

Jim is married, with the two oldest 

grandchildren, 23 and 20 years old. 

Katie and Bill are one year apart as 

well. Katie graduated from St. Thomas, 

is married, with a 9-year-old son. She 

is the company’s purchasing agent. 

Bill, also a Tommy, with a masters in 

manufacturing systems engineering 

and the company’s senior engineer is 

married with a 12-year-old daughter. 

Greg, “little Roberts,” is—you guessed 

it—a St. Thomas graduate. Being the 

youngest and quite charming, he was a 

shoe-in for the position of sales manager. 

He, too, is married, with two boys, 15 

and 12 years old. Walt and Mary Jo’s sixth 

child, John, has an intellectual disability 

and lives in a Dakota Communities’ 

group home in Eagan. 

And finally I introduce to you Walt, 

the father, the chairman, the leader of this 

merry band. Walt and his lovely bride of 

56 years, Mary Jo, have raised a beautiful 

family. It didn’t take long for me to realize 

that a sense of humor has played a big 

part in their family dynamics. 

A Tight Ship 

They all agreed that Mary Jo ran the 

house. The kids learned early that she 

ran a tight ship. Greg, clearly the most 

precocious child commented, “Once mom 

said no, she never changed her mind. Dad 

did once.” Clearly, Greg never forgot that. 

“I met Mary Jo in 1955, through my 

best friend, who had good taste in girls,” 

Walt said, his eyes twinkling. “We started 

dating in 1956, while she was attending 

the U of M. We married in 1957, on a 

Carolina beach, while I was in the service. 

“Mary Jo came from a big family, I was 

an only child,” continued Walt. “Early on, 

I invited myself to dinner so I could get 

to know her. Imagine, me sitting there, 

surrounded by nine of them! And in her 

family, meals together were a big deal. It 

was a little overwhelming for me at first, 

to say the least, but we have continued 

that great tradition in our own family. The 

most surprising—and laughed about— 

results of such dinners in our own family 

are the lessons Greg learned from the 

others’ mistakes! They all were laid out 

over the dinner table.” 

Walt finished with a grin, “I think he 

learned the most about what not to do 

from Bill.” 

One of their most memorable family 

vacations, while traveling in their iconic 

station wagon, took them to an uncle’s 

ranch in Colorado. As Katie put it, 

“We’ve always gotten along well together. 

We shared chores, played together, piled 

into the station wagon together … we 

did it all together.” 

The Family Business 

Walt’s father, Glen Roberts, started the 

company in 1947. He had learned the art of 

screw machining at Northwest Automatic, 

which he founded with a partner in the 

1920s. During WWII, he worked at Gray 

Company, the precursor to Graco, as 

a screw machine engineer. As the war 

effort drew to a close, both machines and 

machinists were abundant. Glen founded 

Roberts Automatic in Richfield, Minn., 

and ran it until his son, Walt, took over 

in 1962. Walt grew the business to the 

current team of 50 employees, providing 

precision production machining and screw 

machining contract work. 

“As Dad’s health failed, I received a 

hardship discharge from the Air Force in 

1956, and made myself foreman,” Walt 

sheepishly admitted. “We had a few good 

customers, and we built on them. After 

Dad passed, we moved the company a 

couple times as we grew. We finally chose 

Chanhassen and built our building in 1990.” 

Several of the younger generation 

Roberts confessed that, as teenagers, they 

swore they’d never work in the business. 

Over time each of them changed their mind. 

“I talked to each of them about their unique 

skill sets, what role they saw themselves 

playing in the future of the company, and we 

worked it out together,” said Walt. “Today, 

this third generation owns 100 percent of 

the business. And they earn it every day.” 

“Screw machining expertise tends to 

run in families,” finished Ted. “Today, 

just like with the Roberts family itself, we 

have a lot of family here. Our employees 

are brothers, fathers and sons, cousins, 

and it’s worked out really well.” 

The only question I was left with: 

How to get that dinner table into the 

PM 

conference room? 

B KYLE is the vice 

president of business 

development at the Saint 

Paul Port Authority in Saint 

Paul, Minn. She can be 

reached at blk@sppa.com. 


Midwest Machine Tool Supply 65 years 

in business 

230 Commerce Circle South, Fridley, MN 55432-3148 • 763-571-3550 

800-327-9523 • Fax 763-571-3790 • www.midwestmachinetool.com 

Fargo Operations: 4340-15th Ave. N., Fargo, ND 58102 701-356-3810 Fax 701-356-3812 

your Milwaukee Cylinder and Enerpac Workholding Distributor

Leadership Insights: 

Marketing, Sales, and Service 

by B Kyle, with contributions from Ellen Green 

“Implement an effective strategy and the competitive advantage is yours.” 

- Doug Plunkett, director of sales and marketing, RMS 

Which comes first—marketing, sales, or service? 

Minnesota’s more successful precision manufacturers do all in 

tandem. They know their marketing niche when they make a 

sale or provide a service, and they don’t necessarily do sales and 

service in a particular order. Services and sales lead to more 

sales and service and a greater market presence. Wilson Tool 

International, for example, offers the service of a multilingual 

sales force, enabling it to bring in, deliver on, and build sales in 

a market niche that likely wouldn’t exist for Wilson without it. 

Most precision manufacturers differentiate their businesses 

through working with specific customers to develop custom 

parts, products, and systems. For all of them, marketing, sales, 

and service are inextricably intertwined. It’s hard even to talk 

about one or two of them without considering all three. You can 

hope your marketing, sales, and service are mutually supportive. 

Or you can strategize to make them more than the sum of their 

parts and work them together to multiply your bottom line. 

Doug Plunkett, director of sales and marketing at RMS 

in Minneapolis, says the very name of the industry, precision 

manufacturing, “implies a clear strategy.” And he has developed 

a strategic approach through years of development, sales, and 

marketing management for precision manufacturers in the 

medical and other markets. Since 1994, he has been with RMS 

(a Cretex company), a Minneapolis contract manufacturer of 

implants and surgical instruments. In addition, Plunkett teaches 

a course at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on sales force 

design and use. He favors an approach that considers marketing, 

sales, and service together in developing a strategic plan. 

Develop and State Your Strategy 

“Every organization has to prepare for the abandonment of 

everything it does. 

- Peter Drucker, Harvard Business Review 

Plunkett starts with what must come before the chicken 

and egg of sales and service—a clear, concisely stated company 

strategy. In other words, the ends and means for what you 

want your business to accomplish—in 35 words or less. 

Coming up with a 35-word statement may sound easy, 

especially if you are a small shop, but developing or redeveloping 

a corporate strategy and producing a viable strategic 

statement takes some effort. Plunkett advises involving 

everyone in the business in determining its strategy—it’s a 

good opportunity to gather and create ideas and ownership in 

your company’s identity. You might be surprised at how much 

discussion there can be about a single word but, undoubtedly, 

the choice will affect what your company will be. 

Don’t confuse company strategy with your more generally 

stated mission, values, or vision. We’re talking ends and means 

here, and it’s all about your market. According to David J. 

Collis, adjunct professor in the “strategy unit” of Harvard 

Business School, the most effective strategy statement contains 

three elements. Plunkett advises developing each of them 

while keeping the customer viewpoint in mind. 


LEADERSHIP INSIGHTS SERIES

“The more alike two products are, the more important 

their differences become.” 

- Regis McKenna 

(Best known for helping start several Silicon Valley firms during 

the 1970s and 1980s.) 

• Objective. What are your desired ends and what is 

the timeframe for achieving them? Remember the old 

saw—if you don’t know where you’re going, any road 

will get you there. 

• Scope. What is your domain, or which part of the 

landscape will you cover? Which customers or 

products in what geographic area will you focus on? 

What will you not do? (You have no niche if you say 

yes to everything.) 

It’s useful, says Plunkett, to take your strategic thinking a 

step further here—to define your best customer. What size, 

strategy, strength, and weakness? And, perhaps most important, 

why does this best customer buy from you? Then ask yourself 

the same questions about your worst customer. 

Knowing the kind of customer you like to work with allows 

you to be strategic in adding to your base. Knowing which 

is the most challenging helps you spot others and deal with 

problems up front or decide not to work with them at all. A 

tighter focus on your scope or domain will help you reap the 

benefits of simplicity, standardization, and deep experience in 

the areas and with the customers you favor. And provide them 

better service. 

• Advantage, or value proposition. What will you do 

differently or better than anyone else in your domain? 

Why will the customer buy from you? And how will 

your company’s internal activities be aligned so that 

only your shop can deliver it? 

The trade-offs achieved in the bulleted points above allow 

for clarity about how you are distinct. 

The point of all this, writes Collis, is “to find the sweet spot 

that aligns the firm’s capabilities with customer needs in a way 

that competitors cannot.” That’s your market niche. 

Making your strategy statement part of the culture of your 

company gives everyone a tool for knowing when to say yes— 

or no. Everyone who owns the strategy will approach questions 

of what and how to make and sell and service from your 

strategic premise, asking: “How does it fit with our strategy?” 

If it doesn’t, the answer is no. And the team will turn from 

what doesn’t fit to the business at which your company excels. 

Collis illustrates the advantage of a clear strategy statement 

with a vision of 10,000 iron filings dumped onto a piece of 

paper, all going in different directions (easy for company 

divisions and departments to do). If you wave a magnet (or 

strategy statement) over them, they line up in one direction. 

The statement should be short, says Plunkett, “so that it 

can be memorized easily and kept at the top of mind among 

your employees. At RMS we keep our statement posted all 

around our plant to remind everyone of what we’re doing and 

how we’re doing it.” It provides a strong common direction, 

useful even in making everyday decisions, and it’s your key to 

marketing and sales. 

Design Your Sales Force 

“Innovation is not about saying yes to everything. It’s about 

saying NO to all but the most crucial features.” 

- Steve Jobs, co-founder, Apple 

“I’ve never received an order from an industry, a market, 

a territory, or a customer,” says Plunkett. “Orders come from 

people, and that’s where sales, and a sales force, come into play.” 

He sees the lack of a true sales function and the inability 

to say no as weaknesses in some companies in the industry. 

“The owner, general manager, or head engineer of a small 

manufacturing plant may be doing the selling, while 

simultaneously figuring out the manufacturing process.” The 

result is no continuity in the field, and no one in the company 

representing the customer point of view (there’s that service 

again), which makes long sales cycles difficult. 

As for trying to be all things to all people, Plunkett sees 

the drive for growth, a good thing in itself, as “probably the 

biggest impediment to keeping a strategy.” You can develop a 

great company strategy, but if you succumb to a tempting sale 

outside it, you don’t really have a strategy at all. 

Both issues speak to the lack of carrying through on a 

specific vision of the ideal customer. So be sure you have a 

clear market strategy and intend to adhere to it before seeking 

to strengthen your sales force. Your reps will need to know 

where you stand. 

Once your strategy is in place, says Plunkett, consider 

carefully whether you want direct sales representation—by 

reps employed in your company—as opposed to independent 

representation, from the outside. 

For the company with long sales cycles, going direct can 

be useful in providing greater control. But there’s a downside. 

A fulltime direct sales force is expensive—just one rep will 

cost about $200,000 in sales expense even if nothing is sold. 

So most precision manufacturers, says Plunkett, sell through 

independent reps—“or have tried it, only to find it didn’t work.” 

Still, he’s convinced the independent sales force is the way 

to go. The trick is to know what you want from your sales 

LEADERSHIP INSIGHTS SERIES 


eps, to choose, train, and manage them carefully, and to ask 

yourself often, “What are we doing to support them?” 

Unlike Willy Loman in Arthur Miller’s play, Death of a 

Salesman, the sales rep of today can’t “cruise on a smile and a 

shoeshine,” says Plunkett. “The point of a sales force is to have 

ongoing relationships with your customers. If you end up 

with only a few such relationships, when the recession comes, 

you’re dead.” So beyond the obvious—that you don’t want your 

independent sales reps to be working for your competitor—look 

for reps with relationships. Remember, orders come only from 

people. 

“The secret is to immerse yourself in the people you’re 

marketing to. To live with them, breathe with them and 

study them from every angle. 

- Lisa Fortini-Campbell, Ph.D., Hitting the Sweet Spot 

In a former position with Avanta Orthopaedics (then 

part of Cretex), Plunkett observed many surgeries from start 

to finish, which gave him a broader perspective from the 

medical customer side. It confirmed his belief that, while they 

were ordering quality medical devices for their patients, the 

surgeons ultimately were buying security for themselves—no 

accidents, no defects, no recalls, no lawsuits. Reliability was 

what Plunkett’s company needed to provide. 

