CNC Machine Shop: YAMA SEIKI VMB-1600

Precision Grinding, Inc. has installed another Yama Seiki VMB-1600. Along with adding experienced personnel to our sales team, we're growing our Machining Department. We believe in America, and we believe in ourselves. Our Machine Shop Department Manager, Stanley and Assistant Machine Shop Manager, James now oversee three (3) large CNC Machines to serve you.

Let's see what it takes to install a new CNC Vertical Machining Center.

These CNC Machines will be served by 10-Ton overhead cranes.

Chris, our humble tool rep is pictured above, along with the installation team. Thanks to fine teamwork between the Yama Seiki USA reps from Ontario, CA and from C&S Machine Tool Systems, Inc., the installation and setup was completed within (3) days.

This YAMA SEIKI VMB-1600 vertical machining center with a 15" x 30" x 60" table capacity has its own full assortment of workholdings, workholding magnets, collets, and machine tools.

In addition to housing some of the largest Grinding Machines and CNC Machines in the area, our machinists and shop personnel have the experience necessary to produce precision steel parts for you, on time, as ordered.

Further, setting us apart from competition, we have several members of our Sales Team, each with over 10 years of experience at Precision Grinding.

Please, call us at 1-888-934-7463 or 1-888-WE-GRIND with your next steel plate request.

Precision Grinding at Design2Part Show, Dallas, TX

On March 4-5, 2009, the Design2Part Show in Grapevine, Texas brought together over 1200 manufacturing engineers, purchasing executives, research technicians, and sales personnel to discuss contract manufacturing along with their manufactured products.

At the show pictured above, Jerry Quinn, Sales Manager and Brian Everling, Market Research & Development hosted Booth #422 for Precision Grinding.

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Ted D'Elia, SE Regional Sales Manager and the rest of the The Job Shop Company who support the Design2Part regional shows helped all of us find ourselves comfortable at the posh Gaylord Texan Convention Center. More than 140 exhibiting companies from all over the United States found this to be one of the premier venues for a Design & Contract Manufacturing Event. We wish to thank The Job Shop Company, the greater Dallas / Ft. Worth community, and the attendees from Texas and surrounding states who became our visiting attendee "hosts" for this event.

The Grapevine area is located nearby the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. While many of the concrete roads remain white with newness, the convention center and the surrounding lodges and restaurants are a model for this century's building and construction efforts. We also passed by the new, centrally located, Dallas Cowboys stadium where we could see that members from Arlington have worked together to grow a successful manufacturing community, rich with modern amenities. The Arlington/Grand Prairie area remains headquarters for several prominent, international companies, such as Lockheed Martin and Bell Helicopter and is a major international hub for companies such as Atlas Copco Secoroc.

Precision Grinding has plans to make other tours across the country. We look forward to visiting with you, then. If you ever find yourself in the Birmingham, Alabama area, possibly for a Talladega event or a Barber Motorsports event or just traveling through, please, stop by to pay us a visit.

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We believe that steel prices may have bottomed for now as steel plate manufacturers have declared plans to manufacture steel plate upon purchase order. In aggregate, steel plate manufacturers announced they have been operating at 70% capacity.

Nov 2008 SE Manufacturing News p. 40-41

The Southeast Manufacturing News, published by Gross Publications, Inc. recently featured Precision Grinding, Inc. along with Yama Seiki USA, Inc. and C&S Machine Tools Systems, Inc. on pages 40-41 of the November 2008 issue. The article summarizes the cooperative relationship that takes place between the machine manufacturer, the distributor, and the purchaser of a capital equipment investment.



Precision Grinding expanded our machining capacity and capabilities with the addition of the Yama Seiki VMB-1600 CNC Machining Center during the summer of 2008. The article discusses some of the most important machine considerations for meeting today's CNC Machining requirements including the software setup, the probing/inspection capabilities, the size, the speed and the durability of the machine, and the type of integrated controls. Many of the machine features are listed. The article also discusses the relationships between the parties when meeting the challenges of service and support for the life of the machine. As a result of choosing the Yama Seiki along with their support chain, this capital improvement is leading to quicker deliveries on a wider range of machined plates with more satisfied customers.

