MTConnect: Different Devices, Common Connection Changing ...

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2012 

THE FUTURE OF MINNESOTA MANUFACTURING 

Changing Perceptions. Increasing Workforce Quality. 

MTConnect: Different Devices, Common Connection 

PG. 12 

IN MEMORIAM 

Bill Kuban 

Legend and Legacy 

SHOP PROFILE 

PG. 16 

Bell Manufacturing and A&C Metals 

Keeping Their Saws in Tune with 

The Service Guys 

INDUSTRY PROFILE 

PG. 18 

Engineered Finishing Corp. 

A Simple Approach for Better Surface Finishing

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Precision 

Manufacturing 

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

ISO 9001: 2008 certified 

CNC Milling | CNC Turning 

Manual Milling and Turning 

Surface Grinding 

Prototypes | Assembly 

Michael Yeager President 

mike@yeagermachine.com 

www.yeagermachine.com 

415 Tacoma Circle | Norwood Young America, MN 55368 

952.467.2800 office | 952.467.2880 fax 

Supporting Minnesota in becoming the world leader in precision 

contract manufacturing and related technologies. 

Editor & Publications Manager Amy Slettum 

Sales Manager 

Tim Crolley 

Designer & Art Director 

Severyn Skoug 

MINNESOTA PRECISION MANUFACTURING ASSOCIATION 

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

952.564.3041 • www.mpma.com 

MPMA OFFICERS 

President 

Paul Huot, Huot Manufacturing Company 

Vice President 

Treasurer 

Secretary 

Executive Director 

Associate Director 

Kimberly Arrigoni, Haberman Machine, Inc. 

Daniel Meyer, International Precision Machining, Inc. 

Jennifer Salisbury, Mack Engineering Corp. 

Jaime Nolan, CAE 

Luann Bartley 

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE 

Chair, Editor-in-Chief 

Brenda Kyle - blk@sppa.com 

Michelle Gates - mgates@bpkz.com 

Bill Remes - remesbill@aol.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 ©2012 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 

4 | PRECISION MANUFACTURING September | October 2012

CONTENTS September | October 2012 

8 

DEPARTMENTS 

Departments 

7 President’s Letter 

7 MPMA Calendar 

26 Manufacturers’ 

Marketplace 

28 MPMA Member 

Directory 

33 Advertisers’ Index 

Features 

FEATURES 


8 Dream !t Do !t Initiative 


by Harrison Lloyd with contributions from Karen White 

12 In Memoriam 

Bill Kuban: Legend and Legacy 

by B Kyle 

16 Shop Profile: Bell Manufacturing and A&C Metals 

Keeping Their Saws in Tune with The Service Guys 

by Melissa DeBilzan 

18 Industry Profile: Engineered Finishing Corp. 

A Simple Approach 

22 Feature Story: MTConnect 

Different Devices, Common Connection 

by Dave Edstrom 

12 16 18 22 

COLUMNS 

Columns 

11 Manufacturing Marvels 

Election Fervor in 2012 

15 Made In Minnesota 

Tower Solutions 

20 Who’s Who 

Karen White 

Bemidji State University 

24 Best Practices 

Environmentally 

Green 

34 Metaling Affairs 

Gone Fishing 

E-CLUSIVES 

E-clusives 

E-clusives are online only 

@ www.pm-mn.com. 

End the Uncertainty so 

Manufacturing Can Grow 

Advancing Manufacturing, 

Tomorrow and Today 

Lean from Beginning 

September | October 2012 PRECISION MANUFACTURING | 5

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MPMA EVENTS: 

SEPTEMBER 

Sept. 20 - 11 a.m. registration 

SHOOT FOR SCHOLARSHIPS 

Keynote Speaker: Lawrence J. Yatch II 

Location: Minnesota Horse & Hunt Club 

OCTOBER 

Oct. 21-27 

MANUFACTURERS WEEK 


Oct. 21-27 

DREAM !T DO !T STATEWIDE TOUR OF 

MANUFACTURING 

Oct. 23 

MINNESOTA MANUFACTURERS SUMMIT 

Location: Hilton Minneapolis/St. Paul 

Airport 

Time: TBD 

Oct. 25 - 5:30 p.m. 

MPMA ANNUAL MEETING 

Location: Marriott Minneapolis West 

Oct. 30 - 6:00 p.m. 

MINNESOTA MANUFACTURING AWARDS 

Keynote Speaker: Harry Moser 

Location: Metropolitan Ballroom 

NOVEMBER 

Nov. 15 

For Members Only 

MANUFACTURING FACILITY TOUR 

Location: Mold-Tech, Inc. 

Time: TBD 

Manufacturing as a Career 

OUR FUTURE WORKFORCE 

by Paul Huot 

As manufacturers and business 

managers we are looking for the right 

employees to help our business succeed. Part 

of the current issue is that young people are 

not looking at manufacturing as a career. 

We all know the challenges. High school 

students are not shown all of the career 

opportunities possible in the manufacturing 

industry and are discouraged from pursuing 

many of the technical skills we need. 

In this issue the cover story is on the 

Dream It. Do It. initiative, educating 

people looking for a career about what 

manufacturing has to offer. I am proud 

to announce that the MPMA Board 

of Directors has approved $30,000 to 

support bringing the campaign statewide. 

Dream It. Do It. Initiative 

The Dream It. Do It. initiative is being 

sponsored by other Minnesota associations 

as well, including Tri-State Manufacturers’ 

Association, West Central Initiative 

(WCI), MNSCU’s 360° Manufacturing, 

Applied Engineering Center of Excellence, 

Central Minnesota Manufacturers 

Association, and manufacturers from the 

Brainerd Lakes area. This is another great 

example of different associations working 

together for a common cause. 

We have seen programs that promote 

jobs in manufacturing come and go without 

much success. I like this program because 

it’s nationwide, promoting manufacturing 

careers to students around the country. 

The new Dream It. Do It. Web site 

will have resources for parents, teachers, 

school counselors, and prospective future 

employees. Prospective employees can find 

information on the types of jobs available, 

what they pay, and what schools offer the 

training someone would need to get that 

position. In addition, the Web site will 

offer success stories, with video interviews 

from local people in the industry telling 

their story and how they got started in 

manufacturing and the benefits. 

If you haven’t already noticed, 

billboard advertising for the Dream 

It. Do It. initiative has already started 

PRESIDENT’S LETTER 

around the state. More billboards are 

expected to be mounted around the 

metro area as the campaign gets into 

full swing during Manufacturers Week 

in October. In addition, you will see 

online radio ads and social media sites 

promoting the campaign. 

A Younger Generation 

As an organization, the MPMA asked 

the staff to look at ideas for ways to attract 

young people to manufacturing. Harrison 

Lloyd, marketing communications 

specialist took on the project and found 

the Dream It. Do It. campaign. It included 

everything the Board had asked him to 

develop, so he figured why reinvent it. 

Harrison contacted and collaborated 

with Karen White at 360° Center of 

Excellence who manages the campaign. 

The information then was presented to the 

Board and we unanimously voted that this 

was something the MPMA could work with 

and wanted to help bring statewide. 

You can help this campaign work. 

Find employees who are excelling in your 

business and talk to them about telling 

their story. Contact Harrison@mpma. 

com for more information. 

You or someone in your organization 

also can join the MPMA Workforce 

Development Committee. The mission 

of this committee is to support industry 

through workforce development. The 

goals of this committee include: identifing 

the educational needs of the industry; 

supporting current trends within industry; 

increasing awareness of job opportunities 

in the industry; and connecting with 

industry peers. 

If you would like to get involved in 

this committee contact me at P.Huot@ 

huot.com or Jaime@mpma.com. 

PM 

PAUL HUOT is the president 

of Huot Manufacturing. He 

can be reached at 

p.huot@huot.com. 



Dream !t Do !t Initiative 


by Harrison Lloyd with contributions from Karen White 

Minnesota manufacturers continually have expressed concern about their industry’s image. Despite 

offering over 3,300 clean, high-paying new jobs to the Minnesota market every year, parents and 

teachers are not encouraging young people to consider manufacturing careers. The Dream It. Do It. 

promotional campaign is the industry’s immediate response to manufacturers’ hiring challenges, aimed 

at changing perceptions and increasing the quality of Minnesota’s manufacturing workforce. 


COVER STORY 

Dream It. Do It. is a national effort produced by the National 

Association of Manufacturers (NAM) to promote manufacturing 

careers to students around the country. Here in Minnesota, 

the initiative is spearheaded by Minnesota State Colleges and 

Universities (MNSCU’s) 360° Manufacturing and Applied 

Engineering ATE Regional Center of Excellence, led by Bemidji State 

University. The campaign has served West Central Minnesota with 

Tri-State Manufacturers’ Association since 2009 and, more recently, 

the Brainerd Lakes area manufacturers. 

In a new collaborative effort with the Minnesota Precision 

Manufacturing Association (MPMA), the campaign plans to take 

its message statewide to create a brand image for the manufacturing 

industry. The Dream it. Do it. brand name will become the banner 

that unites manufacturers, technical colleges, middle and high 

schools, students, and parents in the statewide workforce development 

effort. The new launch will feature various Minnesota manufacturers 

and their employees by sharing stories of men and women who are 

passionate about their manufacturing careers. The initiative will show 

the public what modern manufacturing looks like every day. 

Over the past few months, Dream It. Do It. has been interviewing 

a diverse group of companies and manufacturing professionals who 

have high job satisfaction and break the “assembly line” stereotype. The 

highlighted interviewees are portrayed in clean environments where 

they are well paid, respected, and engaged in their work. 

For example, Troy Stenstrom is a lead machinist at StoneL 

Corporation in Fergus Falls, Minn., and is quoted on a billboard 

saying, “Manufacturing has come back to the states … because we 

do higher quality work.” In an interview, Stenstrom reported, “You 

see something different every day in manufacturing, and you’re 

constantly learning. It’s not the grunt job that it used to be. It’s a 

respectable position.” Stenstrom is a driven guy who is passionate 

about his job, and his interview will be featured in an online video at 

DreamitDoitMN.com. 

“This is the ‘Got Milk’ campaign for manufacturing …” said 360° 

Executive Director Karen White. “We are building a recognizable 

brand that represents a paradigm shift in the way people think about 

our industry.” 

This October the campaign is launching media to represent 

the manufacturing industry, including billboards, online videos, 

online radio spots, social media pages, and a robust new web site, 

all culminating for a dramatic explosion of media during Minnesota 

Manufacturers Week October 21-27, 2012. The statewide initiative is 

targeting specific regions for this launch including the Twin Cities, 

West Central, St. Cloud, Brainard Lakes, and Mankato. 

To track the campaign’s progress, 360° will be enlisting a research 

firm to conduct surveys and watch regional employment data. In 

addition, they will be closely monitoring trends in online activity like 

Web site hits and social media conversations. 