That conclusion, along with his training in both aerospace 

engineering and marketing, makes Plunkett a strong advocate 

for hiring sales reps who can bring the customer perspective 

to the table. To do that, they need emotional intelligence and, 

above all, they need the talent of listening. 

Beyond that are the logistics, such as ensuring your sales 

reps are out in the field, perhaps in other cities in the United 

States or overseas. Candidates must be willing to travel, to 

relocate, or be living already where you need them. That’s 

another case for using independent reps. RMS at one recent 

point has relied on an independent sales force of 20 people 

from 9 sales firms—8 in the United States, and 1 in Europe. 

No doubt you will have other criteria particular to your 

company. Perhaps you should look for someone with a proven 

sales record. Or you might need someone with knowledge 

of a similar market niche or approach to the marketplace. In 

any case, you will need to spend a little time and money (buy 

their time) to train your sales reps. If you want them to bring 

profitable relationships to the table, they need to know you, 

your strategy, and your ideal customer. 

Once they do, everyone involved in the larger selling 

process—not just the sales reps—needs to know who does what. 

Define Your Selling Process 

“The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. 

You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in 

the world, but if they don’t play together, the club won’t be 

worth a dime.” 

- Babe Ruth 

When you get right down to it, selling is a team process. No 

matter how many direct or independent sales reps you have, 

other people in the company will be involved in the sales process. 

“Years ago,” says Plunkett, “I sent out a survey on behalf of 

another manufacturer to every product manager, marketing 

manager, representative, and sales manager. I listed in the 

survey the steps necessary for a successful sale at that company, 

then asked who was responsible for doing each of them.” As it 

turned out, nobody knew. Several people did some particular 

things, and some critical things weren’t being done at all. Over 

the next 6 months, the group restructured the selling process 

and laid out the primary responsibility for each step. 

“If you haven’t done this already,” Plunkett advises 

manufacturers, “I urge you to take a closer look at your selling 

process: In your ideal world, how would a sale happen? What 

are the steps involved?” 

Any business has its own specific sales steps. However, 

the process begins with such activities as market research 

and development, account identification, development and 

maintenance, and opportunity development. Depending on 

your company, several other steps follow, ending with the 

closing of a sale. List the steps, decide who is responsible for 

what, and be sure everyone knows what he or she will do. That 

part should be easy if you involve the whole team in figuring 

it out. 

“Individual commitment to a group effort—that is what 

makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a 

civilization work.” 

- Vince Lombardi 

“Write down the process, and then ask your sales team 

(more than just the reps) who is responsible for each step. 

Then work with them to assign or re-assign responsibility 

where needed,” says Plunkett. “A lot of steps may involve team 

effort, which is fine. The key is to establish who does what.” 

While the exact list of sales rep responsibilities depends 

on your particular situation, Plunkett suggests the following 

be included in those of your formal sales force: 

1. Finding opportunities. 

2. Helping to qualify accounts. 

3. Helping to qualify your company. 

(Look at your quality, delivery and price?) 



4. Identifying the customer’s buying center. 

(Who makes the purchasing decisions?) 

5. Providing input toward closing. 

6. Continuing to provide the customer voice. 

However your business divides the tasks, analyzing the 

process enough to come up with a list of what every member of 

the larger sales team will handle is the first step toward accuracy 

and efficiency in your selling process. Says Plunkett, “It will 

allow your sales team to work smarter instead of harder.” 

Finding and Making the Sale 

“You don’t close a sale, you open a relationship if you want 

to build a long-term, successful enterprise.” 

- Patricia Fripp, executive coach 

You’ve established your market niche, and your employees 

are on board with it. Your sales force is in place, and everyone 

owns the steps in the selling process that are his or hers. 

What’s next? 

Doug Plunkett suggests that you and your sales team go 

right to your strategy statement. It will tell you what you’re 

after and what you’re not. It will tell you that, “oh, we’re 

opportunity-driven,” isn’t going to cut it. It will give you the 

focus to find the customers you want. Then use your sales 

process to make a sales plan—and follow it. 

Plunkett has pointers for some actions that appear in most 

plans. First, he recommends finding potential best customers 

through research. “RMS is not lead-driven,” he says. “We want 

to be the reverse—to stick with our strategy and do the work. 

So we’re very focused. We spend a lot of time in research to 

identify customers we want. We go to medical conferences to 

listen. And RMS participates in the annual Medical Design & 

Manufacturing® (MD&M) Exhibition.” 

But Plunkett is tepid about trade shows in general, and 

proposes forgoing them in favor of sending your engineers— 

and then only if they can learn something. 

Beyond the conferences and MD&M, Plunkett favors 

research at the James J. Hill Reference Library in Saint Paul: 

“We’ve invested somewhere between $5,000 and $10,000 in the 

databases there.” Included in RMS searches is data regarding 

medical start-up companies that might become best customers 

or acquisitions. Many of these companies make Class III 

medical devices, which require clinical studies of up to 6 years 

for premarket FDA approval. Because it’s difficult and expensive 

for them to change suppliers (they have to check with the FDA 

first), it’s important for suppliers to get in early. 

“The more you engage with customers the clearer things 

become and the easier it is to determine what you should 

be doing.” 

- John Russell, president, Harley Davidson 

That may relate only to the medical device market, but 

every specialty comes with market and regulation quirks and 

distinctions that can help you identify the most desirable 

prospects for you. 

Plunkett suggests you answer a series of questions 

adapted from the Schrello Analysis to determine customer 

and product fit: 

• Is the customer real? (Is financing in place?) 

• Is the product real? 

• Can we make the product? 

• Is it worth it? 

“A lot of money is invested in developing and working with 

new customers. If you use this modified Schrello Analysis, 

you’ll be able to identify more quickly which are the best and 

worst fits for your business,” he says. 

Once you’ve determined a prospect that appears to fit your 

market niche, Plunkett suggests an internal strategy meeting 

to confirm who will do what and how. Often making calls 

with RMS’s sales reps, he’s found that assurances of quality, 

delivery, and competitive price are what it takes to qualify 

his company to the proposal phase: The reliability of medical 

implants and surgical instruments is critical. Those looking to 

minimize inventory want just-in-time delivery. And everyone 

wants the lowest possible price. 

“Customers buy on price because they can’t find 

extraordinary quality, convenience, service, and value.” 

- Warren Greshes, Supercharged Selling 

Depend on your sales reps for information key to closing 

particular sales, he suggests. “I try to stay away from price 

when closing, but it’s always a factor, and sales reps can’t 

change it,” he says. As a result, RMS closings almost always 

include members of the larger sales team. 

After the Sale 

“The goal as a company is to have customer service that is 

not just the best but legendary.” 

- Sam Walton, founder, Wal-Mart 

It’s easy to think that once a sale is made, the rep can just 

move on to another sale and leave service to the engineers or 

to those on the floor, says Plunkett. But you’re missing out on a 

service beneficial to both you and your customer if the sales rep 

LEADERSHIP INSIGHTS SERIES 


doesn’t bring the customer viewpoint to project management, 

too. Inevitably, problems in production, inspection, and 

schedules arise, and the sales rep can be a valuable resource 

for solving them. You want to be able to say to the market and 

customer, “Come to us because we can manage the problems.” 

Your rep should be part of the team managing the account on 

a continuing basis, providing input to the point of evaluation. 

Continuing sales rep involvement reaps other benefits. 

It can lead to complementary sales and services and deeper 

customer relationships. Ask your sales reps to keep an eye out 

for complementary products—for example, connectors for 

the catheters you already are providing. A lot of people, says 

Plunkett, think that reps “clip coupons” in the sense that they 

get a fixed percentage of a sale forever. “But as a product grows 

in revenue, we drop the commission, so there’s incentive for 

the rep to sell new products to new customers. If a rep gets 

another product for us, the commission is higher. And if a rep 

gets another customer, it’s even more.” 

Finally, given the trend looking to improve every 

interaction in the spectrum of customer experience, feedback 

from the sales rep is invaluable. 

The Bottom Line 

“Paying attention to simple little things that most men 

neglect makes a few men rich.” 

- Henry Ford 

So which comes first—marketing, sales, or service? The 

answer is none of the three. The standout manufacturer starts 

with a well-developed company strategy and consults that 

strategy in determining everything else it does. The strategy 

chooses the market, the customer, the sales force design and 

its process, approach, and service. 

And it pays: RMS’s more focused market shows in its 

increased sales. “At one point,” says Doug Plunkett, “RMS 

had about $25 million in sales to 90 customers, including a 

lot of medical and some aerospace, electronics, and general 

industry. It didn’t have a clear strategy, and so it competed by 

lowering its price. In re-focusing to serve medical-implant 

and surgical-instrument customers exclusively, it reduced its 

customer base to 30, eventually expanding it to 40.” By the end 

of 2011, it had achieved approximately $140 million in sales. 

If you have an effective strategy and implement it correctly, 

the competitive advantage is yours. 

“If the other guy is getting better, then you’d better be getting 

better faster than the other guy is getting better … or you’re 

getting worse.” 

- Tom Peters, In Search of Excellence 

B KYLE is the vice president of business development at the Saint Paul 

Port Authority in Saint Paul, Minn. She can be reached at blk@sppa.com. 

For further reading 

Collis, David J., and Michael G. Rukstad. “Can You Say What Your Strategy Is?” Harvard Business Review (April 2008 reprint 

R0804E), Harvard Business School Publishing. Available online. 

Porter, Michael E. Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors. New York: The Free Press, 1980. 

Thank you to the following donors who made this series possible: 

Agrimson Tool Company, Inc. 

American Engineering Testing 

American Machine & 

Gundrillling Co., Inc. 

Anderson Automatics, Inc. 

Benny Machine Company 

Brian Robinson 

Carlson Advisors, LLP 

Columbia Precision Machine Corp. 

Concept Machine Tool Sales, Inc. 

Dakota Electric 

Dave Fiedler 

Deborah Kalina 

Dynamic Group 

Ellison Machinery Company 

Haberman Machine, Inc. 

Hales Machine Tool, Inc. 

Hegman Machinery 

Huot Manufacturing Company 

International Precision Machining, Inc. 

John Huot 

Josh Ralph 

Kurt Manufacturing Company Inc. 

CliftonLarsonAllen LLP 

Liesch Associates, Inc 

Lubrication Technologies, Inc. 

Lynn Moline 

Mike Reuter 

MRG Tool and Die Corp. 

MultiSource Manufacturing LLC 

Nesstech Concrete Molds 

NTM, Inc. 

On Time Delivery Service, Inc. 

Production Engineering Corp. 

Productivity Inc 

rms 

Robert Carlson Jr. 

Rod Gramse 

Scott Taylor 

Saint Paul Port Authority 

State of Minnesota 

Superior Tool & Machining 

Ted Roberts Jr. 

Tim Swanson 

Tom Daggett 

Tooling Science, Inc. 

Toolkraft, Inc. 

Ultra Machining 

University National Bank 

Wells Fargo Bank 

Wilson Tool International, Inc. 

Wyoming Machine, Inc. 

Xcel Energy 

Yeager Machine 



BEST PRACTICES 

CNC Machine Tool Probing 

CRUNCHING THE INSPECTION TIME LINE 

by Gary Olson and Dave Bozich 

Higher spindle speeds, improved 

machine accelerations and velocities, 

tooling advancements, automated 

loading and unloading systems, all have 

served to enable the production rates 

that are required to survive in today’s 

manufacturing environment. While a 

post process quality system can ensure 

that the products we ship meet customer 

requirements, it can also be slow to 

respond to process changes—tens or 

even hundreds of non-conforming parts 

can be produced before a post process 

measurement detects a change in the 

process and calls for an adjustment. CNC 

machine tool users have mounted probes 

and sensors for over 30 years as a means 

to close the process control loop. 

Today’s sensors have come a long way 

since the early days when probe accuracy 

was similar to machine tool accuracy. 

Probing was done parallel to machine 

axes and software limited analysis to a 

simple size or location. Unlike the “makeor-break” 

switch of early machine tool 

probe systems, today’s probes use strain 

gages, LVDT transducers, and internal 

optical sensors to improve accuracy to 

sub-micrometer levels and enable probing 

along all vectors. 

Today’s sensors have come a long way 

since the early days when probe accuracy 

was similar to machine tool accuracy. 

Tool setting probes, another makeor-break 

switch in the early days, 

now utilize laser sensors with similar 

submicrometer accuracy to determine 

tool length and geometry. 

