Manufacturing Showcase
Flex Machine Tools By: Russ Willcutt
R
ichard Kennedy launched Midwest Specialties, Inc., in 1971 as a government contracting manufacturing business. He designed and built a tapping arm to increase speed and efficiency when tapping holes off of his NC machining centers. The FlexArm was the first of many innovations the OEM now known as Flex Machine Tools, and is still based in Wapakoneta, Ohio, from which all of its products are assembled and shipped from CNC machine tools to laser and water-jet cutters. Now a third-generation enterprise helmed by Nick Kennedy, Flex remains committed to quality while seeking out fresh opportunities to expand its product line to meet industry demands. Primarily
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20 IMD NOVEMBER 2021
devoted to the North American market, Flex has representatives located across the country, and their customers are loyal. “I met a fellow awhile back who has a 20 year-old FlexArm, and he hasn’t had any serious problems,” Nick Kennedy, the current CEO. “So that’s proof of our equipment’s longevity, which will remain as we design new machines to harness the power of the industry’s latest technologies.” “We’ve made no acquisitions, all our development has been done organically with the company's resources,” Says Kennedy. We started taking a close look at automation solutions in 2015 when Nick took over the company and we made the decision to be a "Growth"