During April and May of this year MNSCU, along with the 

Minnesota Chamber of Commerce and the Department of 

Employment and Economic Development conducted 12 listening 

sessions across Minnesota to connect with manufacturers and 

hear their workforce concerns. In all sessions, companies voiced 

concerns about the industry’s image and how young people are not 

[ continued ] 

Strong, versatile and innovative, 

Minnesota’s manufacturing sector is the 

backbone of the state’s economy. From 

high-tech electronics to high-end food products, Minnesota 

manufacturers produce a wide variety of goods that are 

known the world over for their high quality. 

CAREER OUTLOOK 

MN manufacturing has over 3,300 

job openings every year 

and paid over...... 

ECONOMIC IMPACT 

largest 

industry 

13% 

AVERAGE SALARY 

manufacturing jobs 

most MN jobs 

HERE’S WHY manufacturing 

is the backbone of the 

economy. 

of all MN jobs are in 

Manufacturing. That’s 

292,078 careers 

That’s 

Manufacturing 

Job 

creates 1.9 jobs 

in supporting 

industries 

employees 

MN FORTUNE 500 COMPANIES 

Many of the top manufacturing brands are in MN 

other MN 

Fortune 500s 

in wages to employees during 2010 

MN 

manufacturing 

Fortune 500s 


COVER STORY That’s 

employees 

MN FORTUNE 500 COMPANIES 

Many of the top manufacturing brands are in MN 

other MN 

Fortune 500s 

MN 

manufacturing 

Fortune 500s 

“The new Dream It. Do It. Web site is the central 

online space for manufacturing workforce 

development. People can share their stories, 

connect with training programs, and learn 

about the vast potential that manufacturing 

has to offer them.“ 

- Jaime Nolan, executive director of the Minnesota 

Precision Manufacturing Association 

Rated one of the top 

20 places to work for 

recent grads in 2010 

by Experience, Inc. 

2000 

1500 

1000 

500 

0 

Largest private 

company in the U.S. 

with $119.5 billion in 

revenue for 2011 

WELL EDUCATED WORKERS 

Manufacturing careers are great for 

Minnesota’s well educated population 

MINNESOTA 

STATE COLLEGES 

& UNIVERSITIES 

state for most 

high school 

diplomas 

of Minnesotans 

have a 

bachelors 

degree 

Minnesota State Colleges 

and Universities (MnSCU) 

works with the National 

Science Foundation to host 

two “Centers of Excellence” 

related to manufacturing 

where students can get 

plugged in to great careers. 

YOUR FUTURE IS HERE FOR THE MAKING 

Statistics from The MN Department of Employment and 

Economic Development. Original artwork by the 

Dream !t Do !t Campaign. DreamItDoItMN.com 

encouraged by their teachers or parents to find a career in 

manufacturing. As an immediate response to these concerns, 

Dream It. Do It. focuses on three target markets: 

1. The Youth: Both male and female in grades 6 – 12 

with an expressed interest in engineering, mechanics, 

mathematics, and tactile learning. 

2. The Futures: Male and female ages 18 – 34 who are 

unemployed or unsatisfied with current job. 

3. The Influencers: Educators, institutions, influential relatives 

of The Youth and Futures segments, and manufacturing 

companies that support workforce development. 

White comments, “Reaching these target markets will 

depend greatly on the effective collaboration between state 

and local organizations.” 

“We are seeing great interest in Dream It. Do It. from 

manufacturers and others, and believe that now is the perfect time 

to take this across the state. Our sponsors combine to create a vast 

network of manufacturers, educational influencers and students. 

It is a great foundation from which the campaign can start to build 

momentum and impact as a brand,” reported White. 

360°’s recent National Science Foundation Award qualifies 

them to become an Advanced Technological Education Regional 

Center for advanced manufacturing—which will bring continuity 

and financial support over the next 4 years to the Dream It. Do 

It. campaign. The campaign hopes to find more strategic regional 

partnerships in order to retain a steady stream of media and 

publish year-round promotions about manufacturing after the 

October launch. Dream It. Do It. is here to stay as manufacturing’s 

voice to the public. 

Want to get involved? Keep a close eye on 

DreamItDoItMN.com for the new Web site launch with 

videos, articles, and photos from the campaign. You also 

can help to make the campaign successful by sharing the 

message with your colleagues or getting involved through 

the “for industry” tab on the Web site. 

PM 

HARRISON LLOYD is the marketing communications 

specialist with the Minnesota Precision Manufacturing 

Association. He can be reached at Harrison@mpma.com. 

KAREN WHITE is the executive director of MNSCU’s 360° 

Manufacturing and Applied Engineering Center of 

Excellence at Bemidji State University. She can be 

reached at KWhite@bemidjistate.edu. 


MANUFACTURING MARVELS 

Election Fervor in 2012 

ECONOMIC FIX LIES IN MATH, NOT POLITICS 

by Fred Zimmerman 

One of my mid-20th century history 

professors was fond of asserting that 

wars were inconsequential to the 

pattern of history. He argued that 

technology, economics, demographics, 

education and moral development 

were more influential. In addition to 

wars, the professor might have added 

elections as less meaningful events in 

the long term. 

Much of the world is embroiled 

in election fervor in 2012. Citizens in 

France, Ireland, Egypt, Greece, Russia, 

several German states and the United 

States are fervently championing one 

candidate or another in the hope of 

restoring the prosperity and comfort of 

past decades. 

Yet, given our collective abhorrence 

of any sort of behavior modification or 

sacrifice, prosperity and comfort may 

no longer be within our reach. As an 

informed friend has noted, “We have 

one party that will never increase any 

taxes and another that will never stop 

spending. Where will it end?” 

Europe, the United States, and 

many other countries have something 

in common. Many of their citizens 

have absolutely no personal interest in 

participating in either responsible fiscal 

policies or qualitative improvements 

in their own activities. Yet, they insist 

that greater prosperity is due to them 

and harbor the mistaken belief that 

deep societal problems such as neglect, 

waste, declining production, overcompensation, 

premature retirements 

and profligate spending can be reversed 

by elections. As we all become energized 

in identifying the evils of opposing 

political parties, we perhaps have 

overlooked the dysfunctional influence 

that we, the citizens, have played. 

Did Greece’s economic fortunes 

improve with elections? Will 

France fare any better if that new 

administration repudiates recent 

European initiatives to forestall 

financial contagion? Will U.S. citizens 

really support the tough remedial 

actions necessary to avoid similar 

problems in this country? 

It is easy to blame elected officials, 

and many of them do have grievous 

faults. But, perhaps their greatest fault is 

listening too much to us, the constituents. 

We want to retire earlier than we should 

and we want someone else to fund it 

because we don’t save anything. 

Collectively, we want more 

social programs, no taxes, and the 

complete freedom to conduct all of 

our affairs without regulation—even 

if that sometimes results in financial 

catastrophe. We want a highly technical 

modern society, but we don’t want 

to spend any money maintaining 

the infrastructure. Almost all of us, 

individually, want any economic 

adjustments to be borne by somebody 

else. We tend to deny any responsibility 

for ourselves. 

While we fight with one another 

about which political party is the 

personification of the greatest evil, we 

are rocketing forth to an economic 

situation that is unmistakably 

arithmetic rather than political. The 

debts we are accumulating are so large 

that they are not payable without 

stifling growth, scaling back needed 

programs, raising unemployment 

and neglecting further our already 

deteriorating infrastructure. 

Whether we are Republicans, 

Democrats or Independents, this 

endemic denial of responsibility is 

likely to end poorly for us. We forget 

that interest payments are part of a 

sovereign nation’s budget that has 

priority over such worthy endeavors as 

education, health care, construction, 

maintenance and national defense. 

Interest rates are held to artificially 

low levels now. But what happens if 

the Chinese ever need their money to 

address their many unsolved social 

problems? What will interest rates be 

like then? 

The way out of the developed 

world’s difficult financial quandary 

is unlikely to be solved by electing 

anybody. We need to change ourselves. 

Serious modifications of our own 

behavior are overdue. In order to avoid 

financial implosion we are going to 

have to work with more dedication and 

innovation, accept more reasonable 

compensation, retire later, stay 

healthier, embrace practical financial 

regulation, incorporate reasonable 

taxation, collect the taxes we have, and 

make meaningful investments for the 

future. These steps should not be that 

difficult or that surprising. As recently 

noted in the Financial Times, “Billions 

of people around the world would give 

anything for what Europeans (and 

Americans) call austerity.” 

By taking these needed and overdue 

steps, our country and others like 

it, will have reasonable chances of 

avoiding the long gradual descent to 

far more problematic and less pleasant 

societies. Then, whoever is elected 

might have a chance of succeeding. 

This article was orginally published in the 

Star Tribune on June 3, 2012. Reprinted with 

permisson from Dr. Fred Zimmerman. 

DR. FRED ZIMMERMAN 

is professor emeritus 

of Engineering and 

Management at the 

University of St. Thomas. 

He can be reached at 

zimco@visi.com. 

PM 


y B Kyle 

Bill Kuban 

Legend and Legacy 

“As a legend, Bill spanned the gap 

between our industry founders and the 

leaders of today. In creating a legacy, 

Bill stewarded his father’s company 

into a secure future with an excellent 

management team and the employees 

who helped build it.” 

- Mike Neeley, president, Technology Reps 

The passing of William G. (Bill) 

Kuban in March 2012 marks the end of 

an era. Kuban was something special. He 

combined shrewd, home-grown business 

acumen with the irreverent charisma of a 

regular guy who truly cared about people. 

His life and career truly personified a 

season within the fabric of Minnesota’s 

manufacturing community that has 

been known for tough but collegial 

competition, the forging of an association 

to promote manufacturing, a humble 

yet strategic flair that has mobilized this 

sector towards ever more sophistication, 

productivity, and competitive advantage. 

Those of us fortunate enough to have 

known Kuban have lost a dear friend, 

a father, and an inspiring mentor. Our 

community is better because of Kuban. 

He will be missed. 

The Curious Entrepreneur 

“Bill was a man of infinite possibility. 

He explored ideas of all kinds because 

they were interesting. There was no up 

or down, no fences, no structure. He’d 

go straight to the possibilities. That said, 

he could ground and focus himself with 

laser intensity when needed. He was a 

remarkable man.” 

- Steve Carlsen, president, Kurt Manufacturing 

Known for his trademark sessions 

of opining in the office, asking such 

questions as “I was wondering about …,” 

Kuban always was “working on a new 

idea.” He tinkered with technology as 

esoteric as metallurgy and as earthy as 

creating racquetballs with more bounce. 

“Kuban became intrigued with the 

design of a police baton, for example,” 

Carlsen remembered with a grin. “He 

spent hours tweaking the design until he 

came up with several designs. The designs 

then became tool room prototypes that 

would be tested by everyone who came to 

his office. He was like that with everything, 

always energizing off of new ideas, looking 

for that ‘better mousetrap.’ And for every 

success, he wrestled through 100 failures. 