These sensor advancements allow new 

ways to optimize quality before the first 

chip is cut and throughout the machining 

process. The diagram below shows how 

predictive controls establish process 

setting for best machining results and 

how active controls manage in-process 

machining decisions. 

Process Setting 

These predictive controls tackle 

sources of error in the set up of the 

machine, part, tool, and probe that always 

are present to varying degrees and which 

must be dealt with if the first component 

is to be machined correctly. Controls in 

the process setting layer include: 

Machine setting is often overlooked and 

involves establishing the relationships 

Source: Renishaw 

between key moving elements of the 

machine (e.g., the milling spindle to 

the machine bed, or the pivot point 

of the milling spindle on a mill-turn 

machine). These relationships are affected 

by thermal drift and some variation 

is inherent in even the most stable 

environment. Uncorrected machine 

errors can be the dominant factor in 

process non-conformance and may lead 

to extended setting times, as their effects 

easily can be confused with other sources 

of process variation. These errors can be 

measured and eliminated by simple onmachine 

probing checks. 

Part setting is the process whereby 

the location and orientation of the 

component are established so that 

machining can be aligned with it. A touch 

probe can be used to find datum positions 

and angles, with work coordinates being 

updated automatically. In more complex 

situations, a probe can measure local 

surface forms so that a CAM package can 

compute tool paths to blend surfaces. Part 

setting reduces fixture costs, eliminates 

the need for operator intervention, and 

limits the scope for setting machining off 

on the wrong foot. 

Toolsetting is the process whereby 

the length and diameter of tools are 

established and stored in the CNC. This 

means that tools can be introduced 

to the part and cut close to nominal, 

avoiding manual ‘cut and measure’ 

activities and operator errors, while 

keying in tool offsets a major source of 

crashes in many shops. 

continued 


sponsored by | PRODUCTIVITY QUALITY INC

Lunch & Learn 

Improving CNC Productivity 

Thursday, August 22, 10:30 - 2:00 

Want to learn the secret to controlling 

process variation in your factory? 

Leo Somerville will show you how using Renishaw’s 

Productive Process Pyramid at Productivity 

Quality, Inc. Register now and learn how layers of 

control can increase your competitiveness 

and your profitability. 

Get the tips and tricks to help you reduce waste 

and inefficiency. Plus, lower your costs and your 

manpower, and let Renishaw help you reach your 

goal of a “green button” or “lights out” machining. 

And then reap the rewards. 

• Achieve more throughput from your existing assets 

• Increase automation and reduce human intervention 

• Reduce rework, re-makes, concessions and scrap 

• Shorten manufacturing lead times 

• Increase your capabilities and traceability 

• Control your costs and boost your bottom line 

Agenda 

10:30 Leo Somerville, President, Renishaw Inc. 

The “Productive Process Pyramid” 

12:30 Lunch 

1:00 Open house demonstrations 

Process Foundation 

CNC Laser calibration 

CNC Ball bar performance checks 

CNC Rotary table calibration 

CNC Spindle analysis 

Process Setting 

Non-contact tool setting 

Managing work offsets 

In Process Control 

On machine in process checks 

On machine dimensional inspection 

On machine SPC data collection 

Post Process Control 

3D Gaging at the machining cell 

To Register 

email: training@pqi.net 

online: www.gagesite.com/events.php 

call: Lebron Fix at 763-249-8130

WITH SO MUCH MORE 

SPEED, POWER AND 

FLEXIBILITY. 

THERE’S JUST NO 

LIMIT TO YOUR 

ABILITY TO MAKE 

WHAT MATTERS. 

The Makino PS-Series has additional capabilities 

you simply won’t find on your current VMCs. 

Like spindle speed, power and torque to handle 

aggressive cuts in tough materials that reduce 

cycle times. In other words, everything you need 

to make more parts faster and at a lower cost. 

Because when you make what matters, that’s 

the kind of performance that really counts. 

See all the ways the PS-Series expands 

your capabilities. 

MAKINO.COM/PS 

Visit us at 

WHEN YOU MAKE WHAT MATTERS 

Your local distributor 

for MN, NE, IA, SD, 

ND and western WI is: 

Productivity Inc. 

15150 25th Avenue North 

Plymouth, MN 55447 

763.476.8600 

www.productivity.com

BEST PRACTICES 

In-Process Control 

This layer is often the least exploited 

and least well understood. These controls 

tackle tool wear, part deflection, and the 

impact of temperature and heat flows. 

On-machine probing is the only costeffective 

way to monitor the in-process 

state of the component. It gives the 

machine the intelligence it needs to make 

its own decisions, constantly centering 

the process and eliminating the adverse 

affects of process drift. Controls to 

consider in the in-process layer include: 

Control roughing tools, not just 

finishing tools. Although unseen by 

post-process inspection, roughing tools 

perform a vital task of leaving the correct 

amount of material for the finishing 

tool to remove. If the rough feature is 

inconsistent, then the finishing cut depth 

will vary, affecting tool deflection and 

surface finish. 

Monitor thermal drift by adjusting 

the spindle position, and rotate table 

centerlines or pivot points at regular 

intervals—especially before critical 

finishing operations. 

Check delicate tools for breakage after 

each cutting cycle to ensure that a single 

broken tool does not result in further 

damage to tools and parts. This increases 

confidence in unmanned machining. 

Put logic in the program to react to 

unexpected events. If parts are out of 

tolerance but have metal on, then call up 

another finishing pass. If a tool breaks, 

call up a sister tool or alert the operator. 

Monitor the process status and alert the 

operator if errors occur. 

For subsequent traceability off 

set updates and store in-process 

measurements. 

Part of a Total Solution 

Sensors like spindle probes and 

toolsetters on machine tools are not 

intended to provide the full quality 

assurance measures gained through 

post process inspection. Few would 

want to devote the spindle time needed 

to perform complete part inspections. 

An exception would be large, complex 

components that are very difficult to 

move from machining to inspection. 

In most cases, a few quick checks using 

on-machine sensors can optimize a 

process before the first cut is made and 

monitor critical variables through the 

machining process to ensure that the 

process stays on target with minimal 

scrap and rework. 

PM 

GARY OLSON is the product manager for machine 

tool sensors at Productivity Quality in Plymouth, 

Minn. He can be reached at gary.olson@pqi.net. 

DAVE BOZICH is the national product manager 

for machine probing at Renishaw Inc., in 

Hoffman Estates, IL. He can be reached at 

dave.bozich@renishaw.com. 


#Social Media 

Get Involved or … 

Move Out 

of the Way 

by Dan Quattrini 

The world of social media and online 

marketing is ever changing. Social 

media use allows for and encourages 

collaboration among various entities. 

Many manufacturing prospects and your 

customers are using social media. And if 

they aren’t using it now, they will be soon. 

As you engage in social media, 

you need to ask yourself the following 

questions: How are you going to prepare to 

join your prospects and customers in the 

various social media platforms? How are 

you going to use online communication to 

give or gain information? 

According to a recent ThomasNet 

survey, nearly 50 percent of buyers who 

source a specific industrial product or 

service cited using LinkedIn, Twitter 

and/or industry specific blogs and 

forums as information sources. People 

want various types of content available 

at their disposal. Engineers in the 

manufacturing community are after 

product and company news, white 

papers, product specifications and 

recommendations, and manufacturing 

solutions. Content is consumed by 

viewing videos and images, reading 

articles, attending webinars, and 

visiting forums. 

Okay, so now you might be asking 

yourself, “Who has time to look, 

read through, and absorb all of this 

information?” Or maybe you’re thinking, 

“How can I monitor what people might 

be saying about my company?” There are 

tools to help you. 

Google Alerts is one tool that detects 

content (indexed by Google) and 

automatically notifies you when new 

content arrives from news sites, websites, 

blogs, videos, etc., matching the set of 

SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS 

There are many social media platforms available to manufacturers to help build community and exchange ideas. The most commonly used platforms include: 

LinkedIn is probably the most common social media site used by 

the manufacturing community and seems to have the best business 

reputation. This site allows individuals, companies, or associations to 

establish profiles, and provides for online opportunities to “connect” 

and share information. 

Facebook is a site where users (manufacturers) create a corporate 

profile and then post and exchange messages, photos, videos, articles, 

etc., so that their “friends” (those that follow them) can read the posts 

and interact. Automatic notifications and status updates are pushed 

out to followers via email. Users also can join common-interest user groups, organized 

by workplace, market, industry, or other characteristics in addition to simply following 

a specific company. 

Twitter enables users (manufacturers) to send and read text 

messages of up to 140 characters, known as tweets. Tweets can be 

links to images, videos, news releases, third-party articles, or simply 

messages about your company and its activities. You can follow an 

individual and/or group and receive all their “tweets,” and you can have people or 

groups follow you so they can receive your tweets. 


FEATURE STORY 

search terms you want to monitor. You can choose to be notified 

by email or through RSS feeds. RSS feeds provide an easy way to 

aggregate content from many different sources, personalize it, 

and have it delivered to your desktop, website, or mobile device. 

All you need is some simple RSS reader software, which is readily 

available online. 

So, now that you’re “listening” to what’s happening online, 

how can you start “conversing” by engaging in social media. 

Below are two examples of how manufacturers are using social 

media platforms to do just that. 

EXAMPLE #1 

Metal Craft Machine & Engineering, Inc. 

Elk River, Minnesota 

www.metal-craft.com 

Metal Craft has been using social media for approximately a 

year and utilizes many social media platforms to connect with their 

customers and industry. They are posting on Facebook, Twitter, and 

LinkedIn at least 2 times a week. Approximately 70 to 80 percent 

of these posts are industry related, such as sharing a recent article 

about manufacturing employment. And approximately 20 to 30 

percent of their posts are specific to Metal Craft, such as providing 

reasons why one should do business with them. 

This ratio is in line with current “best practices” for using 

social media. Followers are looking for you to be a “thought 

leader” in your industry—a resource, someone worth talking 

to, versus simply hearing about how great you are. Metal Craft 

also posts a few paragraphs a month on their blog, and also have 

created their own YouTube station, where they have posted five 

videos (and counting) about their company and their processes. 

EXAMPLE #2 

Fedtech, Inc. 

Mounds View, Minnesota 

www.fedtech.com 

Like Metal Craft, Fedtech, Inc., connects with their clients, 

prospects, and industry by making consistent posts on Facebook, 

LinkedIn, and Twitter. They post regularly to their blog and also 

have experimented with videos. Fedtech was an early adopter of 

social media and they are quickly becoming a true thought leader 

in their industry. 

Both Metal Craft and Fedtech understand that social 

engagement is about nurturing relationships. And while sales 

may occur as a result of “being social,” that should not be the 

main focus. The focus should be on building the relationships, 

strengthening brand awareness, and developing trust. Once that 

happens, sales will follow. 

If you think about social media in terms of your own 

personal experience in developing relationships of any sort, the 

first thing you must do is create trust and respect before that 

relationship can move forward. You must be willing to “give” to 

the relationship if you expect to “get” something out of it. This 

is what savvy manufacturers are doing. They are using social 

media to nurture business relationships, to build trust and solid 

reputations, and to establish themselves as thought leaders. By 

doing so, they strengthen their brands and undoubtedly will 

capture more business as a result. 

Many manufacturers are still hesitant about jumping into 

social media. They cite lack of resources, poorly defined metrics, 

ROI uncertainty, and an overall lack of knowledge as the main 

reasons for not getting involved. If this is how you feel, consider 

outsourcing. There are many reputable sources available to get 

you set up. They can assist in managing the process, creating the 

content, and building the community. 

So, what are you waiting for? If you don’t get engaged, move 

out of the way. Social media is here to stay and it is growing fast. 

In order to stay ahead of your competition, you’ve got to join 

the conversation and make social media an integral part of your 

overall online marketing strategy. 

PM 

Please note there are numerous other social media platforms such 

as Pinterest and Foursquare, but the platforms mentioned in the 

sidebar below are most commonly used by manufacturers today. 

DAN QUATTRINI is president of Pennant Group Inc. Pennant Group 

represents ThomasNet.com in Minnesota and western Wisconsin. 

YouTube is the site most commonly known for posting videos. 

Manufacturers can create their own YouTube channel, which contains 

only videos unique to their company. These videos can be embedded 

in your website, and they can be easily shared and embedded in other 

social media platforms. Videos also can be “optimized” to be picked up 

by search engines, which in turn can boost website visibility and activity. 

Blogs are websites or web pages, within a website, where 

manufacturers can publish editorial content on specific topics. 