Vendor/Client/Manufacturer/Customer cooperation is imperative in the chain of manufacturing today's steel parts. We have recently begun weighing the benefits of growing our company by partnering with other companies who manufacture machines for export. Our target is to manufacture the larger machine plates and steel parts for their specialty machines, whether for construction or for manufacturing production. We've found in addition to building these bonds, there are additional laison associations required for shipping across international borders. We're extremely lucky to live and to do business in the State of Alabama. They offer us many opportunties to meet international diplomats and consulates at regularly scheduled seminars. We'd like to offer a plug to the Alabama Development Office and to Governor Riley who are scheduling an Economic Partnering trip to Australia in June, 2009. Please, contact ADO, the Brock Business School at Samford, the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, or the Governor's office if you have interest in participating in building trade alliances with businesses in Australia and/or with businesses from exotic ports such as India, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Brazil, Peru, and / or to our close friends in Germany.

BAE Systems to host SME Chapter 143 Plant Tour

BAE Systems, Land & Armaments Division will host a Plant Tour for the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), Birmingham Chapter 143 on December 9th, 2008 at their Anniston, Alabama facility.

BAE Systems, known worldwide as "the premier global defense and aerospace company," manufactures vehicles and machinery for Land, Sea, and Air. Paul McIntosh, our chief host and a member of SME for years, serves as a Department Head for a group of Industrial Manufacturing Engineers designing and building land vehicles. He and his associates at BAE are hosting the plant tour in order to share engineering, manufacturing, and production techniques with associate members. According to Paul, "We'll begin at one manufacturing facility, then meet for a brief dinner, then tour another of our facilities."

Through its community membership, publications, expos, and professional development resources, SME promotes an increased awareness of manufacturing engineering and keeps manufacturing professionals up to date on leading trends and technologies. The Birmingham membership has recently begun meeting monthly. We've already found ways to help with educational projects, such as the Calera High School "Shop Rat Industrial Program" created and taught by Brian Copes. We also plan to help a Student Chapter form in this area.

Several colleges across the state, including Lawson State Community College, have begun to offer students advanced CNC Machining as a curriculum option. Students participating in and graduating from these types of college programs which support manufacturing and machining may find that the support that SME offers them can lead toward future opportunities. LaVada Varner of the Alabama Technology Network works in collaboration with the state of Alabama in order to bring opportunities involved with manufacturing jobs such as these toward fruition.

Precision Grinding supports the growth of manufacturing jobs in Alabama, and we are proud to be associated with members of the SME who are targeting the growth in manufacturing products for domestic needs and for exports.

If you'd like to know more about the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) please, contact Brian Everling, BrianE@PrecisionGrinding.com .

SME Machine Code Meeting at Precision Grinding

September 25, 2008

Materials Engineering Students from the University of Alabama, Huntsville (UAH) are offered an opportunity to visit and to tour Precision Grinding, Inc., Birmingham Alabama. Together with the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, SME, Precision Grinding will discuss CNC Machine Codes for CNC Machining Applications with the students.

We're building for today and we're investing in the future! As the world's leading resource for manufacturing information and knowledge, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers promotes an increased awareness of the value of manufacturing among industry professionals and the general public, while introducing young people to exciting career options in the field. Many of these engineering students have never stepped into a Steel Service & Plate Manufacturing facility. As a result of having joined forces with SME, we were able to establish contact with Dr. Sampson Gholston, an engineering Professor at UAH. A steel manufacturer, a strong manufacturing organization, and a technical research and engineering university are working together to help these students from within the State of Alabama to build the foundations for successful entry into a manufacturing economy that can serve businesses across the globe.

Manufacturing exportable products are the key to sustaining "an economy for the 21st century." By offering plate cutting services, grinding services, CNC machine services, and steel fabricating services, Precision Grinding supports manufacturers, machine shops & job shops serving industries ranging from steel mills and plywood mills to stamping and die companies serving the Automotive industry, Aerospace, Defense, and major construction projects. According to the State of Alabama's Governor Riley, Alabama is devoted to creating, developing, and operating manufacturing capacity for the economy, for quality high-paying jobs, and for opening our great state to delivering goods across the world.

The steel industry is reaching out to help some of these students find that CNC Machine Programming and Machine Shop operations are great careers that will last far into the future. The industry pays well, and the steel industry continues to grow. Steel plate products are the staple products that are required to build the custom machines that produce goods. CNC Machine operators and skilled machinists are today's "toolmakers."

We are proud to be a part of helping move Alabama and America forward.