That’s what an entrepreneurial genius 

looks like on the ground. In truth, for 

Kuban, often the creation itself was more 

fun than the ensuing sales dollars.” 

Kern Walker, long time employee and 

friend, picked up the story with a chuckle. 

“Another one of Kuban’s ideas came from 

our days of racquetball together. We played 

all the time. Kuban would tell me that he 

couldn’t afford all the racquetballs we had 

to buy because we wore so many out. So 

he started chewing this idea, and finally 


Bill Kuban: Legend and Legacy 

designed a re-pressurization chamber from 

a used milk can canister. He put some balls 

in there, re-pressurized the canister and 

took them to the court … we didn’t have 

racquetballs anymore, we had bullets!” 

This entrepreneurial spirit was 

channeled in business through Kuban’s 

extraordinary vision. A voracious reader, 

Kuban studied economics, politics and, of 

course, his first love—manufacturing. He 

was remarkably astute at deciphering the 

effect of economic or political activities for 

manufacturing and making savvy business 

decisions to capitalize on those anticipated 

leanings. He kept alert for the next good 

business opportunity that could contribute 

to the company’s growth. 

And he shared what he learned. “As 

did many others, I often called or met with 

Kuban, over the years, in an effort to better 

understand some technical concept or get 

his take on some public policy or economic 

event that might impact manufacturing,” 

said Fred Zimmerman, professor emeritus, 

University of St. Thomas. “His insights 

into the personalities of large corporations 

were profoundly instructional—insights 

that never would be found in any academic 

article or textbook. He was very much part 

of my own education—and that of others.” 

“Conversely, Kuban was deeply 

sentimental,” finished Carlsen. “For years 

we had a 1960s vintage Omnimill OM120 

sitting on our floor. It hasn’t turned a spindle 

in years. When I would broach the subject 

of selling the machine, Kuban would shoot 

back, ‘that is a good machine, but the 

engineers just won’t put a job on it.’ He just 

liked having it around. I kept the machine 

on the floor till Kuban passed away.” 

Growing the Business 

“Kurt’s transition to a big company 

is due to what I consider to be Bill’s 

strongest attribute as a leader. He had 

the ability to let others make decisions 

and then got out of the way, while 

focusing on what he did best.” 

- Steve Carlsen, president, Kurt Manufacturing 

Kuban was an entrepreneur who 

grew his company into so much more. 

He developed his leaders’ strengths 

and released them with authority and 

empowerment. This is still a people 

business, and Kuban knew that. 

In his book, The Science to Success, 

Charles Koch talks about “decision rights.” 

Leaders earn them by making good 

decisions. It’s a process; it happens over 

time. The owner ultimately can release, 

detach appropriately, to the point that an 

organization moves beyond a personal 

enterprise into a business. “Kuban would 

employ this,” said Carlsen. “At a division 

meeting, when I had a suggestion for 

something to change or employ, he’d ask 

me, ‘Do you have the money to do that?’ It 

was his company, ultimately his money, and 

yet he had released it—he was empowering 

me to make my decisions for my division.” 

“Kuban was very, very good at letting 

go,” confirmed Walker. “He led Steve 

as he led me. He gave us latitude, he 

empowered us. Even when he didn’t 

approve of a decision, he’d let us give it 

a try—he’d let us fail. That says so much 

about Kuban’s leadership.” 

A Savvy Business Person 

Who Cared About People 

“Bill was funny, hard working, loyal, 

charming, and outrageous. Once you 

were Bill’s friend, you were friends for 

life. And he would drop everything if 

you called needing help.” 

- Ralph Hegman, president, Hegman Machine Tool 

“He just cared about what you said, 

what you were doing, why you were 

doing it, and what was going on in your 

life,” said Walker. “It made him easy to 

talk to and he got along with just about 

everybody. And he was funny. Oh, the 

stories he would tell—the stories we could 

tell. Kuban had no problem laughing at 

life. He was a good man—not perfect, but 

very good. And he wore his success so 

humbly. We worked together for almost 

40 years and we were real friends.” 

“Kuban always was available to meet 

with fellow members of the manufacturing 

community to exchange ideas, to appraise 

the economy, or to listen and appreciate 

any misfortune that anyone may have been 

having,” said Zimmerman. “His regard for 

other manufacturers was genuine. ‘We are 

competitors, but we are not enemies,’ he 

would say. During less robust periods, I 

can remember his being deeply concerned 

about some of the difficulties competitors, 

or associates, were experiencing. Often 

these concerns resulted in quiet, unknown 

help. In addition to his technical and 

managerial prowess, Kuban was a true 

friend to many.” 

Chuck Hales, a friend and business 

colleague for over 40 years, proudly 

recalled their friendship. “Kuban was 

a soft spoken man with the highest 

integrity, and one of the most caring 

people I’ve ever had the privilege of 

knowing. A couple days before Kuban 

went to heaven, he called me at home to 

see how I was doing after my recent heart 

surgery. Not one word about himself the 

whole time we talked. Our conversation 

ended with my asking him if he could 

make our annual fishing trip to South 

Dakota. He answered, ‘we’ll see.’ Kuban 

and I were friends to the end.” 

History of Kurt Manufacturing 

Kuban succeeded his father as head 

of Kurt Manufacturing in the mid- 

1970s, when the company’s annual sales 

were at $7 million. That foundation led 

to decades of long term global growth 

and expansion for Kurt under Kuban’s 

direction. He was a true visionary, 

developing branded products, which 

today account for over half of Kurt’s $100 

million in annual sales. Among these is a 

broad base of products for the hydraulics, 

machine tool and fitness markets. 

Active in the business as chairman 

until his death, Kuban completed an 

Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) 

in 2011. The completed sale transaction 

provided for the continuation of Kurt 

Manufacturing with its present senior 

executive management team and 

employees as owners of the company. 

“With the employees now owning the 

company, we are continuing to expand 

with the addition of new products and 

services, ongoing additions of highly 

automated manufacturing systems, and 

potential acquisitions,” said president 

Steve Carlsen. “The ownership transition 

put in place by Kuban is working well and 

we look forward to a bright future.” PM 

B KYLE is the vice president of business 

development at the Saint Paul Port Authority 

in Saint Paul, Minn., and a friend to Bill Kuban. 

She can be reached at blk@sppa.com. 


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MADE IN MINNESOTA 

Tower Solutions 

SECURITY, INTELLIGENCE, AND LIFE SAVING 

by Bill Remes 

Tower Solutions’ fully extended tower. 

Photo courtesy of Tower Solutions. 

Imagine yourself a member of the 

United States military, deployed in a 

hostile area, in a forward position and 

being assigned to conduct reconnaissance 

and surveillance regarding the enemy. Or 

imagine yourself as a member of the United 

States border patrol, responsible for finding 

and intercepting any illegal immigrants. 

Envision the ability to rapidly deploy your 

equipment—cameras, thermal imaging 

equipment, motion detectors, etc.—to an 

elevation of 20 to 80 feet at the push of a 

button. And, more importantly, be able to 

retrieve that equipment very rapidly and to 

depart from your forward, exposed area. 

That can be the difference between success 

and failure, and even life and death. 

Lift Payloads 

Tower Solutions, in Pine City, Minn., 

is providing the most portable, high speed, 

stable, tower equipment available on the 

market today. Their systems are capable 

of lifting payloads up to 2,000 pounds, 

reaching heights up to 80 feet. They have 

some of the most capable and highly 

sought-after systems around the world, in 

use by our own military, the Department 

of Homeland Security, and police and 

sherriff ’s departments across the nation. 

The multi-patented design is unique 

in the world of portable erectable towers. 

Prior to the first Tower Solutions models, 

the U.S. Military used only “telescoping” 

tower models which could take up to three 

people up to a full day to erect. The Tower 

Solutions units can be erected by one 

person in as little as 5 minutes. 

Unique Mechanism 

At the heart of the design is the 

completely unique hooking mechanism 

that locks the three-sided tower together, 

creating a rigid structure. Each side of 

the tower consists of sections hinged 

together, which are stowed in three 

rolls. When the patented lift system 

is activated each section hooks to the 

adjacent sections—the sections essentially 

are zipped together as they are raised, 

creating a rigid structure. Once extended, 

the tower requires no power to keep it up 

and is capable of supporting a 2,000 pound 

payload and resists winds over 65 mph. 

One of the strengths of the system is the 

design of the maintenance-free drive. The 

tower is erected to full height by means of 

gears and is powered by an electric motor. 

Other competitive towers rely on 

hydraulics, pneumatics, and cabling systems 

to erect and retract their towers. In harsh 

environments, the hydraulic and pneumatic 

systems are viewed, particularly by the 

U.S. Military, as being unreliable and easily 

compromised in critical applications. 

Numerous Applications 

Applications for the towers are not 

limited to military and security and/ 

or police applications—they have many 

commercial uses as well. John Norris, 

co-owner of Tower Solutions, showed me 

some of the applications during my visit. In 

one instance, a company developing a new 

wind turbine generator design purchased 

one of the 80-foot towers for testing and 

fine-tuning the performance of their 

unique electric generator. Tower Solutions 

was selected for this task because it could 

quickly and easily elevate the turbine 

up into the wind to take performance 

measurements and retract the turbine 

to make engineering adjustments. This 

capability significantly accelerated the 

research and development progress of the 

turbine. It provided the added benefit of 

having their employees working on the unit 

at ground level, rather than while elevated. 

Recently, Tower Solutions developed 

a scaled down tower unit that is in the 

pre-production stage of development. 

This small, tabletop unit is capable of 

elevations up to 20 feet, which makes it 

highly effective for mobile surveillance and 

reconnaissance. It deploys any payload up 

to 100 pounds in less than 60 seconds and 

offers excellent wind resistance for steady 

monitoring of surveillance. 

But the story that Norris related that 

I enjoyed the most was of the experience 

by co-owner Steve Kensinger, while at 

a trade show over in Europe. A U.S. 

Marine attending the trade show told 

Kensinger that he, recently, had been 

serving in the Middle East working in a 

forward reconnaissance position using 

their tower. The soldier said that once an 

80-foot structure is extended into the sky, 

everyone knows your position. The speed 

of retracting the tower allowed them to get 

out of the area before local mortar units 

could aim their weapons and launch an 

attack. This tower, without doubt, in his 

opinion saved U.S. lives. 

Tower Solutions is truly a “Made in 

Minnesota” success story of which we all 

can be proud. 

PM 

BILL REMES is a Sales & 

Marketing Consultant in 

Manufacturing and Capital 

Equipment and can be 

reached at 

remesbill@aol.com 

sponsored by HEGMAN MACHINE TOOL INC. 