Manufacturers typically use blogs to highlight their expertise and to 

interact with readers through the use of a comment box. Blogs are an 

excellent way to add content to a manufacturer’s website and helps customers and 

prospects better understand your capabilities. 

Google+ is Google’s answer to Facebook. Google wanted to make sharing 

information on the web more like sharing in real life, so they created 

Google+. It is similar to Facebook with news feeds based on status 

updates and shared content. The idea is to make it easier to share content 

with specific “sets” or “groups” of people (called circles), instead of just publishing content 

for everyone to see. One of the possible benefits to Google+ is the added Search Engine 

Optimization (SEO) benefit that comes along with using a Google product. 



PROGRESSING ON THE CLOUD WITH EPICOR 

Hibbing Fabricators, Inc., is a smalltown 

manufacturer with 25 employees, 

but it can track, produce, and ship orders 

as easily as can a large OEM. That’s 

because the company forecasts every 

operation from the cloud. 

For more than a decade, Hibbing 

Fabricators has been using enterprise 

resource planning (ERP) software from 

Epicor Software Corporation, the sixth 

largest ERP provider in the world. The 

software allows each employee, who 

wears multiple hats, to view detailed 

information about any aspect of the shop’s 

production and plan ahead. 

There was a time when only large 

manufacturers could afford ERP software. 

That’s no longer the case. Today even 

small job shops can track inventory, 

processes, costs, and other aspects of the 

shop floor for less than they might pay for 

electricity each month. All they need is an 

Internet connection. 

Hibbing Fabricators is one of a growing 

number of job shops that has turned to 

cloud-based ERP software to manage 

everything from production to payroll. The 

company has been an Epicor customer for 

more than a decade and recently upgraded 

to Epicor Express, a cloud-based version 

of Epicor’s award-winning ERP solution. 

Hibbing Fabricators considers a cloudbased 

system to be easier to maintain and 

less expensive than traditional hardware 

and software. 

As a cloud-based system, all the 

data is housed and maintained on an 

Epicor secure server that can be accessed 

anywhere there is an Internet connection. 

Hibbing Fabricators simply pays a 

monthly subscription fee. This is known 

as the software as a service (SaaS) model. 

The SaaS model has been gaining 

popularity in recent years because of 

the benefits it offers to businesses of 

all sizes, including lower entry costs, 

shorter deployment time, elimination 

of hardware and software maintenance, 

vendor managed-upgrades, global 

availability, and seamless integration. 

“We think of Epicor Express as taking 

us from quote to cash,” said Deanne 

Osborne, finance and human resources 

manager at Hibbing Fabricators. “Every 

single person in our company uses it on a 

daily basis. There’s not one job you don’t 

use it for. Once it’s set up, it’s an almost 

foolproof system.” 

Hibbing Fabricators is a precision 

sheet metal fabricator that makes custom 

parts for a variety of industries, including 

medical, aerospace, computer/electronics 

and industrial. These parts can be found 

on everything from ultrasound machines 

to jets to guitar amplifiers. 

Hibbing Fabricator’s goal is to become 

a one-stop shop, so the company needs one 

system to tie everything together. Recently, 

the company purchased a laser cutter and 

machining center; it may be integrating a 

new powder coating line in the near future. 

In addition, Hibbing Fabricators is AS9100 

certified, so it needs a system to help 

maintain that certification. 

Epicor Express allows the company to 

create sales orders, document engineering 

methods, track materials used, and bill 

Epicor job tracking software dashboard. 

customers for nearly 50 different jobs 

that run through the shop each day. 

With one click, the company can see 

detailed information about a specific job, 

including which materials were used, 

how many parts have been made to date, 

which steps are ahead, which employee 

worked on the job and, finally, when parts 

are expected to ship. 

“We were one of the first shops in the 

country to pilot Epicor Express,” Osborne 

said. “And we did so because we’re a 

small shop. We rely on technology to 

stay competitive, yet we don’t have an IT 

department. Epicor handles our software 

upgrades and patches, which saves a lot 

of time.” 

Osborne and others can log in to the 

system at any time. In fact, she recently 

used it to approve a new customer when 

she was miles away at a training seminar. 

Because everyone has access to the system, 

there are fewer delays in processing, and 

production runs more smoothly. 

In addition, the ability to create and 

share custom reports is incredibly helpful, 

she said. Recently, she created a simple 

report showing the status, due date, and 

scheduled shipment of all current jobs, 

that can be shared with all employees on 


PAID SUPPLEMENT

SHOP PROFILE 

a regular basis. If she wants to change the 

way the software collects information, she 

can test these changes out on a backup 

system before going live. 

The ability to modify or scale-up the 

software at any time is another major 

benefit for Hibbing Fabricators. As the 

company grows, it can add modules, 

upgrades and users as necessary—all 

without purchasing extra hardware. 

With a simple and efficient way to 

track and manage customers, orders, 

materials, processes, accounting and 

other essential operations, Hibbing 

Fabricators has improved customer 

service, increased productivity, and 

lowered overall costs. 

“The great aspect about Epicor is that 

they keep adding new modules to make 

things better and easier,” Osborne said. 

“In my opinion they’re always trying to 

improve our productivity.” 

About Epicor 

Epicor Software Corporation is 

a global leader delivering inspired 

business software solutions to the 

manufacturing, distribution, retail, and 

services industries. With over 40 years 

of experience serving small, midmarket 

and larger enterprises, Epicor has more 

than 20,000 customers in over 150 

countries. The company’s headquarters 

are located in Dublin, California, 

with offices and affiliates worldwide, 

including Minneapolis. 

Epicor ERP is offered in three editions: 

Express, Standard, and Enterprise. 

Epicor SaaS ERP Express Edition is 

a comprehensive enterprise resource 

planning (ERP) system designed 

specifically for smaller businesses, 

only provided in the software as a 

service (SaaS) model. The software’s 

functionality is based on more than 

20 core modules, allowing customers 

to manage opportunities, orders, and 

operations in one integrated solution. 

Beyond the Express edition, Epicor SaaS 

ERP Standard Edition offers mid-sized 

businesses all that the Express Edition 

offers plus extended and advanced 

modules. The Enterprise Edition is for 

businesses with operations that span 

multiple companies and countries. 

All three of the editions are based 

on the same business logic and database 

design, enabling customers to move 

from one edition to another seamlessly. 

Companies are able to select the modules 

that align with business’ needs and, 

essentially, custom-design the ERP 

system to specific requirements. 

Epicor’s ERP deployment capability is 

unique in that Epicor is the only vendor 

that offers the same solution on-premise 

or in cloud, in both the single-tenant 

and multi-tenant SaaS model. Epicor 

customers can select the edition and 

deployment model that works best 

for them and as they evolve have the 

peace of mind that their ERP solution 

has the flexibility and functionality to 

accommodate their future requirements 

and growth. 

PM 

For more information about Epicor, contact the company at 1-800-999-1809 or 

info@epicor.com or visit www.epicor.com 

PAID SUPPLEMENT 


EDUCATOR'S CORNER 

An Unmanned American Dream 

NORTHLAND COMMUNITY AND TECHNICAL COLLEGE 

by James Retka, with contributions from Matthew Brenden 

As I was preparing my thoughts for 

this issue’s Educator’s Corner column, I 

came across a recent article published by 

Northland Community and Technical 

College which spotlights an amazing 

story of one of our graduates. I would like 

to share it with you because, for me, this 

story represents everything that is core to 

the mission of a community and technical 

college in preparing students to be vital 

contributors to American industry in an 

era of globalization. 

The newly launched program in 

Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) 

Maintenance Training builds off of 

Northland’s over 50 years of history in 

providing well-educated, competent 

technicians for the aerospace industry. 

I am honored to be part of such a 

dynamic team of individuals who are 

walking on the edge of technology 

commercialization. It sometimes has been 

challenging, but extremely rewarding for 

Northland to develop this first-in-thenation 

program and, as you will read— 

definitely worth the journey! 

The American Dream is the 

opportunity for prosperity and success 

through hard work for all. It means 

something different to everyone, but the 

principles remain the same regardless 

of who you are. Solomon (Sol) Kassaye 

found his version of the American Dream 

with Northrop Grumman and Northland 

Community and Technical College, 14 

years and 7,955 miles after he started the 

immigration process to leave Ethiopia 

and come to Minnesota. Sol graduated 

from Northland’s first class of Unmanned 

Aerial Systems—the first program of its 

kind in America. He recently was hired 

by Northrop Grumman and is stationed 

in Sigonella, Italy, in a position he calls a 

dream come true. 

Sol was born in 1987, in Addis Ababa, 

Ethiopia (east Africa). He came from an 

Ethiopian middle-income family that 

was able to provide him with a relatively 

good education in elementary and public 

high school. At age 11, his family got 

the chance to come to America. Due to 

the complicated immigration process, 

he was not able to get approved to come 

to America with the rest of his family. 

His mother, stepfather, and two young 

siblings left for America and Sol was 

moved to his grandfather’s home until he 

finalized the immigration process, which 

took over 8 years. In 2006, at the age of 

18, he was approved to enter the United 

States as a permanent resident. 

Sol has had a lifelong interest in aviation. 

In Ethiopia, there are few private aviation 

industries to work in and, according to 

Sol, the Ethiopian Airlines hire only the 

most educated people, so his chances were 

extremely slim to enter this workforce. 

When he turned 16, he graduated 

from Ethiopian high school. He was 

able to work in an automotive shop that 

trained young people as long as the kids 

provided free assistant service for the lead 

mechanic. He was able to learn many 

things in his time on this job. According to 

Sol, “Even though I was not paid anything, 

the education I got helped me shape my 

future. I was able to learn that I enjoyed 

the challenge of troubleshooting, fixing, 

and the feeling of accomplishment.” 

He added, “From that point on I decided 

I was going to be a technician, because 

of the feeling of joy I got from the job. I 

learned you don’t need much money in life 

to be happy as long as you get satisfaction 

from your job.” He found a trade he was 

passionate about, but the dream of working 

in aviation was ever-present. 

On my May 15, 2006, Sol arrived in 

Minneapolis, Minn., finally to be reunited 

with his family. Sol planned to work lowwage 

jobs but his parents insisted he go 

to school. He followed their advice and 

went back to high school as an 11thgrade 

student. This decision proved 

extremely beneficial. Sol improved his 

English and learned to better understand 

life in Minnesota. He also participated in 

post-secondary enrollment options where 

he took several college level classes. He 

attended automotive courses in college 

and high school, side by side. 

Sol added, “The automotive 

experience in college gave me an idea 

about the industry and the job. My 

experience taught me that the automotive 

industry is good and interesting, but 

very competitive and it lacks much of the 

challenge the aviation industry offers. 

This helped me decide to change to an 

aviation major when I headed to college.” 

After high school, Sol attended 

Minneapolis Community and Technical 

College, where he took the prerequisites 

for the aviation program. During 

this time their aviation program was 

cancelled, so Sol took his life north to 

Northland Community and Technical 

College’s Aviation Maintenance 

Technology (AMT) program. Sol found 

the school and the program a natural 

fit for him. He said it was everything 

he hoped it would be: challenging, 

interesting, and difficult. His favorite 

parts of the AMT program were working 

with composites, jet engines, power 

plants, and airframes. 

During his time in the AMT program, 

he saw himself graduating and working for 

an airline. Also during this time, Northland 

was developing the first UAS program in 

the country. His instructors introduced 

Sol to this cutting-edge program and what 

it could lead to. “To be honest I was as 

skeptical as most students about spending 

another year in school and the prospects 

of getting a job working on UAV’s, because 

there were no commercial UAV’s.” He 

decided it would be advantageous to try the 

tuition-free program because of the classes 

in avionics, composites, and electronics. 

He enrolled in the UAS program and 

immediately found it a great fit. He said of 

the 30-credit program, “It really covered 

everything and prepared me for what is out 

there on the job market right now and I am 

very grateful for that.” 

As he went through the UAS program, 

he received encouragement and support 

from Northland and Northrop Grumman. 

“That encouragement played a huge role in 

keeping me in the program during difficult 

days,” said Sol. As graduation neared, he 

felt confident in his skills and was ready 

to begin the next chapter. “The Northland 

continued 


The New Generation 

Visit Us At: 

gister at www.productivity.com 

ReProductivity’s 

Oktoberfest 

20 13 

Sept. 

Tool Show 

24-26 th 

FOBA M-Series. Advanced laser marking workstations 

for process reliability and economic parts marking 

1 2 3 4 

FOBA M-Series: 

1) M2000 with turntable 

2) M2000 with worktable or up to 

five axes 

3) Electrical heigth-adjustment 

4) M3000 with worktable (also 

available with up to five axes or 

turntable) 

FOBA M-Series: Two sizes, three models, one workstation family 

→ For processing multiple part sizes. Available with worktable, 

turntable or axes (expandable to five axes). 

