Feature Articles......................................1, 20-21

MACHINING PLUS FABRICATION, 5-AXIS, AUTOMATION....ALL THIS PLUS 99% CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

In the manufacturing industry, particularly in small job shops, you often see companies that run their businesses today much like how they ran it a decade ago. If they make good parts and deliver them on-time, likely they are still in business…and that is good enough for them. And whether they like it or not, their business has most certainly plateaued.

For other manufacturing businesses, status quo is not acceptable. This other ‘breed’ of manufacturing companies also makes good parts and delivers them on time. But these are companies who aren’t about ‘doing business as usual’; they are consistently investing in and bettering their company.

Manufacturing Technologies Inc. (MTI) epitomizes the 2nd type of manufacturing entity. The company, based in Bernalillo, a town a short distance from Albuquerque, New Mexico, provides excellent quality parts to their customers (with a 96% rating) and has an exceptional customer satisfaction rating (99%).

Just what makes MTI so special? It is really several things.

A SUCCESSION PLAN

Chuck Bulow joined MTI more than 3 decades ago as an employee, in 1988. Less than a decade later, he was given the opportunity to purchase the business, and in MTI has long been a family business, with Chuck and wife Elaina integral to its daily operations. Their son Lucas was raised in the business (coming to work to help from the time he was 6) and joined full time as soon as he graduated from high school. Lucas says, “Chuck was always a very good business owner and mentor to me. Chuck learned machining in a time when manual machines were the norm, and with a superior understanding of machining, I learned from the best.”

Chuck and Elaina are lucky. Often a machine shop is started up with a superior machinist. When he grows the business, he hopes to pass it on to one of his offspring, and often finds no family member is interested or capable of pursuing it. Lucas says from a young age, this is what he always wanted to do. He says, “I had an advantage that not many others get.”

It is fair to say Lucas spent his first 5 full time years learning the business inside and out. It is also a fact that Lucas learned some very difficult lessons in his early years at the company. You see Lucas joined the company at 18, 12 years ago. That happened to coincide with the worst recent recession prior to our pandemic. During his early years with the company, he saw Chuck and Elaina make some very difficult decisions to keep the business open, and this meant laying off staff. Clearly these early years had an impact on Lucas, who has since spent sleepless nights worrying about key financial decisions and how they could affect the business. “I know how it feels when you are running a business, and some of the decisions you make will be ‘make it or break it’,” Lucas says.

WILLINGNESS TO EMBRACE /INVEST IN NEW TECHNOLOGY

Lucas is a highly trained machinist, and today you will regularly see him on the floor running a machine or programming a job. But ~5 years ago, in 2017, the owners made the decision to take the business to the next level. They moved to the state-of-the-art facility they reside in today, and the facility at 23,000 sq. ft. is 5 times the size of their previous facility. Lucas says that they have tripled the number of machines they own since moving into their current facility.

Lucas adds, “The year we moved, we also made the decision to bring 5 axis machining into our business.” While Lucas admits the idea of 5 axis machining was daunting at first, the MTI owners knew it was

something they must embrace to continue to service their customers and grow the business. The company’s first 5 axis machine was the Haas UMC-750SS, a 5-axis vertical machining center. Lucas learned how to run the 5-axis machining center first, so that he could comfortably help others in the company to learn how to use it. Since then, the company has added a second Haas UMC-750SS, which Lucas says the company utilizes for 3+2 machining plus simultaneous 5-axis machining. They also own 2 Haas DM-2 compact high-speed machining centers, and 1 with the TRT100, which is a dual-axis tilting rotary table that offers high-speed, accurate performance for 5-axis machining. Lucas says, “With our 5 axis machining centers, we can be so much more competitive than shops that don’t have these capabilities – not only can we make the parts faster and less expensively with our savings on set-up times, but we can make parts so much more accurately.”

MTI also added horizontal machining with the addition of their Haas EC400 Horizontal machining center. “We added the pallet pool for production and lights out capabilities”, Lucas says. He adds, “We know skilled labor is getting more and more difficult to find, and so our machine tool purchases are always made with automation in mind.”

Danny White, Sales Engineer for MMT Productivity, supports the MTI team with most of their machining purchases. Danny says, “Lucas and the machinists at MTI make some very intricate parts. To make these exceptional parts, they often push the envelope with technology; it’s not just the machines they purchase, they are also aggressive with their dynamic toolpaths, and they are highly efficient with their programming.”

Lucas says, “I first learned to machine a part on a Haas machine, and they have always been a good, solid and well-priced machine for us. I think it is really great to buy a US manufactured machine, and that the Haas machines don’t accept status quo; they just get better and better every year.”

MMT Productivity not only sells the Haas machine tool line, but also carries the Makino line. Danny says, “MTI machines a variety of metals, including difficult alloys. With an ideal blend of power, accuracy, speed and reliability, the Makino PS105 is redefining the standard and setting the bar for 3-Axis vertical machining industry wide.”

Lucas says, “We’ve bought nearly all of our machines through MMT Productivity, and through Danny White. We are extremely satisfied with Danny and with his entire service team.” He adds, “I may be biased because I view Danny as a friend, but the truth is that he is a huge part of our success.” Lucas says that MTI welcomed the additional support they received when MMT and Productivity merged some years ago. “They even have a tooling division, and we are able to buy all of our tooling from Productivity’s Dave Smith.”

DIVERSIFICATION

MTI offers more capabilities than the typical machine shop – they provide both machining and fabrication services. Lucas says that most of their customers come to MTI for both machining and fabrication. “We offer CNC laser cutting, press brake forming, as well as MIG and TIG welding, and we can hold exceptionally tight tolerances on foil or shim stock thicknesses”, he elaborates.

On the machining side of the business, which Lucas says is seeing explosive growth, the company has 5-axis machining, automation, vertical and horizontal machining. Their other Haas machines include VF2SS’s, VF4SS’s, VF6SS’s and a big 40” x 80” VF9. Along with milling they have several Y-axis lathes that utilize live tooling and sub-spindles. And as we go to print, they are adding wire EDM capabilities with their newest machine, the Makino U6 wire EDM, also purchased through MMT Productivity.

Lucas says, “If you haven’t come to MTI for your precision machining and fabrication, we ask that you just come tour our facility. We are proud of the products and services we offer, and we have the capacity to take on new customers.” To learn more about how MTI can help your business, contact Lucas at: lucas. mfgtek@att.net or visit mfgtechusa.com

As a leading machine tool distributor, MMT Productivity provides machine tools, tooling & accessories, robots and related equipment for manufacturing in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming, is committed to helping companies implement innovative solutions to meet manufacturing challenges and achieve a high standard of quality with superior results. To learn more about how MMT Productivity can help your business, visit mmtproductivity.com