Bell Manufacturing and A&C Metals 

KEEPING THEIR SAWS IN TUNE WITH 

THE SERVICE GUYS 

To keep up with increased demand 

for its products, Bell Manufacturing, 

a custom metal fabricator located in 

Golden Valley, feeds its band saws 

almost continuously. Business is up 

15 percent this year over last year and, 

if one machine breaks down, it could 

lead to days or weeks of backlog. For 

that reason, the company relies on The 

Service Guys for emergency repairs and 

routine maintenance. 

A family-owned business since 1965, 

Bell Manufacturing works with all types 

of metal to make a variety of products, 

from industrial shelving to store fixtures. 

The majority of its business, however, is 

making steel furniture and accessories, 

such as loft beds, table bases, and outdoor 

furniture. Currently, it is a major supplier 

to Room and Board, one of the largest 

furniture retailers in the United States. 

Last year, however, a portion of Bell 

Manufacturing’s business nearly came 

to a screeching halt. One of its two band 

saws stopped working and needed to be 

fixed immediately. It appeared there was 

a problem with the wiring that controlled 

the machine’s backstop. Steve Buckman, 

maintenance supervisor, called the 

machine’s manufacturer in Germany and 

was shocked to learn that a replacement 

system would cost $10,000 and take 2 to 3 

months to arrive. 

Buckman’s next call was to The 

Service Guys, a local metalworking 

machine repair company. He had been 

doing business with founders Chris 

Tarvestad and Dave Meyer for more 

than a decade, even before he was hired 

Chris Tarvestad (left) and 

Dave Meyer (right) at IMTS. 

at Bell Manufacturing, and wanted a 

second opinion. Tarvestad recommended 

a product called a Tigerstop, which was 

retrofitted to the machine and performed 

as well as the replacement system at a 

fraction of the cost. Within a week, the 

band saw was up and running. 

The Tigerstop has been in use for 

nearly a year without any problems. In 

fact, Bell Manufacturing installed another 

Tigerstop on its second band saw a few 

months later. 

“It has been a lifesaver,” Buckman 

said. “Essentially, we got a brand new 

machine for $8,000 installed and under 

warranty. Plus it’s a lot easier to use. The 

old system was a moveable backstop or 

link stop, which was very complicated for 

the average person to use. Now anyone 

with 5 minutes of training can walk right 

up to these machines and use them. 

The controls are as simple to use as a 

handheld calculator.” 

Over the years, The Service Guys 

have worked on at least a dozen other 

“There have been several times when 

The Service Guys were able to repair 

or debug a machine faster than the 

manufacturers of those machines …” 

- Jeff Jensen, plant manager, A&C Metals 

machines at Bell Manufacturing, from 

CNC mills to cold saws to band saws. 

Often times The Service Guys are able 

to walk Buckman through repair and 

maintenance right over the phone. 

“I would highly recommend them to 

other companies,” he said. “They have a 

wide knowledge base and have always 

been able to get our machines up and 

running quickly.” 

A&C Metals 

A&C Metals, another longtime 

customer, agrees. This metal service 

center, located in Blaine, relies on The 

Service Guys to repair all of its metal 

cutting machines in order to keep up 

with local demand for next-day delivery 

on pre-cut metals. A&C Metal’s band 

saws, cold saws, precision plate saws and 

contour saws run 24 hours a day, 6 days a 

week, resulting in at least one breakdown 

every few weeks. But nothing has been 

beyond repair for The Service Guys, 

according to Jeff Jensen, plant manager. 

“There have been several times 

when The Service Guys were able to 

repair or debug a machine faster than 

the manufacturers of those machines,” 

he said. “Several years ago, for example, 

one of our plate saws broke down, so 

the machine’s manufacturer sent out a 

technician. The technician spent 3 days 

working on the machine but couldn’t 

figure out what was wrong. I called Chris 

and he was able to repair it in 1 hour.” 

“Another time there was a problem 

with one of our cold saws,” added Jon 

Degnan, foreman. “Dave stopped by on 

his way up to the cabin and spent 3 hours 

fixing the machine, with his wife waiting 

patiently in the parking lot—all so the 

machine would be ready for the first shift 

on Monday morning. That’s the kind of 

service they provide.” 

In addition to routine maintenance 

and emergency repairs, A&C Metals relies 

on The Service Guys for machine parts as 

well. It recently began purchasing a new 

16 | PRECISION MANUFACTURING September | October 2012 

PAID SUPPLEMENT

SHOP PROFILE 

“If you schedule regular maintenance a few times per year, 

we can catch 90 percent or more of all the failures you’ll 

potentially see within the next few months, especially with 

regard to bearings and blades …” 

- Chris Tarvestad, founder, The Service Guys 

line of band saw blades and discovered 

that they perform just as well as the topend 

blades, for less money. 

“We just feel there’s nothing they can’t 

do,” Jensen said, “whether it’s solving 

a tough problem with a machine or 

knowing which parts we don’t have to 

order from the manufacturer.” 

About The Service Guys 

Tarvestad and Meyer started The 

Service Guys as a “service only” company 

in 2004, after working for several years 

as field service engineers for a local 

distributor. Today, they sell and service a 

full line of production machinery for small 

manufacturers as well as large OEMs. 

They also handle special applications 

and integration in-house. Most of their 

customers are in the Midwest area but, 

since they receive referrals from many 

machine manufacturers, they get calls 

from people all over the country. 

The most common problems they see 

on band saws, according to Tarvestad, are 

parts coming off the machines that are 

not cut straight and true, and saw blades 

that may last only a fraction of the time 

they should. To avoid these issues, he 

offers manufacturers two words of advice: 

scheduled maintenance. 

“If you schedule regular maintenance a 

few times per year, we can catch 90 percent 

or more of all the failures you’ll potentially 

see within the next few months, especially 

with regard to bearings and blades,” he 

said. “This is so much easier to deal with 

than an emergency downtime situation, 

because we can schedule downtime for 

inspection inside your work schedule, not 

in an emergency case when the machine 

stops working.” 

Recently, The Service Guys began 

refurbishing and selling used machines 

to complement their offering of new 

machinery. However, service has and 

always will be the focus of the business. 

“We service first and sell by accident,” 

Tarvestad said. “I think our customers 

appreciate that approach.” 

PM 

For more information about The Service Guys, visit www.theserviceguys.net or contact Chris 

Tarvestad at 763.234.9810 or chris@theserviceguys.net. 

Above: Two Tigerstop linear measurement rails operate back-to-back as installed on Bell’s Kaltenback saws. 

PAID SUPPLEMENT 


10044 Goodhue St. NE 

Blaine, MN 55449 

Phone: 763.785.9278 

Email: bertb@engfinish.com 

A SIMPLE APPROACH 

FOR BETTER SURFACE FINISHING 

In the race to compete and stay 

ahead on a global scale, manufacturing 

firms constantly must look to improve 

equipment utilization and throughput. A 

big part of staying ahead is the reduction 

and/or elimination of non-value added 

activities or waste through continuous 

improvement of the entire value chain. 

Over-processing is waste when it occurs 

anytime more work is done on a piece 

than is required by the customer. This 

also includes using tools that are more 

precise, complex, or expensive than 

absolutely required and includes using 

milling centers for surface finishing. 

The term “surface finish” refers 

to the surface, including the texture, 

the flaws, the material, and/or any 

applied coatings. We generally describe 

the surface topography in terms of 

texture. Surface texture is most often 

characterized by four parameters: 

roughness, waviness, lay, and flaws. 

Surface roughness consists of fine 

irregularities in the surface texture, 

usually those resulting from the inherent 

action of a production process, such as 

feed marks produced during machining. 

Waviness is a more widely spaced 

component of surface texture and can 

result from such factors as machine or 

work deflections, vibration, or chatter. 

Lay is the direction of the predominant 

surface pattern. This typically would be 

in the length direction for tubes. Profiles 

almost always are made in a direction 

perpendicular to the lay of the surface. 

Tubing profiles usually are parallel to the 

lay direction. 

Flaws are unintentional, unexpected, 

and unwanted interruptions in the 

surface such as cracks, nicks, scratches, 

burrs, hangers, and ridges. 

Figure 1 

As shown in Figure 1 (above), 

surfaces produced with a milling 

process can have a strong lay pattern, 

i.e., they are unidirectional. The 

generation of a lay pattern is accepted 

and understood when you consider 

that milling technology is a production 

process where a rotating cutter is moved 

sequentially along prescribed tool paths. 

The final surface roughness from milling 

might be considered as the sum of two 

independent effects: 1) the surface 

roughness is a result of the geometry 

of tool and feed rate; and 2) the natural 

surface roughness is a result of the 

irregularities in the cutting operation 

(tool path/motion). 

The desired surface finish/roughness 

usually is specified by a design engineer 

and the appropriate processes are 

selected by a manufacturing and/or a 

process engineer. Most specifications 

call out a surface finish roughness 

described and measured as a Ra value 

with Ra being calculated per the ANSI 

B46.1 standard. 

Illustrated in Figure 2 (below) is a 

surface roughness profile along with the 

formula for calculating Ra. Producing 

the part to the Ra specification, 

including how rough the surface is, 

for many reasons, directly impacts the 

functional attributes of parts, including 

surface friction, wear, light reflection, 

heat transmission, ability of distributing 

and holding a lubricant, and fatigue, etc. 

The two primary objectives in 

machining are the production of parts 

with low cost and high quality. To 

achieve these objectives, maximum and 

minimum feed rates and cutting speeds, 

depths of cut as well as tool life, cutting 

force, surface roughness, and cutting 

power consumption are considered. 

Figure 2 

18 18 | | PRECISION MANUFACTURING September | | October 2012 2012

INDUSTRY PROFILE: ENGINEERED FINISHING CORP. 

The first step for minimizing is 

to reduce the costs for individual 

finishing and roughing passes for the 

various depths of the cut. Considered 

in the next step is the combination of 

depths of the cut for the finishing and 

roughing passes. Depth of cuts, along 

with an optimal number of passes, 

are combined with the stepover path 

distance to minimize run times and 

cost. The stepover value determines 

whether the surface finish on a 

component is rough or smooth. 

For example, when using a 

flatbottomed tool such as an end 

mill, the stepover value is normally 

around 70 percent of the cutter 

diameter in combination with depth, 

feed, and speed rates. Raster passes, 

radial passes, spiral passes, morph 

passes, and boundary passes are the 

methods of choice for true surface 

machining. Allocating expensive CNC 

machine time for cleanup and surface 

finishing should be considered overprocessing 

and costly when measured 

in machine time (throughput dollars) 

and the achieved results. Abrasive Flow 

Grinding (also known as abrasive flow 

machining) is a cost effective machining 

process for finishing and polishing a 

surface, including difficult-to-reach 

surfaces and internal passages. 