→ For process reliability, process integration and both economic and 

ergonomic laser material processing. 

→ Your application deserves to be performed by these advanced 

laser marking workstations! 

Your local distributor for MN, NE, IA, SD, 

ND and western WI is: 


15150 25th Avenue North 

Plymouth, MN 55447 

763.476.8600 

www.productivity.com 

July | August 2013 PRECISION MANUFACTURING | 41 

www.fobalaser.com

EDUCATOR'S CORNER 

staff was a huge help as I prepared to 

graduate and enter the workforce. Jon 

Beck really helped me get to where I 

am,” he stressed. Sol was ready for new 

challenges and he set his sights on working 

for a leader in unmanned aerial systems, 

Northrop Grumman. 

Northrop Grumman has been a 

key partner throughout the growth 

of Northland Aerospace. “Northrop 

Grumman is a leader in unmanned 

systems,” said Janis Pamiljans, Northrop 

Grumman Aerospace Systems sector 

vice president and general manager 

for Unmanned Systems. “In order to 

maintain that leadership, we need to grow 

the men and women who will design, 

operate, manage, and lead the unmanned 

capabilities of tomorrow. That’s why it’s 

critically important that we partner with 

organizations like Northland Community 

and Technical College.” 

Upon graduation, Sol received 

promising word of a job possibility at 

Northrop Grumman. He had high hopes 

of this and prepared himself to take full 

advantage of this amazing opportunity. 

On October 29, 2012, Sol started his 

internship with Northrop Grumman at the 

Grand Forks Air Force Base (GFAFB). “It 

has been the most interesting and unique 

experience of my life. The company 

has a wonderful and friendly work 

environment, which is built on providing 

quality service to its customers and I 

am proud to be a part of it,” emphasized 

Sol. He has been upgraded to a full-time 

employee and plans to be assigned to a full 

time permanent position in Guam upon 

completion of his internship. 

Sol currently is stationed in Sigonella, 

Italy, as a technician/mechanic, and will 

return to finish his internship at the 

GFAFB. He recently spoke about his 

position from Italy and said, “This is 

where everything is happening! Aircrafts 

are flying, I’m learning so much every 

day, from greasing aircraft to working on 

required sensitive equipment.” 

According to Bruce Jinneman, 

Northrop Grumman technical services 

RQ-4 enterprise manager, Northrop 

Grumman currently employs three 

Northland graduates and hopes to hire 

more in the future. “Northrop Grumman 

has no internal school house to produce 

UAS technicians,” said Jinneman. “As the 

UAS business continues to grow, we now 

have a source in Northland for producing 

technicians to support a variety of UAS. 

Northland graduates have FAA certified 

airframe and power plant licenses, are 

trained not only in UAS mechanical 

systems such as hydraulics, brakes, and 

engines, but also have experience in UAS 

avionics systems.” 

Sol is proof that hard work and 

dedication are crucial to finding the 

American dream. He overcame obstacles 

many couldn’t fathom and continually 

spoke not of himself but in how others 

helped him along the way. “The staff at 

Northland were amazing, everything they 

did was for me. I got this job because of 

Northland. It’s a dream come true for 

someone like me to have a career like 

PM 

this,” he concluded. 

JAMES RETKA is dean of workforce and 

economic development at Northland 

Community and Technical College. He can be 

reached at james.retka@northlandcollege.edu. 

MATTHEW BRENDEN is the communications 

coordinator at Northland Community and 

Technical College. 

Design in CAD. Measure in CAD. 

The Classic 321GL tp comes standard with PC-DMIS ® Vision image processing software and is able to be 

upgraded with 3D CAD programming capabilities. Use our exclusive MultiCapture technology to inspect 

complex, densely populated precision parts and speed up inspections by up to 70%. 

Visit www.HexMet.us/mpma613 to learn more about the Optiv 321GL tp. 

PLEASE ASK ABOUT OUR SUMMER INCENTIVES. 

Call Martin Calibration for details: 952.882.1528 ext.104. 


Industrial Distributors 

You are just a call away from 

experiencing how a quality 

CAM solution, combined with 

unequalled service and support, 

can change your bottom line. 

Please visit our new website featuring our exclusive 

Video Theater at: www.MidwestCAMSolutions.com 

For a complete presentation contact Matt Arnold at 877-444-0982 

The Leading Provider of GibbsCAM in the World! 

Computer Software and Training 

Tooling and Accessories 

and our manufacturing 

partners look forward 

to seeing you at 

Oktoberfest 2013. 

Industrial Suppliers 

Contact Productivity Tooling department for all your tooling & accessories needs at 763.476.4196. 

Join MPMA 

ConneCt with industry. engage with eduCation. 

For more information on membership, 

education, publications and events please visit 

www.mpma.com 

education 

government relations 

networking 

Publications / Communication / 

advertising 

Workforce development 


MEMBER DIRECTORY 

Lifetime Members 

Dr. James Bensen 

Bemidji State University 

(218) 755-4215 

mbensen@bemidjistate.edu 

Dave Yeager 

(320) 564-3937 

Dr. Fred Zimmerman 

(612) 867-8368 

zimco@visi.com 

Alumni 

Dick Clifford 

(763) 533-7201 

dmcliffords@comcast.net 

David Fiedler 

(763) 245-6771 

dc_fiedler@msn.com 

Josef Goerges 

(218) 562-4432 

Mark Hockley 

(612) 722-7347 

hockleymark@yahoo.com 

Ken Johnson 

(651) 633-1994 

kjohn55112@aol.com 

Marv Peterson 

(651) 464-5667 

marv014@yahoo.com 

Rich Pogue 

(612) 965-8604 

poguerich@gmail.com 

A-1 Engineering 

Todd Craft 

todd.craft@a1eng.com 

(763) 786-8710 

ABA Water Systems, Inc. 

Tim Weaver 

services@abawatersystems.com 

(800) 257-1271 

Abdo, Eick & Meyers, LLP 

Donald Kreye 

donald.kreye@aemcpas.com 

(952) 715-3026 

Abrasive Specialists, Inc. 

Jaime Olsen 

jaime.olsen@asimn.com 

(763) 571-4111 

Accu-Prompt, Inc. 

Scott Hoffmann 

shoffmann@accuprompt.com 

(763) 783-1020 X16 

Ace Cutter Grinding, Inc. 

Kyle Anderson 

kyle@acecuttergrinding.com 

(763) 314-0255 

Aerospace Manufacturing, Inc. 

Tom Heid 

theid@awi-ami.com 

(651) 379-9888 

AeroSystems Engineering 

Peter Maye 

peter.maye@aseholdings.com 

(651) 220-1339 

Aerotek 

Dylan Ballantine 

dballant@aerotek.com 

(651) 252-3349 

Agility Machine Tool, Inc. 

Brian Holcomb 

brian@agilitymachine.com 

(763) 792-8502 

Agrimson Tool Company, Inc. 

Gary Agrimson 

mailroom@agrimsontool.com 

(763) 566-3446 

Air Engineering & Supply, Inc. 

David Maurer 

david@airengr.com 

(612) 332-4181 

Aitkin Iron Works, Inc. 

Jeffrey Chatelle 

jwc@aiw.com 

(218) 927-2400 

Alexandria Technical & 

Community College 

Dr. Kevin Kopischke 

kevink@alextech.edu 

(888) 234-1313 

All Tech Machinery & Supply 

Jeff Johnson 

jeffj@atms.us.com 

(763) 370-4670 

Alliance Metrology, Inc. 

Bryn Hartwig 

brynhart@comcast.net 

(763) 493-0026 

American Machine & 

Gundrilling Co., Inc. 

Chuck Berg, Jr. 

chucksr@amgundrilling.com 

(763) 425-3830 

AmeriStar Manufacturing Inc 

Kevin Heutmaker 

kevinh@ameristarmfg.com 

(507) 625-1515 

Anderson Automatics, Inc. 

Doug Anderson 

douga@andersonautomatics.com 

(763) 533-2206 

Anderson Dahlen, Inc. 

David Knoll 

davidknoll@andersondahlen.com 

(763) 852-4700 

Andrew Tool & Machining Company 

Bruce Hanson 

brucehanson@andrewtool.com 

(763) 559-0402 

Anoka Technical College 

Nick Graff 

ngraff@anokatech.edu 

(763) 576-4788 

Anoka-Ramsey Community College 

Jon Olson 

jon.olson@anokaramsey.edu 

(763) 433-1201 

Applied Products, Inc. 

Brian Carlson 

mpmainfo@appliedproducts.com 

(952) 912-2456 

Applied Vacuum Technology, Inc. 

Dan Korolchuk 

dkorolchuk@appliedvacuum.com 

(952) 442-7005 

APT CNC Inc. 

Brian Mayo 

brianmayo@aptcnc.com 

(507) 931-5425 

Arrow Cryogenics, Inc. 

Curt Salo 

curt@arrowcryogenics.com 

(763) 780-3367 

Associated Bank 

Chelsea Horton 

chelsea.horton@associatedbank.com 

(952) 591-2799 

Atscott Manufacturing 

Company, Inc. 

John Norris 

info@atscott.com 

(320) 629-2501 

Automated 

Randy Squier 

rsquier@automatedextrusion.com 

(763) 576-6946 

Baillie Sales & Engineering, Inc. 

Mark Baillie 

mark@bailliesales.com 

(952) 546-2960 

Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP 

Mark Kiecker 

mark.kiecker@bakertilly.com 

(612) 876-4776 

BankCherokee 

Roger Hamilton 

rhamilton@bankcherokee.com 

(651) 291-6263 

Barry & Sewall Industrial Supply 

Steve Olson 

steveo@barrysewall.com 

(612) 331-6170 

Batten Tool & Machine, Inc. 

Dan Batten 

dan@battentool.com 

(952) 942-9198 

Beaver Machine 

Jay Groth 

beavshack@beavermachine.com 

(763) 535-2204 

Benny Machine Company 

Jeffrey Benny 

bennymachine@aol.com 

(763) 444-5508 

Bermo Inc. 

Nancy Hartman 

nancy.hartman@bermo.com 

(763) 786-7676 

besTech 

Dave Steele 

dsteele@bankersequipment.com 

(952) 808-4208 

Bizal Manufacturing Co. 

Mike Bizal, Jr. 

bizalmfg@bizalmfg.com 

(763) 571-4030 

Black Line Group 

Scott Schmidt 

scott@blacklinegrp.com 

(763) 550-0111 

Blanski Peter Kronlage & Zoch, P.A. 

Gary Turnquist, CPA 

gturnquist@bpkz.com 

(763) 546-6211 

Bodycote Thermal Processing 

Mike Cornelius 

michael.cornelius@bodycote.com 

(952) 944-5500 

Boring Machine Corporation 

Tom Chacon 

tomchacon@bormac.com 

(763) 786-0100 

Boulay, Heutmaker, 

Zibell & Co. PLLP 

Matt Crane 

mcrane@bhz.com 

(952) 841-3051 

Bowman Tool & Machining 

Angela Bowman 

arb@btmcnc.com 

(507) 286-1400 X103 

Branch Manufacturing 

Company, Inc. 

Delmer Fairbanks 

delmerf@branchmfg.com 

(651) 674-4441 

Bremer Bank 

Scott Johnson 

sajohnson@bremer.com 

(651) 726-6006 

Brenk Brothers, Inc. 

Jeff Brenk 

jeff@brenkbrothers.com 

(763) 784-5621 

Briggs and Morgan, P.A. 

Chuck Johnson 

cjohnson@briggs.com 

(612) 977-8680 

BTD Tooling Division 

Craig Rix 

craig.rix@btdmfg.com 

(952) 469-2423 

CAB Construction 

Karla Nelson 

karla@cabconstruction.com 

(507) 625-2233 

Carley Foundry, Inc. 

Kevin Stensrud 

kevin.stensrud@carleyfoundry.com 

(763) 205-8933 

Carlson Advisors, LLP 

Melvin Enger 

menger@carlson-advisors.com 

(763) 535-8150 

Cass Screw Machine 

Products Company 

Steve Wise 

steve@csmp.com 

(763) 535-0501 

C-Axis Inc. 

Jeff Haley 

jeff@c-axis.com 

(763) 478-8982 

CBIZ MHM, LLC 

Eric Hawkinson 

ehawkinson@cbiz.com 

(612) 376-1264 

Challenge Machine & 

Manufacturing Inc. 

