High-Tech Keeps Machine Shops Profitable
Local manufacturers invest in new equipment to stay competitiveBy Deborah Jeanne SergeantAs with many industries, machine shops need to keep up or get left behind.At Universal Metal Works in Fulton, company president John Sharkey, IV has added a new Cincinnati, Inc. 350-ton press brake with a 16-foot bed and seven-axis CNC controls for forming metal.“It’s definitely made us a lot more efficient,” Sharkey said. “We can do more complex bending. It’s also more accurate.”The new equipment helps Universal create more pieces per hour. Although efficiency can mean a reduction in the labor force, Sharkey said that the new press brake has had an opposite effect.“If anything, it helps us get more jobs as we have more formed parts we can put together,” he said.Cincinnati, Inc. trained Universal employees on how to use the machine when they set it up about a year ago. Universal employs 32. Sharkey estimates that the return on investment should occur in around five years.One potential drawback to high-tech equipment is its eventual obsolescence; however, Sharkey feels reassured by Cincinnati’s long-term involvement in the industry and the general longevity of its equipment.“The company has equipment out in the field since the 1930s that’s still out there (more…)