The Abrasive Flow Grinding process 

involves three principle elements: a 

tooling fixture, the machine, and the 

abrasive. The typical Abrasive Flow 

Grinding process uses two opposing 

cylinders to push the media in two 

directions, i.e., back and forth with a 

controlled flow pressure. Tooling is 

used to direct the media flow across the 

surface of the part and through internal 

passages and intersecting passages. Flow 

grinding action occurs wherever the 

media comes in contact with a surface. 

The flow pressure as well as the number 

of finishing cycles (back and forth media 

grinding/flow) are controlled. 

A workpiece fixture is used to hold 

a part or multiple parts for processing. 

The fixture directs and controls the 

volume and pressure of media flow 

across surfaces and through internal 

passages. Lightweight fixtures are placed 

on and removed from the lower media 

Figure 3 

cylinder by the machine operator. The 

lower media cylinder (the processing 

station) is located in the center of the 

worktable. Higher production and/ 

or heavier fixtures can be positioned 

automatically from the loading station to 

the processing station by a hydraulically 

actuated dual fixture rotary table. In the 

way of increasing throughput dollars, 

flow grinding reduces other costs by 

reducing and/or eliminating handwork 

that may not be as uniform, repeatable, 

or predictable. 

The flow grinding media is made of 

a flowable polymer carrier mixed with 

one or more sizes of abrasive grain. The 

media viscosity range is from a soft, 

almost grease-like consistency, to a firm, 

putty-like material consistency. With 

a pure grinding and polishing backand-forth 

type of action, the grinding/ 

abrasive media flows across surfaces 

or through internal passages to refine 

surfaces and edges. 

The most commonly used abrasives 

are silicon carbide and aluminum oxide. 

These provide a good balance between 

high performance and moderate cost. 

Typically, the particle sizes of abrasives 

used range from a coarse 20 mesh 

abrasive (average particle size ~0.9 

mm) to a very fine 600 mesh abrasive 

(average particle size ~0.9 microns). 

Abrasive media will contain around 25 

percent up to around 67 percent, by 

weight of the abrasive grain. 

Abrasive Flow Grinding has helped 

us achieve polished and lapped external 

and internal passages characterized by 

their measured Ra values. Tools that are 

used together can help to reduce waste 

as measured in throughput dollars and 

over processing. All production practices 

promote the reduction of waste, 

reduction of over-processing, and the 

control of flow for increasing throughput 

dollars. The benefits of milling a finished 

surface probably are not worth the cost. 

Several examples of surface finishes we 

have accomplished with abrasive flow 

grinding are shown below. 

September | October | 2012 2012 PRECISION MANUFACTURING | 19| 19

WHO’S WHO 

Karen White, Bemidji State University 

DREAMING IT. DOING IT. 

by Stephani Simon 

There could not be a more appropriate 

personality affiliated with the Dream 

It. Do It. campaign than Karen White. 

She embodies the motto at home as 

well as in her role as executive director 

of MNSCU’s 360° Manufacturing and 

Applied Engineering Center of Excellence 

at Bemidji State University. 

The Dream 

Born and raised in Moorhead, Minn., 

White’s life seems to have been based 

on a series of focused dreams that she 

has accomplished over time. In high 

school, White had a strong desire to 

compete, and naturally gravitated toward 

sports—namely tennis and cheerleading. 

She also began to discover a passion for 

engineering, taking male-dominated shop 

courses like automotive mechanics. It 

was then that White began to dream of a 

career in engineering. 

Setting out to make her dream a 

reality, White enrolled in the engineering 

program at the University of Minnesota- 

Duluth. She graduated with a bachelor’s 

degree in chemical engineering and 

went on to obtain a Master of Science in 

Chemical Engineering at the University 

of Kentucky. 

Turning Dreams into Reality 

It was after graduation that White’s 

degree introduced her to the world of 

manufacturing, when she accepted an 

engineering job at Imation in Wahpeton, 

North Dakota, a diskette manufacturing 

plant. It was at Imation that she came 

to understand how products are made. 

White credits Imation for her biggest 

learning moments, including being part 

of a 13-member plant management 

team responsible for meeting corporate 

objectives. She also came to love the fast 

pace of the manufacturing industry and 

the diverse aspects that the industry had 

to offer, whether it was focusing on safety, 

quality, cost, or capacity. 

After 5 years of being in engineering 

and management roles at Imation, White 

Karen White, executive director, 360° with 

kids left to right: Justin, Lauren and Alec. 

ventured back into the world of higher 

education, taking on an engineering 

operations role at North Dakota State 

University (NDSU) in the Center for 

Nanoscale Science and Engineering. At 

NDSU, she gained an understanding and 

passion for how businesses, universities, 

and governments form partnerships. 

Ultimately, the role became a natural segue 

into her career at Bemidji State, where she 

helps train workers for the manufacturing 

industry and has become involved with 

the Dream It. Do It. campaign. 

The Initiative 

It was in early 2007 that a lack 

of skilled workers in manufacturing 

prompted White to seek out support 

from the Minnesota Department of 

Employment and Economic Development. 

This is when she first was introduced to 

the concept of Dream It. Do It. Because 

of her passion around the campaign, 

White now works with the Minnesota 

Precision Manufacturing Association, 

Tri-State Manufacturers’ Association, 

West Central Initiative, Central Minnesota 

Manufacturers Association, and 

manufacturers from the Brainerd Lakes 

area to further the campaign’s initiatives, 

promoting a clear understanding of 

advanced, high-tech manufacturing. 

White carries this same dream it, 

do it philosophy into her home life. 

Having met her husband Jim in college, 

a Minnesota native from Cook (a small 

community north of the Iron Range), the 

pair is determined to teach their three 

kids about the diverse lifestyle Minnesota 

has to offer. The family, including Alec 

(13), Justin (9) and Lauren (4), often 

travels around the state taking advantage 

of rural and city living. 

One favorite White always looks 

forward to is visiting the farmstead of 

Jim’s grandfather that was established 

more than 80 years ago just north of 

Cook. They also can be found enjoying 

cabin life near their home in Bemidji. 

In addition to waterskiing and fishing, 

the family enjoys downhill skiing and 

hunting. Indeed, rarely a week goes by 

without playing sports of some kind. 

For White, that includes exercising her 

competitive nature by playing on a tennis 

league. The family also frequently travels 

to the Twin Cities, taking in sporting 

events, attending cultural exhibits, and 

visiting family. 

Open to Experiences 

“We want our kids to grow up 

knowing that hard work has rewards: to 

enjoy life, and to be open to experiences,” 

White said during the interview. 

This also means getting them to 

think about their futures. White works 

to involve the family in technology, 

robotics, and Camp Invention activities. 

She wants them to know what the inside 

of manufacturing facilities look like and 

how product development happens. 

White’s ultimate dream is for youth to 

be accepted when they say, “I want to be a 

welder.” Until then, she intends to continue 

to highlight the impact that manufacturing 

has to the state’s and nation’s economic 

PM 

health and to live her dreams. 

STEPHANI SIMON is 

the president of Orange 

Communications in 

Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

She can be reached at 

ssimon@orange77.com. 


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www.productivity.com

MTConnect: 

by Dave Edstrom 

Different Devices, Common Connection 

In 2008, Paul Warndorf, 

vice president of manufacturing 

technology for the Association for 

Manufacturing Technology (AMT), 

wrote an introductory article for 

Precision Manufacturing on the 

topic of MTConnect. A great deal 

has happened since then. A wide 

range of organizations has invested 

in MTConnect, from small shops up 

to the U.S. Department of Defense. 

More importantly, members of the 

Minnesota Precision Manufacturing 

Association (MPMA) can change their 

shop or plant productivity radically by 

embracing MTConnect. 

The beginning of MTConnect goes 

back to late 2006, when AMT held its 

annual meeting in Lake Las Vegas. This 

is where MTConnect was born—an 

open and royalty-free standard with 

the potential to dramatically change 

manufacturing around the globe. 

In preparation for the annual 

meeting, I worked with Dr. David 

Patterson of the University of California- 

Berkeley. Patterson and I worked closely 

together on our back-to-back keynotes 

for the meeting and it was there that 

AMT decided to fund MTConnect. 

What Exactly is MTConnect? 

MTConnect is an open standard 

that converts the many different 

proprietary manufacturing equipment 

data formats into the common 

language of the Internet, which 

all applications speak. Think of 

MTConnect as a standard using 

proven Internet protocols that are the 

“rules of the road” on how information 

will be shared. MTConnect is 

the Manufacturing Technology 

Connection between manufacturing 

equipment and applications. 

Another way to think of MTConnect 

is like a “bluetooth for manufacturing 

equipment.” Bluetooth works when two 

different devices support it, such as your 

cellphone and your car, or your computer 

and other peripherals. MTConnect 

works when both the manufacturing 

equipment and the software applications 

support MTConnect. 

To clarify, MTConnect is not an 

application, such as Microsoft Excel, but 

it is how a machine tool would speak to 

a shop floor monitoring program. This 

program might be running a PC or Mac 

on the shop floor, on your iPhone or the 

PC in your office. In other words, now 

you can see what is happening on your 

shop floor anywhere, anytime on an 

Internet-enabled device. 

Shop floor monitoring is the first 

obvious type of application that has 

become MTConnect-enabled. Some 

popular examples of information that 

could be analyzed through monitoring 

include OEE, asset utilization, diagnostics, 

and machine health. If you are a shop 

owner, a plant manager, or anyone in 

manufacturing who manages productivity 

and profitability, the first questions you 

should be asking are: How can monitoring 

our shop floor improve our business; and 

why is it important that MTConnect is 

the standard that is chosen to connect our 

shop floor to our applications? 

When considering shop floor 

monitoring, it is important to remember 

John Turner’s Five Laws of Manufacturing: 

1. We measure what goes into 

production and what comes out; 

we have little data on what really 

happens on the production floor. 

2. If anyone says “I know exactly what 

is happening on my plant floor” – 

don’t believe them. 

3. We don’t gather data because it’s 

hard, and someone has to look at it. 

4. No one solution or set of data 

works for everyone. 

5. If you don’t have an avid champion, 

save your time and money. 

How you Get the Data 

When you decide to monitor your 

shop floor, remember this: How you get 

the data matters. Choose a standard that 

provides the widest selection of solutions 

and provides the greatest flexibility as 

your needs change. MTConnect is a 

standard that provides the most widely 

adopted manufacturing data standard in 

the industry. It currently is used in more 

than 14 monitoring applications with 

more coming. 