Carrie Betland 

carrieb@challengemachine.com 

(763) 231-8400 

Checker Machine, Inc. 

Steve Lipinski 

slipinski@checkermachine.com 

(763) 544-5000 

Cheetah Precision, Inc. 

Manfred Niedernhoefer 

cheetah@cheetahprecision.com 

(651) 633-4566 

Chuck’s Grinding, Inc. 

Mike Reuter 

mike@chucksgrinding.com 

(952) 361-4308 

Cities Advanced Machinery 

Harry Youtsos 

harry@cam-cnc.com 

(952) 944-6060 

CliftonLarsonAllen LLP 

Samantha Metcalf 

samantha.metcalf@ 

cliftonlarsonallen.com 

(612) 376-4821 

Code Welding & Mfg, Inc. 

Curt Simonson 

curtsimonson@codewelding.net 

(763) 277-8800 

Columbia Gear Corp. 

Mike Hipsher 

mhipsher@columbiagear.com 

(320) 356-7301 

Columbia Precision Machine Corp. 

Gilbert Baldwin 

gbaldwin@columbiapmc.com 

(952) 890-1003 

Comet Tool, Inc. 

Jim Freitag 

jim.freitag@comettoolinc.com 

(952) 935-3798 

Command Tooling Systems LLC 

Bahti Hanedar 

bhanedar@commandtool.com 

(763) 576-6910 

Concept Machine Tool Sales, Inc. 

Craig Conlon 

sales@conceptmachine.com 

(763) 559-1975 

Condux International 

Douglas Mulder 

dougm@condux.com 

(507) 387-8063 

Construction Results Corporation 

Mark Snyder 

mark.snyder@constructionresults.com 

(763) 559-1100 

Continental Engr. & Mfg., Inc. 

Eric Andersen 

eric@cem-web.com 

(952) 448-4771 

Corchran, Inc 

Tom Westphal 

twestphal@corchran.com 

(507) 833-0229 

CorTrust Bank 

Tim Swanson 

tswanson@cortrustbank.com 

(651) 289-5000 

Craft, Pattern & Mold 

Anthony Cremers 

tony@craftpattern.com 

(763) 675-3169 

CRTechnical 

Tom Wolden 

tomwolden@crtechnical.com 

(763) 560-6015 

Custom Cutter Grinding Corp. 

Kermit Bode 

info@customcuttergrinding.com 

(763) 441-7744 

D/F Machine Specialties, Inc. 

Steve Moerke 

sales@dfmachinespecialties.com 

(507) 625-6200 

Dahlquist Machine Inc. 

Jeff Dahlquist 

jdahlquist@dahlquistmachine.com 

(763) 755-7575 

Datum-A-Industries, Inc. 

Eric Geyen 

info@datum-manifolds.com 

(763) 479-1133 

David Olson Sales Co., Inc. 

Clinton Olson 

cmo@davidolsonsales.com 

(612) 722-9523 

Deco Tool Supply Co. 

Kevin Corrigan 

kcorrigan@decotool.com 

(763) 537-7762 

Diamond Tool & Engineering, Inc. 

Kent Smith 

ksmith@eot.com 

(218) 924-4024 



Die Technology, Inc. 

Dale Skoog 

dskoog@dietechnology.com 

(763) 424-9677 

Digital Tool & Automation 

Dave Ackland 

dackland@digital-tool.com 

(763) 421-0400 

DMS Corporation 

Derek Nichols 

derek@mpi-dms.com 

(651) 452-1017 

Domaille Engineering LLC 

Don Hickerson 

dhickerson@domailleengineering.com 

(507) 281-0275 

Dotson Iron Castings 

Jean Bye 

jbye@dotson.com 

(507) 345-5018 

Douglas Finishing 

Jeff Powers 

jeff.powers@douglasfinishing.com 

(320) 762-6235 

DS & B Certified Public Accountants, 

Consultants & Advisors 

Paul Simons 

psimons@dsb-cpa.com 

(612) 359-9630 

Duncan Company 

Josh Ralph 

jralph@duncanco.com 

(612) 331-1776 

Dunwoody College of Technology 

E. J. Daigle 

edaigle@dunwoody.edu 

(612) 381-8172 

Duo-Tec Tool Company 

Dale Hanken 

dhanken@duotectool.com 

(763) 425-5005 

Dynamic Group 

Peter McGillivray 

pmcgill@dynamicgroup.com 

(763) 780-8674 

Eagle Tool & Design Co. 

Julie Ulrich 

julrich@eagletoolinc.com 

(763) 784-7400 

Elk River Machine Company 

Todd McChesney 

tmcchesney@ermc.com 

(763) 441-1581 

Ellison Technologies 

Craig St. John 

cstjohn@ellisontechnologies.com 

(763) 545-9699 

Emerson Network Power 

Connectivity Solution 

Jeff Norell 

jeff.norell@emerson.com 

(507) 833-6685 

Engineered Finishing Corp. 

Danforth Messerly 

dmesserly@engfinish.com 

(763) 785-9278 

Enterprise Minnesota 

Bob Kill 

robert.kill@enterpriseminnesota.org 

(612) 373-2900 

Epicor Software Corporation 

Christine Hansen 

chansen@epicor.com 

(952) 417-5161 

Erickson Metals of MN, Inc. 

Luke Harned 

lharned@ericksonmetalsmn.com 

(763) 785-2340  

Exact JobBOSS 

Alisha Wells-Skauge 

jobBossmail@exact.com 

(952) 841-1463 

Excelsior Tool Company, Inc. 

Gary Lostetter 

etc1gl@frontiernet.net 

(763) 479-3355 

Fab Pipe, Inc. 

Ted Muntz 

tmuntz@fabpipe.com 

(763) 428-2259 

Falls Fabricating LLC 

Mike Rott 

mrott@fallsfab.com 

(320) 632-2322 

Fastenal Manufacturing 

Tim Borkowski 

tborkows@fastenal.com 

(507) 453-8000 

Federated Insurance 

Brock Martinez 

bgmartinez@fedins.com 

(507) 455-5200 

Fireaway Inc. 

Anthony Gee 

agee@statx.com 

(952) 935-9745 

Fox Valley Metrology 

Steve Schaefgen 

steve@foxvalleymetrology.com 

(920) 410-1547 

Fraisa USA, Inc. 

Mathieu Tapp 

mtapp@fraisausa.com 

(651) 636-8488 

Froehling Anderson 

Rick Wiethorn 

rwiethorn@fa-cpa.com 

(952) 979-3100 

G & K Machining 

Amanda Harrison 

amanda@gandkmachining.com 

(763) 784-1025 

Glenn Metalcraft, Inc. 

Joseph Glenn 

jglenn@gmc-mn.com 

(763) 389-5355 

Global Robotics Innovation Park 

Nena Street 

nena.street@roboticsinnovation.com 

(612) 276-2688 

Graco Inc. 

Heather Bittle 

hbittle@graco.com 

(612) 623-6431 

Granger Machine, Inc. 

Mike Parker 

mike@grangermachine.com 

(763) 444-3725 

H & F Manufacturing, Inc. 

Steve Farniok 

stevef@hfmfg.com 

(763) 493-5606 

Haberman Machine, Inc. 

Scott Ness 

scottn@habermanmachine.com 

(651) 777-4511 

Hales Machine Tool, Inc. 

Dan Hales 

dhales@halesmachinetool.com 

(763) 553-1711 

Hamre Designs LLC 

Paul Hamre 

paul@hamredesigns.com 

(651) 261-4673 

Hard Chrome, Inc. 

Dick Walters 

sales@hardchromeplating.net 

(612) 788-9451 

Hegman Machinery, LLC - 

A Div. of Morris Group, Inc. 

Jerry Rex 

jrex@hegmanmachinery.com 

(763) 315-7309 

Hennepin Technical College 

Mike McGee 

mike.mcgee@hennepintech.edu 

(763) 488-2648 

HEXIS 

Andrew Skoog 

andrew@hexpedite.com 

(612) 804-1143 

HG&K Ltd. 

Greg Uphoff 

guphoff@hgkcpa.com 

(952) 979-1146 


Wayne Larson 

waynel@hibfab.com 

(218) 262-5575 

HLB Tautges Redpath, Ltd 

Megan Johnson 

mjohnson@hlbtr.com 

(651) 426-7000 

The more HAIMER, the better. 

Tool Dynamic TD 2009 Comfort Plus 

Application 

Balancing of cutting tools, 

tool holders, rotors 

Operation 

Brilliantly simple via Control Terminal 

Indexing of balancing position 

Automatically 

Clamping of tool holder 

Extremely precise 

Performance of your machine tool 

Maximized 

Downtimes of your machine tool 

Minimized 

Measuring accuracy 

< 0.5 gmm 

More 

www.haimer-usa.com 

Haimer USA, LLC | 134 E. Hill Street | Villa Park, IL 60181 | USA 

Phone +1-630-833-1500 | haimer@haimer-usa.com | www.haimer-usa.com 

Tool Holders 

Shrinking Technology 

Balancing Machines 

Measuring Instruments 

Tool Management 



Hoff Online Auctions 

Dennis Hoff 

dennis.hoff@hoffonlineauctions.com 

(612) 234-8006 

Houck Machine Company 

Steve Kingdon 

skingdon@houckmachine.com 

(763) 566-3792 

Huot Manufacturing Company 

John Huot 

j.huot@huot.com 

(651) 646-1869 

Hutchinson Manufacturing, Inc. 

Tom Daggett 

tdaggett@hutchmfg.com 

(320) 587-4653 

ICA Corporation 

Steve Hoaglund 

steveh@icacorp.com 

(763) 428-2800 

Ideal Aerosmith Inc. 

Darren Stinson 

dstinson@idealaero.com 

(701) 757-3400 

IFS-Industrial Fabrication 

Services, Inc. 

Matt Doherty 

mattifs@hickorytech.net 

(507) 726-6000 

INCERTEC 

John Shelander 

john.shelander@incertec.com 

(763) 717-7016 

Industrial Tool Solutions 

Brett Wharton 

brett@itsmn.onmicrosoft.com 

952.432.2484 

Industrial Waste Services, Inc. 

Mike Antolik 

mike@industrialwasteservices.biz 

(952) 474-2628 

Ingersoll Rand Minneapolis 

Dan Shreve 

dshreve@irco.com 

(612) 522-7000 

International Precision 

Machining, Inc. 

Daniel Meyer 

dmeyer@ipminc.com 

(320) 656-1241 

ISC Companies Inc. 

Lou Cowart 

l.cowart@isccompanies.com 

(763) 559-0033 

ITW Heartland 

Brian Baustian 

brian.baustian@itwheartland.com 

(320) 762-0138 

J. & J. Machine, Inc. 

John Lenz 

sales@jandjmachine.com 

(763) 421-0114 

J. B. Testing, Inc. 

Jeff Boisvert 

jbtesting@jbtesting.com 

(763) 795-9690 

Jet Edge, Inc. 

Nancy Lauseng 

sales@jetedge.com 

(763) 497-8700 

JIT Manufacturing, Inc. 

Gene Wehner 

gwehner@jitmfgmn.com 

(763) 425-7995 

Jonaco Machine LLC 

Bill Russell 

sales@jonaco.com 

(952) 448-5544 

Jones Metal Products Inc 

Sarah Richards 

srichards@jonesmetalproducts.com 

(507) 951-0665 

K & G Manufacturing Co. 

Shawn Veith 

sveith@kgmfg.com 

(507) 334-5501 

Kato Engineering Inc. 

(507) 345-2750 

KayHarris Real Estate Consultants 

Kay Harris, CCIM 

kay@kayharrisre.com 

(952) 915-4444 

Kellogg & Associates 

Van Kellogg 

van@kelloggandassociates.com 

(763) 757-5164 

Kendeco, Div. of 

BlackHawk Industrial 

Bob Miller 

bobm@kendeco.com 

(320) 253-1020 

KLC Financial, Inc. 

Lesley Farmer 

lesley@klcfinancial.com 

(952) 224-2901 

KleinBank-Coon Rapids 

Jane Campe 

j.campe@kleinbank.com 

(763) 427-5005 

Kurt Manufacturing Company Inc. 

Steve Carlsen 

stevec@kurt.com 

(763) 572-4550 

La Machine Shop, Inc. 

Joe LaBonne 

joe@lamachineshop.com 

(763) 434-6108 

Lake Air Metal Stamping LLC 

Brad Severson 

bseverson@lakeairmetals.com 

(763) 546-0994 

Lake Engineering, Inc. 

