STARTING A MACHINE SHOP

HELLO OUT THERE IN DIGITAL LAND. IM A MACHINIST/TOOL AND DIE MAKER OF

First, all caps are very annoying and you're trying to make a good impression. E-mail me some pix of some of your work and what you charged. I've got about six fairly simple dies coming up in the next year and I may want to farm some out if quality and price are right. Put classifieds in the PD for machine time available, think about sales reps.

I'm in SoCal and the situation my be different but I doubt if it is worse then in the rust belt. We have been in business for over 25 years now, have excellent CNC and conventional equipment and I am having to feed the company right now. Haven't had a paycheck for several months. We may not have done everything right but the current climate in manufacturing sucks. I would suggest you forget your own shop and use the money to develop an unique product or buy a going manufacturing company in a niche. We seem to lose a customer to China as fast as we can find new viable customers. Since we do CNC turning and milling, small lot stamping, light plate fabrication, conventional machining and sell used machines we should be very prosperous but we can't get decent prices for any of our areas of expertise. I am not a negative person and intend to stay in the machine shop business but to start a new shop is is just plain silly. There are 5-10 shops a week closing within 50 miles of mine and my neighbor is on overtime and buying new machines to keep up with his one customer. Leigh@MarMachine

I know that a) you didn't ask for advise, and b) some will call this blaspheme, but have you ever considered repping a Chinese vendor? I'm not quite sure how you'd go about it, but I'll bet you could do well.

In my line of work, I've had to make more and more contacts overseas to stay in business and I've established some good relations with people in Taiwan and I'm working on one in China.

CATRUCKMAN, how do you find liquidations of those shops? I am beginning to like industrial selling tool stuff (don't ask me how much the clausing mill sold for), but am not sure how to find liquidations of those small shops. Also not sure if I can find good deals there, these days.

Don't do it. Invest in Google instead. Better return on your money. Or if you have enough, invest in a rental duplex or bigger.

Abrasha

First thing you do, is figure out where the caps lock key is.

Gunner

Liberals - Cosmopolitan critics, men who are the friends of every country save their own. Benjamin Disraeli

I've got no advice for you other than to say keep hustling, keep trying.

I left my great paying job in manufacturing in '91. I've never made more than 1/4 of the salary, but I wouldn't go back for anything. In my case, I found a way to make a living selling apples and strawberries. Selling your skills as a tool and die maker has got to be easier. You gotta find your little niche, for example debugging and building prototype molds is perfect for a one man show.

Good Luck

Karl

Hello, Mister A!

The others are correct about your use of capital letters. To those of us who are experienced internet users, it is understood that when a person uses capital letters, he is shouting.

You have also not given us a name to respond to. When you do not give us a name, it is natural for us to wonder why. Those of us who are legitimate business people usually display our names proudly. Why would you rather not do so?

How about giving us some decent machine tools? My machine tools were made in China. I would have happily bought American tools, if they had been available. Give us an American equivalent of the imported 7x10 lathe, at a competitive price, and we will certainly buy it.

Mike Mandaville in my twenty-first year of business

Mike Mandaville

I'm sorry about the caps lock key. My name is Steve Johnson. Able Precision Machine is the name of the company I'm forming. Did not think the name of my company was really relevant to the questions I was asking in the forum.

The machine tools that I own are decent and in the hands of a skilled machinist such as myself very accurate. Although I don't currently have the means to purchase CNC I'm starting the only way I can and plan on owning several cnc's in the next several years.

Did you have any helpful insight for me? Are you a machine shop owner? How do you go about finding new business? Do you wait for the costumer to come to you? Do you make calls and prospect around?

Steve Johnson In my first year of business

Mike Mandaville

I'm sorry about the caps lock key. My name is Steve Johnson. Able Precision Machine is the name of the company I'm forming. Did not think the name of my company was really relevant to the questions I was asking in the forum.

The machine tools that I own are decent and in the hands of a skilled machinist such as myself very accurate. Although I don't currently have the means to purchase CNC I'm starting the only way I can and plan on owning several cnc's in the next several years.

Did you have any helpful insight for me? Are you a machine shop owner? How do you go about finding new business? Do you wait for the costumer to come to you? Do you make calls and prospect around?

Steve Johnson In my first year of business

Mike Mandaville

I'm sorry about the caps lock key. My name is Steve Johnson. Able Precision Machine is the name of the company I'm forming. Did not think the name of my company was really relevant to the questions I was asking in the forum.

The machine tools that I own are decent and in the hands of a skilled machinist such as myself very accurate. Although I don't currently have the means to purchase CNC I'm starting the only way I can and plan on owning several cnc's in the next several years.

Did you have any helpful insight for me? Are you a machine shop owner? How do you go about finding new business? Do you wait for the costumer to come to you? Do you make calls and prospect around?

Steve Johnson In my first year of business

Look on the bright side. With so much business going overseas, high quality manual and cnc machines can be had for cheap, at least in my area.

I can't comment on how to make money from a machine shop, but I agree with others about developing a unique product and selling that.

Hello, Steve.

And thank you for your polite response. I was referring to your personal name, Steve Johnson, and not to your company name, Able Precision Machine.

costumer

I was hoping that my suggestion of providing us with some decent machine tools would provide you with some insight. Something else I would like to see is a line of American-made diesel engines which are designed for model airplanes. Right now such a product does not exist, and so American model airplane enthusiasts must purchase from overseas suppliers if they want a diesel engine.

If you don't make the machine tools or the diesels I will do so myself anyway, so do whatever you want.

Mike Mandaville willing to give Americans a choice

If the product has a potentialy large market the folks in china will copy your product and flood the market before your pattent is approved.

Best Regards Tom.

A patent wouldn't do anything--all a competitor has to do is make some slight changes and the patent no longer applies. Develop something unique, forget about the patent, sell them for a reasonable price, then move on to another product as competitors come.

In partnership with your customer, who will courier samples over to their suppliers at the first opportunity. Maybe before you've even started making them in earnest yourself.

Not to be too negative, but you have to expect some of this, and be happy when it doesn't happen too fast.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

A patent may help to prevent others from suing you, but otherwise its pretty much worthless as you say as those with the deepest pockets will win any lawsuit.

It gets better: You come up with something that's a big hit and can't make them fast enough, so you farm out manufacturing to a "supposedly reputable" plant in China. So far, so good...

But when the product is a worldwide hit they cover up your trademark name on the molds YOU PAID FOR and crank out duplicates, assemble the product on tooling designs & using methods YOU PAID FOR, and start selling the products out the back door (wink wink, nod nod) for cheaper than they're selling them to you for.

(I've seen products like that - their knock-offs of GFCI receptacles where they milled the names off the mold and stamped new ones in.)

China has absolutely no integrity /at/ /all/ when it comes to intellectual property rights. If your money is the proper color, they'll knock off anything. Including counterfeiting the 'UL Listed' stickers and other safety checks.

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