If you are attending IMTS 

2012, please stop by the Emerging 

Technology Center. We will be showing 

MTConnect-enabled applications in 

the following categories: 

 

Efficiency: Understanding Hidden 

Cost 

 

Utilization: Discovering Untapped 

Capacity 

 

Sustainability: Minimizing 

Negative Environmental Impacts 

 

Managing Your Plant Anywhere, 

Anytime (mobile devices) 

The Technology Behind 

MTConnect 

In order to better appreciate 

how MTConnect works, we need to 

dive down just a little bit into the 

technology. Everyone is familiar with 

the concept of a Web site such as 

mpma.com. If you type that address 

into your browser, information shows 

up on your screen. Information 


FEATURE STORY 

Remember, MTConnect is not an application. MTConnect is a 

standard that connects manufacturing equipment to applications. 

shows up on your browser because 

the MPMA has a web server that 

answers your requests and sends 

information back to your browser. 

The two primary technologies that 

make all this work are http, which is 

how your browser communicates with 

MPMA’s web server, and XML, which 

is the actual language passed to your 

browser that represents the data being 

displayed. MTConnect basically works 

the same way. 

MTConnect puts a very efficient 

and secure web server in front of 

manufacturing equipment. 

Agent.MTConnect.org, a machine 

tool simulator running on the 

Internet, provides information 

about the machine tool’s physical 

components and what data (alarms, 

spindle speed, feed rate, etc.) can be 

retrieved. 

One of MTConnect’s key design 

aspects is that, when information comes 

back to the application, it includes a 

reference to a dictionary that specifically 

defines the physical components and 

the data items. The beauty of this 

approach is that all software speaks 

http and XML, so it is very easy for 

MTConnect- enabled applications 

to speak to your manufacturing 

equipment. A good example of this is 

using a spreadsheet to get information 

with MTConnect. While you likely 

would not use a spreadsheet to monitor 

your shop floor, the point here is that 

MTConnect makes it very easy to get 

the data in a format other applications 

can easily use. 

The MTConnect Institute 

Companies, organizations, 

and even individuals can join the 

MTConnect Institute for free. 

Additionally, it is free to deploy the 

MTConnect protocol. MTConnect also 

adopts the open source philosophy, 

offering collaboration for multiple 

end users. We do this because we 

strongly believe a common protocol is 

the technology equivalent of a “rising 

tide lifting all ships.” In other words, 

everyone wins when manufacturing 

equipment can easily be connected. 

MTConnect Institute members 

may take the MTConnect protocol 

and bundle it with their software or 

manufacturing equipment. They are 

free to sell it or include it free with their 

software or systems. 

Today, only 4 to 5 percent of 

machine tools around the globe are 

monitored. MTConnect is changing 

that and impacting manufacturing in 

countless ways. You cannot manage 

what you cannot measure and 

MTConnect is making it very easy for 

shops and plants to get manufacturing 

equipment data—to better manage their 

business in an intelligent fashion. 

Many shops and plants that have 

embraced MTConnect. Joel Neidig, 

technology manager for ITAMCO, has 

made his shop MTConnect-enabled. 

Mr. Neidig has written a mobile 

MTConnect application that he gives 

away for both the iPhone and Android 

phone platforms. He and his company 

use this app so they can check their 

plant anywhere at any time. Others can 

take it and improve the app with the 

idea of sharing those improvements 

with all. This is a classic open source. 

MTConnect has improved productivity 

for ITAMCO because you cannot 

manage what you do not know. You 

know by monitoring your shop and 

taking action with that information. 

ARC Technology Group wrote an 

interesting article titled, “MTConnect 

Standard for Machine Tools Drives 

Sustainable Manufacturing for US 

DoD.” As the author, Himanshu Shah, 

writes, “The Title 10 program has 

been taken on as a strategic initiative 

to further DoD activities and policies 

that promote the development and 

application of advanced technologies 

to manufacturing processes, tools, and 

equipment. While the program does not 

include specific metrics, it is intended to 

‘… improve the manufacturing quality, 

productivity, technology, and practices 

of businesses and workers providing 

goods and services to the DoD.’” 

Comments from those inside 

DoD have been made that, perhaps, 

MTConnect should be a standard for 

their department. That’s because open, 

royalty-free and open source technology 

already has been proven to help DoD 

become more productive (saving 

both time and money). Why should 

these lessons learned not be applied to 

manufacturing for DoD? 

Where is MTConnect Today 

in its History? 

We are in our third release with 

MTConnect, with many exciting 

things taking place. We had our first 

ever [MC]2 MTConnect: Connecting 

Manufacturing Conference, which was 

a huge success. We have made 23 hours 

of videos available on a number of 

topics, including help for the first-time 

MTConnect user, end-user discussions 

on lessons learned, and how to write 

MTConnect-enabled software. Be sure 

to visit MTConnect.org to learn more. 

At the MTConnect Institute our 

mantra is “MTConnect is Different 

Devices, Common Connection.” As the 

president and chairman of the board 

for the MTConnect Institute, my final 

message is that MTConnect is REAL, 

it is a revolution in manufacturing, and 

you should investigate it today to help 

improve productivity in your shop. 

A great place to ask questions 

regarding shop floor monitoring and 

MTConnect is at the new 

http://MTConnectForum.com. 

PM 

DAVE EDSTROM is president and chairman 

of the MTConnect Institute. He can be 

reached at davidallenedstrom@gmail.com. 


BEST PRACTICES 

Best Practices: Environmentally Green 

METAL CRAFT MACHINE & ENGINEERING, INC. 

by Dustin Norton 

This series is meant to provide you with the opportunity to read how selected MPMA members handle and manage 

various best practices within their company, giving you insight and information as a resource for your business on several 

topics throughout the year. 

Since 1978, Metal Craft Machine 

& Engineering, Inc. has been striving 

to offer exceptional quality, service 

and innovation to all of its customers 

as a leading machine and engineering 

shop. In the early-1990s, Metal Craft 

switched its focus from general 

machining to the medical device 

and implant industry. This switch 

proved to be a smart move and today 

Metal Craft is a national leader in the 

medical device industry. 

In 2007, their 25,000-squarefoot 

shop in Elk River, Minn., was 

running low on space, so they 

began the planning process for a 

new 83,000-square-foot shop right 

across town. The shop, which opened 

in 2009, was created with quality, 

efficiency, and the environment in 

mind. Throughout the planning 

process top management and shop 

workers thought of ways Metal 

Craft could maintain its high quality 

standards, while being efficient, 

employee friendly, and good for 

the environment. 

Quality was the primary focus 

when designing the new production 

floor. Everything in the shop 

centers on quality, which is why the 

quality department is located in the 

middle of the production floor. This 

makes it easier to get to the quality 

department from all areas of the 

shop, improving the time and flow 

of products through the shop. The 

quality department also is right in 

line with the building’s offices and 

front doors, making it easy to reach 

when customers come to visit. To 

increase its visibility, the production 

floor is surrounded by windows, 

making the shop much brighter 

during the day. This was also the first 

step in making the shop more energy 

efficient. Lighting a production floor 

of this size would be a challenge and 

a costly expense. The windowed 

rotunda design brought in natural 

light, which allowed the shop to 

rely less on its energy efficient T5 

fluorescent light bulbs during the 

day. In addition, white walls and 

floors dramatically increased the 

brightness of the production floor, 

which created a noticeable change 

on the work environment. 

Since moving to the new 

shop, workers are more motivated 

and happy according to Rhonda 

Jorgenson, production floor manager 

at Metal Craft. In addition, she 

believes that it has led to better 

organization and cleanliness on the 

part of employees. With the shop 

being brighter, it has created the 

desire for workers to stay organized 

and keep their work stations clean 

and the shop looking pristine. 

These changes, along with the 

shop floor layout helped not only 

the quality of the products, but the 

flow throughout the shop. From 

the time a product enters the shop 

to when it leaves, it follows an easy 

flow through departments. Raw 

materials arrive at the west end of 

the shop; from there they go to their 

designated departments surrounding 

quality, and are shipped from the 

They maintained high industry 

standards and quality requirements; 

they built a shop designed for 

performance, while being as energy 

efficient as possible. 

east end of the building. This creates 

less confusion and congestion in the 

shop. The crew itself even has a flow 

as they enter for their day. Lockers 

and showers are located right by 

the employee entrance. From there 

they can enter the break room or 

go straight into the shop, which 

alleviates congestion during shift 

changes and breaks. 

With quality and efficiency 

covered, the next goal was to finish 

making the shop environmentally 

friendly. One of the biggest problems 

was the heat that was created due to 

the windows in the production floor. 

continued 


BEST PRACTICES 

To solve this, Metal Craft installed an 

energy efficient HVAC system which 

uses the shops duct work to push 

cool air from the floor up during 

the summer, as well as pull warm air 

down from the ceiling in the winter. 

This dramatically reduces heating and 

cooling costs throughout the year. In 

addition, Metal Craft was built with a 

white vinyl roof instead of a standard 

black roof. Founder of Metal Craft 

Jack Mowry said that it makes the 

roof about 55 degrees cooler than the 

temperature of a black roof. 

The production floor wasn’t the 

only area of the building with the 

environment in mind. The building 

was built with a reverse osmosis 

system, allowing employees to fill 

reusable water bottles instead of 

using disposable plastic bottles. The 

Being environmentally friendly is 

still as high a priority as serving their 

customers. 

carpet in the office also was selected 

with the environment in mind—30 

percent is recycled carpet and 100 

percent is recyclable in the future. 

Outside of the building, recycling 

and scraps are kept in dry storage to 

prevent runoff into the ground. They 

are kept in a dual door system so that 

the air temperature does not affect 

that of the production floor. Finally, 

a runoff pond was created behind 

the shop to allow rain water from the 

building to re-enter the water table. 

Metal Craft was able to create 

a new standard for production 

facilities. They maintained high 

industry standards and quality 

requirements; they built a shop 

designed for performance, while 

being as energy efficient as possible. 

Being environmentally friendly is 

still as high a priority as serving 

their customers. They have reduced 

cost and become energy-efficient all 

while serving their customers better 

every day. 

PM 

DUSTIN NORTON is the marketing/public 

relations intern for Metal Craft Machine 

& Engineering, Inc. He can be reached at 

drnorton@metal-craft.com. 

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MANUFACTURERS’ MARKETPLACE 

A few months ago we didn’t even know how to spell 

Positive Material Identification 

and now we’re selling it. 

Lucky for you our sales guys are quick learners. They’ve already become 

experts on PMI and Multilayer Plating Thickness Measurement systems 

from Oxford Instruments. And they’re ready to use their newfound knowledge 

to help you choose an Oxford system that works for you. 