Steve Magnuson 

stevem@lakeengineering.com 

(952) 473-5485 

Lake Superior College 

Max Udovich 

m.udovich@lsc.edu 

(218) 733-7631 

Lakeland Tool & Engineering, Inc. 

Marty Sweerin 

betty@lte.biz 

(763) 422-8866 

LaMott Enterprises, Inc. 

Steve LaMott 

steve@lamottenterprises.com 

(763) 781-0001 

Lane Company 

Dan Tall 

dantall@laneplastics.com 

(612) 379-2018 

Larkin Hoffman Daly & 

Lindgren Ltd. 

Mark Geier 

mgeier@larkinhoffman.com 

(952) 835-3800 

Lindquist + Vennum LLP 

Heather Rasmussen 

hrasmussen@lindquist.com 

(612) 371-2461 

Lion Engineering Plastics, Inc. 

Scott King 

sking@lionep.com 

(952) 641-6300 

Lion Precision 

Don Martin 

don@lionprecision.com 

(651) 484-6544 

Litin Paper Company 

John Hanson 

jhanson@litin.com 

(612) 607-5735 

Lou-Rich, Inc. 

Randy Eggum 

reggum@lou-rich.com 

(507) 377-5330 

Lubrication Technologies, Inc. 

Stacey Hey 

staceyhey@lubetech.com 

(651) 636-7990 

Lyndex Nikken 

Craig Schepers 

craigs@lyndexnikken.com 

(847) 367-4800 

M. Vincent & Associates, Ltd. 

David Hannah 

david@vincentmetals.com 

(952) 884-7733 

Machine Tool Supply Corp. 

Troy Kerin 

troyk@machtool.com 

(651) 452-4400 

Mack Engineering Corp. 

Jennifer Salisbury 

jennifer.s@mackengineering.com 

(612) 721-2471 

Manufacturing Solutions of MN Inc. 

Jim Lemons 

jim.lemons@msmni.com 

(651) 294-7790 

Marr Valve Company, 

a Div. of Specialty Mfg. 

Chad Gregoire 

chad@marrvalve.com 

(320) 564-4279 

Martin Calibration Inc. 

Rick Brion 

rbrion@martincalibration.com 

(952) 882-1528 

Massman Automation Designs, LLC 

Chad Ferguson 

chad.ferguson@massmanllc.com 

(320) 554-3611 

Master Tool & Die, Inc. 

Tony Trabant 

tonyt@mastertoolinc.com 

(651) 454-2536 

Mate Precision Tooling 

Joe Schneider 

joe.schneider@mate.com 

(763) 421-0230 

Matsuura Machinery USA 

John Schwartz 

john.schwartz@matsuurausa.com 

(651) 289-9700 

Med-Tek, Inc. 

Randy Duffy 

randy@med-tekinc.com 

(612) 789-3527 

Meier Tool & Engineering, Inc. 

Tom Murphy 

tmurphy@meiertool.com 

(763) 427-6275 

Metal Craft Machine 

& Engineering, Inc. 

Trisha Mowry 

trisha@metal-craft.com 

(763) 441-1855 

Metal Supermarkets 

Doug Knepper 

dknepper@metalsupermarkets.com 

(763) 315-4042 

MHTA-Minnesota 

High Tech Association 

Andrew Wittenborg 

awittenborg@mhta.org 

(952) 230-4555 

MICO, Inc. 

John (Sonny) Suserud 

sonnys@mico.com 

(507) 625-6426 

Micro Parts Inc. 

Robert Nichols 

robert@mpi-dms.com 

(651) 452-1017 

Micro-Matics LLC 

Rick Paulson 

rick@micro-matics.com 

(763) 780-2700 

Mid American Financial Group 

Clint Nelson 

cnelson1@minneapolis.nef.com 

(952) 258-5043 

Mid-Continent Engineering, Inc. 

Sanders Marvin 

sanders.marvin@mid-continent.com 

(612) 781-0260 

Midland Technologies, Inc. 

Susan Dubay 

midland@midlandtechnologies.com 

(763) 428-4229 

Midwest CAM Solutions, Inc. 

Richard Lord 

rlord@midwestcamsolutions.com 

(763) 560-6567 

Midwest Industrial 

Tool Grinding, Inc. 

Eric Lipke 

info@mitgi.us 

320.455.0535 

Midwest Machine Tool Supply 

Doug Eliason 

doug@midwestmachinetool.com 

(763) 571-3550 

Midwest Steel Supply Company 

Brandon Walton 

bw@midweststeelsupply.com 

(612) 333-6868 

Millerbernd Laser 

Farid Currimbhoy 

fcurrimbhoy@millerberndlaser.com 

(612) 805-2474 

Milltronics CNC Machines 

Sara Dvorak 

sdvorak@milltronics.net 

(952) 442-1443 

MINNCOR Industries 

Brenda Chandler 

bchandler@minncor.com 

(651) 361-7500 

Minneapolis Community 

& Tech. College 

Kim Munson 

kim.munson@minneapolis.edu 

(612) 659-6093 

Minnesota Business Magazine 

Tamara Prato 

tamara.prato@tigeroak.com 

612.548.3240 

Minnesota Grinding, Inc. 

David Schranck 

david.schranck@minnesotagrinding.com 

(763) 535-4445 

Minnesota Waterjet, Inc. 

Doug Leaser 

dougl@mnwaterjet.com 

(763) 427-9200 

MN DEED Office of Innovation 

& Strategic Alliances 

Connie Christenson 

connie.christenson@state.mn.us 

(218) 234-3052 

MN State College, 

Southeast Technical 

Bob Leifeld 

rleifeld@southeastmn.edu 

(507) 453-2700 

MN Technical Assistance 

Program, U of M 

Mark Powers 

powe0181@umn.edu 

(612) 624-1826 

Modified Tool, Inc. 

John Kruse 

modifiedtool@emily.net 

(218) 763-6030 

Mold-Tech, Inc. 

Jon Lee 

jlee@mold-techinc.com 

(763) 497-7500 

Moquist Thorvilson Kaufmann LLC 

Jon Bauer 

Jon.bauer@mtkcpa.com 

(952) 656-2629 

Morrissey, Inc. 

Steve Mealman 

smealman@morrisseyinc.com 

(952) 698-2310 

MPS Technical 

Bianca Carr 

biancac@mpstechnical.com 

(952) 540-4260 

MRG Tool and Die Corp. 

Mike Gramse 

mgramse@mrgtoolanddie.com 

(507) 334-1847 

MultiSource Mfg LLC 

Gary Hadley 

ghadley@multisourcemfg.com 

(952) 456-5500 

Nanotech Machinery Solutions, Inc. 

Kevin Manion 

kevin@nanomach.us 

(763) 425-6266 

NETTwork Mfg. Inc. 

Aaron Netter 

aaron@nettworkmfg.com 

(320) 654-8352 

Network Medics, Inc. 

Kevin Calgren 

kevin@networkmedics.com 

(612) 643-3539 

New Ulm Precision Tool, Inc. 

Howard Blume 

hblume@nuprecisiontool.com 

(507) 233-2900 

Normandale Community College 

Nancy Louwagie 

nancy.louwagie@normandale.edu 

(952) 358-8738 

North Second Street 

Steel Supply, Inc. 

Mike Keefe 

mkeefe@nssss.com 

(612) 522-6626 

Northern Iron & Machine 

Ray Van Allen 

rvanallen@northernim.com 

(651) 778-3374 

Northland Screw Products, Inc. 

James Martinson 

james@northlandscrewproducts.com 

(763) 753-3628 



Northstar Aerospace 

Gary Corradi 

gcorradi@northstaraerospace.com 

(218) 720-2920 

Northwest Machine Technologies 

Tony Bailey 

tbailey@nwmtec.com 

(763) 493-3660 

Northwest Swiss-Matic, LLC 

Wade Halseth 

whalseth@nwswissmatic.com 

(763) 544-4222 

Northwest Technical 

College - Bemidji 

Daniel Larson 

daniel.larson@ntcmn.edu 

(218) 333-6604 

NTI School of Technology / 

Globe University 

Pam Schumacher 

pschumacher@globeuniversity.edu 

(651) 730-5100 

NTM, Inc. 

Pat Mullins 

patm@ntminc.com 

(763) 780-1420 

Olympic Steel, Inc. 

Tom Ehlers 

tehlers@olysteel.com 

(763) 544-7100 

Omnitool, Inc. 

Walter Waffensmith 

walter@omnitool.com 

(763) 535-4240 

On Time Delivery Service, Inc. 

Tim Holtan 

tholtan@bontime.com 

(952) 884-4060 

Panther Precision Machine, Inc. 

Tom Olson 

tolson@pantherprecision.com 

(763) 586-9651 

Park Precision Machining Inc. 

Bob Tummel 

bob@parkprecision.com 

(763) 754-8273 

Parker Hannifin 

Carsa Spaude 

cspaude@parker.com 

(507) 233-2305 

Pequot Tool & Manufacturing, Inc. 

Michael Goerges 

mgoerges@pequottool.com 

(218) 568-8069 

Perfecseal Mankato 

Leigh Asleson 

lcasleson@bemis.com 

(507) 625-1131 

Perfection Grinding, Inc. 

Darell Stern 

perfgrin@aol.com 

(763) 571-1052 

Permac Industries 

Darlene Miller 

dmiller@permacindustries.com 

(952) 894-7231 

Pine Technical College 

Julie Dillenburg 

dillenburgj@pinetech.edu 

(320) 629-5112 

Plastics International 

Paul Carter 

paulc@plasticsintl.com 

(952) 934-2303 

Powder Coating Technologies, Inc. 

Kent Krenitz 

kent@powdercoatingtech.com 

(763) 559-4779 

Precise Products Corporation 

Darrell Freitag 

dfreitag@preciseproducts.com 

(612) 522-2141 

Precision 

Jamie Durand 

jamie@precisionmn.com 

(763) 784-1704 

Precision Coatings, Inc. 

Linda Grundtner 

sales@precisioncoatings.com 

(651) 641-0878 

Precision Punch & Plastic, Co. Inc. 

Kevin Ryan 

kevinr@precisionpunch.com 

(952) 933-0993 

Precision Tool Technologies, Inc. 

Jim Goerges 

jim@precisiontooltech.com 

(320) 632-5320 

PRI Robotics 

Scott Nelson 

snelson@prirobotics.com 

(763) 450-4381 

Principal Financial Group 

Alyssa Kreutzfeldt 

kreutzfeldt.alyssa@principal.com 

(651) 287-5469 

Pro Fabrication, Inc. 

Letetia Klebel 

letetia.klebel@pro-fabrication.com 

(507) 243-3441 

Production Engineering Corp. 

Mike Albers 

mhalbers@pecorp.net 

(612) 788-9123 

Production Tool & Mfg, Inc. 

Mark Boesch 

markb@protoolus.com 

(763) 559-5746 


Greg Buck 

gbuck@productivity.com 

(763) 476-8600 

Productivity Quality Inc / 

Advanced Inspection Services LLC 

Keith Summers 

keith.summers@pqi.net 

(763) 249-8130 

Professional Instruments 

Company, Inc. 

Paul Arneson 

parneson@airbearings.com 

(952) 933-1222 

ProtoTek Engineering, Inc. 

Brian Pascoe 

bpascoe@prototek-engineering.com 

(952) 361-5598 

QDP Technologies, Inc. 

Troy Holien 

troy.holien@qdptech.com 

(763) 712-1626 

Qualitek Engineering 

& Manufacturing Inc. 

Michael Nepsund 

miken@qualitek-eng.com 

(763) 544-9507 

Quality & Service Machine 

Tool Company 

Bill Lidfors 

bill@qandsmachinetool.com 

(952) 935-8616 

Quality Machine of IA, Inc. MN Div. 

Tim Greene 

timg@qualitymachine.com 

(763) 560-3955 

Quality Metals, Inc. 

Jason King 

jason.king@qualitymetalsinc.com 

(651) 645-5875 

Quazar Capital Corporation 

Bruce Behm 

bruceb@quazarcapital.com 

(763) 550-9000 

R & M Manufacturing Co. LLC 

Todd Dyste 

tdyste@rmmco.com 

(763) 574-9225 

Radan - Vero Software 

Doug Wood 

doug.wood@radan.com 

(651) 982-0100 X5502 

Regal Machine Inc. 

George Hendren 

ghendren@regalmachineinc.com 

(651) 408-8940 



Replenex, Inc. 