PRODUCTIVITY QUALITY INC 

763.249.8130 . 800.772.0620 . www.gagesite.com 

Specialty Equipment Metrology Tools & Service 

Join MPMA 

ConneCt with industry. engage with eduCation. 

education 

government relations 

networking 

Publications / Communication / 

advertising 

Workforce development 

For more information on membership, education, publications and events 

please visit www.mpma.com 

to drive success in minnesota precision manufacturing 


MEMBER DIRECTORY 

Lifetime Members 

Dr. James Bensen 

Bemidji State University 

(218) 755-2950 

mbensen@bemidjistate.edu 

Dave Yeager 

(320) 564-3937 

Dr. Fred Zimmerman 

(612) 867-8368 

zimco@visi.com 

A. Finkl & Sons Co. 

Bob Myers 

bobm@finkl.com 

(612) 724-8967 

A-1 Engineering 

Todd Craft 

M Page 1todd.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 

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 

dmaurer@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 

Joe Bohrer 

joeb@ameristarmfg.com 

(507) 625-1515 

Anderson Automatics, Inc. 

Doug Anderson 

douga@andersonautomatics.com 

(763) 533-2206 

Anderson Dahlen Inc. 

Steve Head 

heas@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) 576-4700 

Anoka-Ramsey 

Community College 

Allan Callander 

allan.callander@anokaramsey.edu 

(763) 433-1225 

Applied Products, Inc. 

Brian Carlson 

mpmainfo@appliedproducts.com 

(952) 912-2403 

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 

Paul Poncin 

paul.poncin@associatedbank.com 

(651) 307-0579 

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. 

Stephanie Miller 

steph@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 

Benson-Orth General Contractors 

Luke Fellows 

lukef@benson-orth.com 

(612) 919-4427 

Bermo Inc. 

Nancy Hartman 

nancy.hartman@bermo.com 

(763) 786-7676 

Bizal Manufacturing Co. 

Mike Bizal, Jr. 

bizalmfg@bizalmfg.com 

(763) 571-4030 

Black Line Group 

Scott Schmidt 

scott@blacklinegrp.com 

(763) 550-0111 

D.I. Resin 

for your EDM – 

You get the best 

buy with ABA. 

Send your used 

D.I. resin to ABA, 

and we’ll clean it, 

regenerate it, and return it ready for more 

EDM use. That’s any resin and any volume – 

bagged, bottled, or bulk. We dispose of the 

regulated waste, and you save money. 

For the dealer closest to you, 

visit www.abawatersystems.com 

or call 800-257-1271. 

ABA Water Systems, Inc. 

226 West Broadway 

Plainview, MN 55964 

Fax: (507) 534-4178 



Blanski Peter Kronlage & Zoch, P.A. 

Gary Turnquist, CPA 

gturnquist@bpkz.com 

(763) 546-6211 

Bodycote Thermal Processing 

Bob Manhatton 

robert.manhatton@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 

Branch Manufacturing 

Company, Inc. 

Delmer Fairbanks 

delmerf@branchmfg.com 

(651) 674-4441 

Bremer Bank/St. Paul 

Scott Johnson 

sajohnson@bremer.com 

(651) 726-6006 

Brenk Brothers, Inc. 

Jeff Brenk 

jeff@brenkbrothers.com 

(763) 784-5621 

Briggs and Morgan, P.A. 

Joe Roach 

jroach@briggs.com 

(612) 977-8400 

BTD Tooling Division 

Craig Rix 

crix@ptdmn.com 

(952) 469-2423 

CAB Construction 

Doug Mulder 

doug@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 

Center National Bank 

Pat Farrington 

pfarrington@cngmn.com 

(763) 225-8883 

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 

smetcalf@larsonallen.com 

(612) 376-4821 

Clinton Aluminum & 

Stainless Steel 

Scott Mattson 

smattson@clintalum.com 

(800) 826-3370 

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 

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 

tcremers@craftpattern.com 

(763) 479-1969 

CRTechnical 

Tom Wolden 

tomwolden@crtechnical.com 

(763) 560-6015 

Custom Cutter Grinding Corp. 

Kermit Bode 

info@customcuttergrinding.com 

(763) 441-7744 

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. 

Scott Olson 

slo@davidolsonsales.com 

(612) 722-9523 

Deco Tool Supply Co. 

Kevin Corrigan 

kcorrigan@decotool.com 

(763) 537-7762 

Diamond Lake Tool, Inc. 

Larry Foss 

DLT@diamondlaketool.com 

(763) 441-3411 

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 

Dream !t Do !t 

Statewide Tour of Manufacturing 

October 21-27, 2012 

Calling all manufacturers in Minnesota, 

you are invited and encouraged to open 

your facility to the public during the week of 

October 21-27, 2012. 

FinD OuT MOre @ 

www.tourofmanufacturingmn.com 




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) 359-0572 

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@thedynamicgroup.net 

(763) 780-4430 

Eagle Tool & Design Co. 

Ole Christensen 

ochristensen@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 X101 

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 

Lynn Shelton 

lynn.shelton@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 

Excelsior Tool Company, Inc. 

Gary Lostetter 

etc1gl@frontiernet.net 

(763) 479-3355 

Fab Pipe, Inc. 

Ted Muntz 

tmuntz@fabpipe.com 

(763) 428-2259 

Fastenal Manufacturing 

Tim Borkowski 

tborkows@fastenal.com 

(507) 453-8000 

Federated Insurance 

Kyle Julseth 

kcjulseth@fedins.com 

(608) 239-1696 

Fidelity Bank 

Steve Logterman 

steve@fidelitybankmn.com 

(952) 830-7293 

Fireaway Inc. 

Anthony Gee 

agee@statx.com 

(952) 935-9745 

Fluid Management Incorporated 

Roger Novitzki 

roger@coolantrecycle.com 

(612) 378-2580 

Foreman & Airhart, Ltd 

Mark Foreman 

mforeman@foremanairhart.com 

(952) 948-1844 

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 

Glenn Metalcraft, Inc. 

Joseph Glenn 

jglenn@gmc-mn.com 

(763) 389-5355 

Graco Inc. 

Heather Bittle 

hbittle@graco.com 

(612) 623-6431 

Granger Machine, Inc. 

Mike Parker 

mike@grangermachine.com 

(763) 444-3725 

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 

hardchromeinc@questoffice.net 

(612) 788-9451 

Hegman Machine Tool, Inc. 

Ralph Hegman 

rhegman@hegmanmachine.com 

(763) 424-5622 

Hennepin Technical College 

Cherie Rollings 

cherie.rollings@hennepintech.edu 

(763) 488-2731 

HEXIS 

Andrew Skoog 

andrew@hexpedite.com 

(612) 804-1143 

Hibbing Fabricators, Inc. 

Wayne Larson 

waynel@hibfab.com 

(218) 262-5575 

HLB Tautges Redpath, Ltd 

Megan Johnson 

mjohnson@hlbtr.com 

(651) 426-7000 

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. 

Jodi Stittsworth 

jstitts@idealaero.com 

(701) 757-3414 

ToolScootTM 

Accessories 

for security, convenience and safety 

CNC Tool Safety Covers 

Reduce operator injuries 

while protecting your investment 

in expensive tooling. 

Toolholder Vises 

Put a vise where it’s 

handy; bolts right 

onto your ToolScoot! 

Doors for ToolScoot 

Provide security and 

protect your valuable 

toolholders from flying chips. 

It’s Our Business 

to Protect Yours ® 

www.federatedinsurance.com 

ToolScoot Drawer 

Lockable drawer provides ample space for 

whatever you want to keep handy and secure. 

Federated Mutual Insurance Company 

Federated Service Insurance Company* 

Federated Life Insurance Company 

Home Office: 121 East Park Square 

Owatonna, Minnesota 55060 

Phone: (507) 455-5200 • www.federatedinsurance.com 

*Federated Service Company is not licensed in the states of NH, NJ, RI, and VT. 

800.832.3838 • huotmfg@huot.com 



IFS-Industrial Fabrication 

Services, Inc. 

Matt Doherty 

mattifs@hickorytech.net 

(507) 726-6000 

Industrial Tool, Inc. 

Rick Ahlstrom 

rahlstrom@industrial-tool.com 

(763) 533-7244 

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 Machine, LLC 

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 

nancyl@jetedge.com 

(763) 497-8700 

JIT Manufacturing, Inc. 

Gene Wehner 

gwehner@jitmfgmn.com 

(763) 425-7995 

Jonaco Machine LLC 

Rick Green 

rgreen@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. 

Thomas Novak 

tom.novak@emerson.com 

(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 Tool Crib 

Bob Miller 

bobm@kendeco.com 

(320) 253-1020 

KleinBank 

Dan Reeves 

d.reeves@kleinbank.com 

(763) 383-4707 

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 X119 

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 

Larkin Hoffman Daly 

& Lindgren Ltd. 

Mark Geier 

mgeier@larkinhoffman.com 

(952) 835-3800 

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 

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. 

Jackie Salisbury 

jackie.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 

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 

952.230.4555 

info@mhta.org 

MICO, Inc. 

Kelly Hanson 

khanson@mico.com 

(507) 386-4058 

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 

Midwest CAM Solutions, Inc. 

Matt Arnold 

matt@midwestcamsolutions.com 

(763) 560-6567 

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@millerbernd.com 

(612) 805-2474 

Milltronics CNC Machines 

Curt Stockinger 

cstockinger@milltronics.net 

(952) 442-1405 

MINNCOR Industries 

Brenda Chandler 

bchandler@minncor.com 

(651) 361-7500 

Minneapolis Community 

& Tech. College 

Kim Munson 

kim.munson@minneapolis.edu 

(612) 659-6093 

Minnesota Grinding, Inc. 

David Schranck 

david.schranck@minnesotagrinding.com 

(763) 535-4445 

MN DEED Office of Innovation 

& Strategic Alliances 

Connie Christenson 

connie.christenson@state.mn.us 

(218) 234-3052 

MN State College, 

Southeast Technical 

Ron Sellnau 

rsellnau@southeastmn.edu 

(507) 453-2700 

MN Technical Assistance 

Program, U of M 

Jeff Becker, CEM 

beck0254@umn.edu 

(612) 624-4633 

Modified Tool, Inc. 

John Kruse 

modifiedtool@emily.net 

(218) 763-6030 

Mold-Tech, Inc. 

Jon Lee 

jlee@mold-techinc.com 

(763) 497-7500 

MPS Technical 

Bianca Carr 

biancac@mpstechnical.com 

(651) 351-0605 

MRG Tool and Die Corp. 

Mike Gramse 

mgramse@toolanddie.net 

(507) 334-1847 

MultiSource Mfg LLC 

Lane Chandler 

lchandler@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 

hrblume@newulmtel.net 

(507) 233-2900 

Normandale Community College 

Nancy Louwagie 

nancy.louwagie@normandale.edu 

(952) 358-8738 

Northern Machine 

Ray Van Allen 

rvanallen@northernim.com 

(651) 778-3374 

Northland Screw Products, Inc. 

James Martinson 

james@northlandscrewproducts.com 

(763) 753-3628 

Northstar Aerospace 

John Eagleton 

jeagleton@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 

NTM, Inc. 

Pat Mullins 

patm@ntminc.com 

(763) 780-1420 

Olympic Steel, Inc. 

Stephen Reyes 

sreyes@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 

Packnet Ltd. 

Mike Nyberg 

mnyberg@packnetltd.com 

(952) 944-9124 

Painted Feather Precision 

Steve Smith 

slsmithemail@comcast.net 

(763) 537-6466 

Pal’s Machining, Inc 

Loren Mifek 

loren@palsmachining.com 

(507) 451-9202 

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 

Praxair Distribution, Inc. 

Mike Bonneville 

mike_bonneville@praxair.com 

(507) 387-7995 

Precise Products Corporation 

Darrell Freitag 

dfreitag@preciseproducts.com 

(612) 522-2141 x125 

Precision 

Jamie Durand 

jamie@precisionmn.com 

(763) 784-1704 

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 

Lynn Swanson 

lswanson@prirobotics.com 

(763) 450-4383 

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. 

Mike Golden 

mikeg@protoolus.com 

(763) 559-5746 

Productivity Inc 

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 x12 

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 

Quazar Capital Corporation 

Bruce Behm 

bruceb@quazarcapital.com 

(763) 550-9000 

Radan - A Planit Company 

Doug Wood 

doug.wood@planitsolutions.com 

(651) 982-0100 x5502 

Regal Machine Inc. 

George Hendren 

ghendren@regalmachineinc.com 

(651) 408-8940 

Remmele Engineering, Inc. 

Al Germscheid 

al.germscheid@remmele.com 

(763) 263-2636 

Replenex Inc. 

Tom Folska 

tom.folska@replenex.com 

(952) 941-9150 

Retirement & 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 

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 

Saint Paul Port Authority 

B. Kyle 

blk@sppa.com 

(651) 204-6241 

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 

S-T Industries, Inc. 

Melanie Johnson 

mjohnson@stindustries.com 

(800) 326-2039 

St. Cloud Tech & Comm College 

Bruce Peterson 

bpeterson@sctcc.edu 

(320) 308-5000 

St. Marys University 

Paul Christensen 

prchris00@smumn.edu 

(612) 728-5100 

St. Paul College-A Comm. 

& Tech. College 

Dr. Gary Hertel 

gary.hertel@saintpaul.edu 

(651) 846-1600 



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 

Sandy Hanson 

shanson@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 QC Group 

Dan Medford 

dmedford@theqcgroup.com 

(952) 895-1150 

The Service Guys 

Chris Tarvestad 

chris@theserviceguys.net 

(763) 234-9810 

The Whittemore Co. 

Kurt Wasieleski 

kurt@whittemore-inc.com 

(651) 331-8984 

Thomas Engineering Company 

Tim Aberwald 

taberwald@thomasengineering.com 

(763) 533-1501 

Tooling Science, Inc. 

Brian Burley 

brian@tlscience.com 

(763) 425-6001 

Toolkraft, Inc. 

Roger Zbikowski 

rogerz@toolkraft.com 

(763) 571-7480 

Top Tool Company 

Duane Kari 

dakari@toptool.com 

(763) 786-0030 

Twin City EDM & 

Manufacturing, Inc. 

Steve Lindell 

slindell@twincityedm.com 

(763) 783-7808 

SAVE 

THE DATE 

MPMA ANNUAL MEETING 

October 25 | 5:30 - 9:00 pm 

Location: 

Marriott Minneapolis West 

9960 Wayzata Boulevard 

Minneapolis, MN 55426 

Keynote Speaker: 

Chancellor Steven J. Rosenstone, Minnesota 

State Colleges and Universities 

Look for more details online @ 

www.mpma.com 

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 

John Fritz 

jfritz@venturebankonline.com 

(763) 398-3333 

Von Ruden Manufacturing, Inc. 

Brandon Anderson 

brandon@vonruden.com 

(763) 682-3122 

V-TEK, Inc. 

Andrea Nelson 

a.nelson@vtekusa.com 

(507) 387-2039 

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 

Winnebago Manufacturing Co 

Robert Preston 

bagobob@bevcomm.net 

(507) 526-7456 X13 

WIPFLi LLP 

Greg Hirsch 

ghirsch@wipfli.com 

(952) 548-3362 

Workforce Solutions 

John O’Phelan 

john.ophelan@co.ramsey.mn.us 

(651) 779-5411 

ADVERTISERS’ INDEX 

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 

hockleymark@yahoo.com 

(612) 722-7347 

Ken Johnson 

(651) 633-1994 

Rich Pogue 

(612) 965-8604 

poguerich@gmail.com 

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 

A B A Water Systems, Inc. | www.abawatersystems.com.............................................28 

Arrow Cryogenics, Inc. | www.arrowcryogenics.com ...................................................26 

Blanski Peter Kronlage & Zoch, P.A | www.bpkz.com.................................................25 

Carley Foundry, Inc. | www.carleyfoundry.com............................................................28 

Duncan Company | www.duncanco.com.......................................................................26 

Engineered Finishing Corp. | www.engfinish.com................................................. 18-19 

Federated Insurance | www.federatedinsurance.com..............................................3, 30 

Haimer USA | www.haimer-usa.com..............................................................................25 

Hegman Machine Tool, Inc. | www.hegmanmachine.com..........................................14 

Huot Manufacturing Company | www.huot.com .......................................................30 

International Precision Machining, Inc. | www.ipminc.com......................................31 

Midwest CAM Solutions, Inc. | www.midwestcamsolutions.com......................................... 26 

Midwest Machine Tool Supply | www.midwestmachinetool.com...........................................6 

Federated Insurance | www.federatedinsurance.com..............................................3, 30 

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

NTM, Inc. | www.ntminc.com ........................................................................................27 

Plastics International | www.plasticsintl.com ................................................Back Cover 

Productivity Inc | www.productivity.com ...........................................................2, 21, 26 

Productivity Quality | www.pqi.net.............................................................................26 

ProtoTek Engineering, Inc. | www.prototek-engineering.com........................................26, 35 

Smith Foundry Company | www.smithfoundry.com.....................................................31 

The Service Guys | www.BandSawsRus.com........................................................... 16-17 

Yeager Machine, Inc. | www.yeagermachine.com ........................................................ 4 


METALING AFFAIRS 

Gone Fishing 

ARE ALL THE DETAILS IN ORDER? 

by Andrew Skoog 

Machining is in many ways like fishing. 

You can really learn how to catch fish, due 

to the amount of time spent on the water 

going after them. Try another species and 

you have to learn their behavior, habitat, 

and the bait to use. Machining, if you 

always cut the same material in the same 

machine with the same tools you will get 

very good at it. Change materials, and the 

rules change with it. 

I thought for this article, I would write 

on a few technical topics that seem to 

come up frequently. 

Radius Selection 

As we run into difficult alloys, there 

are a few things that remain the same 

when machining various operations. 

The radius on an insert is a key factor 

in boring. Selection of nose radius is 

dependent on depth of cut, along with the 

feed. It influences the surface finish, chip 

breaking and insert strength. 

When the ratio of the depth of cut 

to the radius size is small, the resultant 

cutting force is radial and is trying to 

push the insert away from the bore 

surface. When depth of cut is increased, 

the resultant cutting force is changed to 

axial force. 

 

As a general rule of thumb, the depth 

of cut should be about 75 to 100 

percent of the nose radius. Depths 

of cut smaller than 1/3 of the radius 

will result in stringy chips, deflection 

and/or chatter. 

 

Reduce the radius size when 

getting taper, for long reaches or to 

eliminate chatter. 

 

The generated surface finish will be 

directly influenced by the combination 

of nose radius and feed rate. 

Work Hardening 

Work hardening of materials is a 

condition that is caused when heat 

generated by the cutting tool transfers 

to the workpiece material. The process 

is similar to a heat treatment of the 

workpiece but on a lower scale. 

When a part work hardens during 

machining, its surface becomes a shiny 

glaze and appears slippery. When not 

recognized as work hardening, the 

tendency is to get defensive and reduce the 

feed—this magnifies the problem. Work 

hardening materials need sharp tools, light 

speeds, heavy feeds and high lubrication. 

How to avoid work hardening: 

 

Make sure the cutting tools are 

always sharp. 

 

Run at the recommended feeds 

and speeds. 

 

Use coolant-fed tools. (Lubricants 

should be mixed to the heavy side.) 

 

Use continuous feed, do not 

dwell tools. 

 

Avoid peck drilling. 

 

Built up edges on the cutting tool will 

cause intermittent work hardening. 

 

Broken taps may be the result of a 

work hardened hole. 

Maintained Coolant 

Many machine shop operators think 

of coolants as a necessary nuisance, 

something that blows chips off the part. 

In fact, the most important jobs for 

coolants are keeping the tool cool so it 

lasts longer, and lubricating the tool edge 

so that it makes a cleaner cut. 

When tool life suffers, operators 

start to look at switching cutters to find 

something that will give better results, when 

oftentimes, all they need to do is maintain 

their coolant concentration and levels. 

There are three basic types of 

coolants: soluble oil, semi synthetic 

(micro emulsion) and synthetic. When 

mixed, soluble oil is milky, semi synthetic 

is opaque, and synthetic is clear. 

Today’s coolants are a sophisticated 

mix of chemicals and additives that try to 

blend the best properties of oil into the 

best properties of water. Compounders 

who make these concentrates try to reach 

a balance of safety, rust inhibition, along 

with a tolerance of varied water types and 

the ability to work with many materials. 

There are three factors that are pushing 

shops to take a more serious look at 

coolants: increase in product cost, labor 

cost to maintain them and cost of disposal. 

It is possible to keep coolant 

working properly for years; you just 

need to understand how they work and 

why they go bad. 

Things you must do to maintain 

coolant, include keeping the sump 

full at all time, maintaining proper 

concentration, keeping chips out of the 

sump (they hold bacteria), and removing 

tramp oils (they feed bacteria). 

If your sump is smelly, the only way to 

have success with any future coolant is to 

properly clean the sump and the machine 

tool. Without doing this critical process, 

your refreshed coolant will go rancid 

prematurely. Properly cleaning the sump 

includes the following steps: 

1. Kill the bacteria/fungus—usually an 

additive to the existing coolant 

2. Pump out the old 

3. Remove the food source for 

bacteria—clean the sump and the 

machine with a mild detergent 

4. Rinse 

5. Recharge the sump with fresh 

coolant 

6. Bleed the lines 

7. Maintain 

Properly maintained coolant will give 

your shop a pleasant atmosphere, years of 

service and aid in consistent tool life and 

surface finish. In machining, with all the 

details in order … you are in the fish! PM 

ANDREW SKOOG is with 

Hexis in Minneapolis, Minn. 

He can be reached at 

Andrew@hexpedite.com. 


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Minnesota Precision Manufacturing Journal 

5353 Wayzata Blvd. 

Suite 350 

Minneapolis, MN 55416 

www.pm-mn.com 

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