Tom Folska 

tom.folska@replenex.com 

(952) 943-4715 

Retirement and 401(k) 

Plan Advisors, LLC 

Scott Leverenz 

scott@rpadvise.com 

(952) 544-3614 

Rev Zero, Inc. 

Bob Anderson 

robert.anderson@revzeroinc.com 

(952) 380-9966 

Ridgewater College 

Dale Bomstad 

dale.bomstad@ridgewater.edu 

(320) 234-8568 

Riverside Manufacturing, Inc. 

Scott Robertson 

srob@riversidemnf.com 

(763) 274-2193 

RJ Ahmann Company 

Scott Benjamin 

sbenjamin@rja.com 

(952) 947-9785 

rms 

Lee Zachman 

lzachman@machine.com 

(763) 786-1520 

Roberts Automatic Products, Inc. 

Ted Roberts 

troberts@robertsautomatic.com 

(612) 384-3999 

Robotics Alley 

Andrew Borene 

andrew.borene@reconrobotics.com 

(952) 935-5515 x108 

RTI Remmele Medical 

Al Germscheid 

al.germscheid@remmele.com 

(763) 263-2636 

Saint Paul Port Authority 

B. Kyle 

blk@sppa.com 

(651) 204-6241 

Sandvik Coromant 

John Depies 

john.depies@sandvik.com 

(715) 410-1521 

Schreifels & Associates, Inc. 

Bob Schmitz 

bob@schreifels.com 

(763) 569-4304 

SCHUNK, Inc. 

Matt Steele 

matt.steele@us.schunk.com 

(800) 772-4865 

Silvertip Associates, Inc. 

Dale Peterson 

silvertipassoc@aol.com 

(763) 717-0773 

Smith Foundry Company 

Jim Pint 

pint_jim@smithfoundry.com 

(612) 729-9395 

Sodick, Inc. 

Joel Manns 

jmanns@sodick.com 

(651) 319-7259 

South Central College 

Tom Kammer 

tom.kammer@southcentral.edu 

(507) 389-7336 

The Specialty 

Manufacturing Company 

Debbie Zaiger 

srische@specialtymfg.com 

(651) 653-0599 

S-T Industries, Inc. 

Melanie Johnson 

mjohnson@stindustries.com 

(800) 326-2039 

St. Cloud Tech & Comm College 

Bruce Peterson 

bpeterson@sctcc.edu 

(320) 308-6639 

St. Marys University 

Paul Christensen 

prchris00@smumn.edu 

(612) 728-5100 

St. Paul College-A Comm. 

& Tech. College 

Heather McGannon 

heather.mcgannon@saintpaul.edu 

(651) 403-4118 

Stone Machinery, Inc. 

Tom Drazkowski 

info@stonemachinery.com 

(651) 778-8887 

T. Bryce & Associates, Inc. 

Terry Bryce 

terryb@tbryce.com 

(763) 449-9900 

T.D. Wright, Inc. 

David McEachern 

sales@tdwinc.com 

(651) 227-1302 

Taylor Machine, Inc. 

Rick Taylor 

rtaylor@tmicnc.com 

(763) 786-5949 

TBEI / Crysteel Mfg 

Joe Paulsen 

jpaulsen@tbei.com 

(507) 726-2728 

TC Clipper Company 

Mike Clipper 

mikec@tcclipper.com 

(952) 829-0545 

TEAM Industries 

Jim Russ 

jimruss@team-ind.com 

(218) 694-3550 

Technical Die-Casting, Inc. 

Randy Walters 

randyw@tech-die-casting.com 

(507) 689-2194 

Technology Reps 

Mike Neeley 

mikeneeley@comcast.net 

(651) 636-6966 

The Whittemore Co. 

Kurt Wasieleski 

kurt@whittemore-inc.com 

(651) 331-8984 

Tooling Science, Inc. 

Brian Burley 

brian@tlscience.com 

(763) 425-6001 

Top Tool Company 

Duane Kari 

dakari@toptool.com 

(763) 786-0030 

TSI Plastics, Inc. 

Pat McCready 

pat@tsiplastics.com 

(763) 452-3635 

Twin City EDM 

& Manufacturing, Inc. 

Steve Lindell 

slindell@twincityedm.com 

(763) 783-7808 

Twin City Gear Company 

Max Fenna 

tcgear@goldengate.net 

(763) 780-9780 

Twin City Honing, Inc. 

Larry Bopp 

boppld@yahoo.com 

(952) 894-1730 

Twin City Plating Company 

Roger Plath 

roger@twincityplating.com 

(612) 331-8895 

United Standards Lab, Inc. 

James Dolezal 

jim@unitedstandardslab.com 

(612) 823-2616 

Used Machinery Sales LLC 

Jack Mendenhall 

jack@cnctool.com 

(763) 441-5152 

Venture Bank 

Kriss Griebenow 

kgriebenow@venturebankonline.com 

(763) 398-5822 

Von Ruden Manufacturing, Inc. 

Brandon Anderson 

brandon@vonruden.com 

(763) 682-3122 

Call your local 

Federated Representative 

for help developing a 

risk management culture 

at your business. 

Federated Mutual Insurance Company 

Federated Service Insurance Company* 

Federated Life Insurance Company 

Owatonna, Minnesota 55060 

Phone: (507) 455-5200 

www.federatedinsurance.com 

*Not licensed in the states of NH, NJ, RI, and VT. 

© 2013 Federated Mutual Insurance Company 



V-TEK, Inc. 

Christina James 

c.james@vtekusa.com 

(507) 345-0154 

W.P. & R.S. Mars Company 

Bob Mars 

rmars3@marssupply.com 

(952) 884-9388 

Weigh-Rite Scale Co., Inc. 

Jennifer Johnson 

info@scaleguy.com 

(715) 247-3364 

Western Spring Manufacturing 

Alex Altstatt 

alex@westernspring.com 

(651) 224-1721 

Wilson Tool International 

Brian Robinson 

brian.robinson@wilsontool.com 

(651) 286-6003 

Winegar, Inc. 

Tim Wenzel 

tim.wenzel@winegarinc.com 

(507) 835-3495 

WSI Industries, Inc. 

Benjamin Rashleger 

brashleger@wsci.com 

(763) 295-9202 

Wyoming Machine, Inc. 

Lori Tapani 

ltapani@wyomingmachine.com 

(651) 462-4156 

Yeager Machine, Inc. 

Mike Yeager 

mike@yeagermachine.com 

(952) 467-2800 

NEW MEMBERS: 

Condux International 

Douglas Mulder, operations manager 

(507) 387-8063 

dougm@condux.com 

Falls Fabricating LLC 

Mike Rott, president 

(320) 632-2322 

mrott@fallsfab.com 

HG&K, LTD 

Greg Uphoff, president 

(952) 979-1140 

guphoff@hgkcpa.com 

Industrial Tool Solutions 

Brett Wharton, president 

(952) 432-2484 

brett@itsmn.onmicrosoft.com 

Lindquist & Vennum 

Heather Rasmussen, marketing manager 

(612) 371-2461 

hrasmussen@lindquist.com 

Lyndex Nikken 

Craig Schepers, regional sales 

representative 

(847) 367-4800 

craigs@lyndexnikken.com 

Matsuura Machinery 

John Schwartz, president 

(651) 289-9700 

john.schwartz@matsuurausa.com 

Midland Technologies, Inc. 

Susan Dubay, office manager 

(763) 428-4229 

midland@midlandtechnologies.com 

Midwest Industrial Tool Grinding, Inc. 

Eric Lipke, general manager 

(320) 455-0535 

info@mitgi.us 

Minnesota Business Magazine 

Tamara Prato 

(612) 548-3240 

tamara.prato@tigeroak.com 

Moquest Thorvilson KaufmannLLC 

Jon Bauer, marketing manager 

(952) 656-2629 

jon.bauer@mtkcpa.com 

North Second Street Steel Supply, Inc. 

Mike Keefe, sales 

(612) 522-6626 

mkeefe@nssss.com 

R&M Manufacturing Company LLC 

Todd Dyste, president 

(763) 574-9225 

tdyste@rmmco.com 

Sandvik Coromant 

John Depies, regional sales manager 

(715) 410-1521 

johndepies@sandvik.com 

The Specialty Manufacturing Company 

Debbie Zaiger, director of manufacturing 

(651) 653-0599 

srische@specialtymfg.com 

Ver-Tech Quality 

Mark Wernimont, industrial air quality 

(763) 559-2590 

mwernimont@ver-tech.com 

ADVERTISERS’ INDEX 

A B A Water Systems, Inc. | www.abawatersystems.com............................................ 45 

Abdo, Eick & Meyers, LLP | www.aemcpas.com .......................................................... 35 

Arrow Cryogenics, Inc. | www.arrowcryogenics.com .................................................. 43 

Carley Foundry, Inc. | www.carleyfoundry.com............................................................47 

Concept Machine Tool Sales, Inc. | www.conceptmachine.com................................. 31 

Duncan Company | www.duncanco.com...................................................................... 43 

Epicor Software Corporation | www.epicor.com................................................. 38 - 39 

Federated Insurance | www.federatedinsurance.com........................................... 10, 48 

Frandsen Bank & Trust | www.frandsenbank.com ....................................................... 4 

Haimer USA | www.haimer-usa.com................................................................ 22 - 23, 45 

Hales Machine Tool, Inc. | www.halesmachinetool.com................................ back cover 

Hegman Machinery | www.hegmanmachinery.com................................................... 21 

Hoff Online Auctions | www.hoffonlineauctions.com ................................................... 7 

Kurt Manufacturing Company Inc. | www.kurt.com ................................................ 47 

Lubrication Technologies, Inc. | www.lubetech.com ................................................ 12 

Martin Calibration Inc. | www.martincalibration.com............................................................ 42 

Midwest CAM Solutions, Inc. | www.midwestcamsolutions.com......................................... 43 

Minnesota Business | www.minnesotabusiness.com ................................................. 50 

Midwest Machine Tool Supply | www.midwestmachinetool.com ............................. 25 

MRG Tool and Die | www.mrgtoolanddie.com................................................................ 4 

Productivity Inc | www.productivity.com ......................................... 2, 16-19, 34, 41, 43 

Productivity Quality Inc. | www.pqi.net..................................................................... 33 

ProtoTek Engineering, Inc. | www.prototek-engineering.com .................................. 51 

Smith Foundry Company | www.smithfoundry.com .................................................. 48 

Xcel Energy | www.xcelenergy.com ................................................................................ 3 


JOIN US! 

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24 

Categories 

Bold New Strategy 

Awarded to companies in operation for 25+ 

years that have made major modification 

to their original business plan. 

Emerging PlayeR 

Awarded to companies that have been established 

in Minnesota within the past 5 years. 

Community Outreach 

Awarded to companies who have made efforts 

to open its doors to the community and 

boost the image of manufacturing work. 

Executive of the Year 

Awarded to an executive of a Minnesotabased 

manufacturing company who has 

demonstrated personal excellence in 

industry advocacy, educational efforts, 

philanthropy, and employee culture. 

Sustainability 

Awarded to companies who have demonstrated 

a commitment to green technology. 

Workforce Development 

Awarded to companies who are making 

a significant impact on engaging and 

training a skilled workforce for the future 

of the manufacturing industry. 

Minority-Owned 

Awarded to companies owned or co-owned 

by a member of a minority group. 

Manufacturer of the YeaR 

Small (Revenue under $25 million), Midsize 

($25-$75 million), and Large ($75 million+): 

Awarded to companies in three distinct size 

brackets for best overall achievement. 

For more information visit minnesotabusiness.com 

#mnbizmanufacturing 

PRESENTING SPONSORS 

ASSOCIATION PARTNER 


AFFORDABLE PORTABLE CMM 

1-Align 2-Inspect 3-Report 

3 simple steps to quickly and accurately 

verify part quality anywhere in your shop. 

Part Inspection Made Easy 

Requires no Metrology experience. 

> Eliminate QC bottlenecks. 

> Local support and training. 

> Reverse Engineering. 

NEW!! Give you old CMM new life and save 

money with our CMM retrofit. 

Shop Floor 

Portable 

3D 

Powerful 

Production 

Profitable 

Schedule an onsite demo or webinar by calling 952.361.5598 

www.ProtoTek-Engineering.com 

www.Master3DGage.com

Minnesota Precision Manufacturing Journal 

5353 Wayzata Blvd. 

Suite 350 


www.pm-mn.com 

PRSRT STD 

U.S. Postage 

Paid 

Documation

When Disaster Strikes - Minnesota Precision Manufacturing ...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?