Lessons from a Machine Shop Literally on the Move

When Vanamatic Co. moved to a newly built 80,000-square-foot facility in 2003, the management/ownership team could not have predicted that it would outgrow the single-site facility in less than 20 years. But in early 2023, the Delphos, Ohio, family-owned machine shop signed a lease on a building less than a mile from the main facility to enable the shop to relocate one of its departments in order to comfortably expand.

Although the to-do list was overwhelming at the time of signing the lease, the team scheduled the move for early March, intentionally leaving limited time to plan and make decisions.

“Ready or not, we were going to move that week because our excellent rigging crew had an opening and otherwise was scheduling out about a month and half at the time,” explains Adam Wiltsie, CEO and director of operations at Vanamatic. “That forced us to be ready and get things done quickly.”

According to the team, while the moving process went extremely well and it is pleased with the new space, in hindsight the group can speak to what aspects went smoothly and which ones it would do differently if the company experiences another move in the future. During a recent visit, the team shared its insights with me about preparing for a move and offers advice for shops that might be considering relocation.

Bursting at the Seams

As a result of running a successful business, this global supplier of precision machined components to the aerospace, automotive, fluid power and general fittings industries that was established in 1954, steadily added many vintage and modern machine tools through the years to keep up with customer demand.

Besides the 21 refurbished 1-⁵/₈-inch eight-spindle VNA Conomatic automatic screw machines that have a large footprint on the shop floor, Vanamatic’s CNC machining department had grown to 12 bar-fed CNC single-spindle machine tools.

Wiltsie describes the state of the building just prior to the move. He says by late 2020, the middle aisle was removed in its main building in exchange for two more VNAs. Then in 2021, a couple new lathes were shoehorned in a corner, and that was the last of the available space.

Contemplating options, it was obvious to the ownership team that relocating the entire facility was not a consideration and investing in a new building or an addition to the existing shop was undesirable. Ultimately, the goal was to move some equipment to another building close by.

Deciding which equipment to move was not a difficult decision. Vanamatic’s home base at the main facility contains a one-of-a-kind, custom-made, in-ground chip removal system. The unique system the company had implemented in 2003 is well suited for heavy material removal generated from the automatic screw machines.

Each of these machines process 200 to 300 parts an hour. Because the system was built to handle the vast number of chips produced by the screw machines, it would not be practical to move that equipment out of the building.

Wiltsie explains that 250,000 pounds of metal shavings are produced per week by the company. The chips go directly into the ground from the screw machines and then are processed in the shop’s backroom where they are taken up a conveyor to an outdoor tower on the property. The tower empties the metal shavings two to three times per week into a truck that drives underneath the tower.

The shop’s 12 single-spindle CNC machines, however, remove a lot less material which can be managed by bins, as each of these produce only 20 to 30 parts per hour.

To Wiltsie and the Vanamatic ownership team, it was obvious that moving its CNC machines out of the building was the best option. “By moving the CNCs out of the main facility, it gives us the opportunity to expand the CNC department and add additional screw machines to fully utilize the in-ground chip system,” Wiltsie explains.

With the space vacated by the CNC machines in the main building, there is now room for growth in the multi-spindle screw machine department. Four Conomatics are lined up in the space vacated by the CNCs and ready for rebuilding, with room for more. “We are desperately on the lookout for available 1-⁵/₈-inch eight-spindle VNA Conomatics,” Wiltsie says. “We would hate for these machines to go to the scrapyard when there is an opportunity to bring them back to life.”

Fortunate Timing

In October 2022, the team began the hunt for a facility close to the main building that was large enough to house the CNC department and allow space for further expansion. The group toured several buildings that were for sale but were not ideally located. But when consulting a friend to learn about leasing a space, the friend informed the group of a building less than a mile away that had an occupant who was ready to move out.

The facility, which is divided into four 12,000-square-foot sections, is occupied by three other businesses, but left one section available for the shop’s CNC division. Wiltsie says it was important for Vanamatic to maintain the subleases for the other occupants, so it was not necessary to take on the full expense of the building.

The unoccupied space was an exceptional location for the shop’s CNC department. It was the only section of the building with a high bay door that enabled a bridge crane to be moved in, which the shop uses to offload steel barstock. The room also had a basic block structure that would later become the quality assurance lab, which Wiltsie says is critical to the CNC division.

The team signed the five-year lease with the option for five more years for 1601 Gressel Drive in February 2023 and set the moving date to March 6-10. That meant there was not much time to check items off the to-do list, and the building was not yet move-in ready.

Although half of the leased building had been reconstructed and had new insulation and a new heating system, Vanamatic had epoxy floors refinished by Preferred LLC, updated the break room and restrooms, and renovated the QA lab, all in short order.

The Big Week

Executing the original moving dates, the company successfully relocated its existing CNC machine tools and had four new machines delivered to the new location with much-needed outside help.

For instance, Kahle Technologies, a local engineering/automation integrator specializing in industrial controls, disconnected the machine tools from the main facility prior to the move and then reconnected them in the new building. HR Holp & Sons, a rigging company, safely moved all the equipment, including nine Lico (Absolute Machine Tools) multislide CNC automatic lathes, two Eurotech Trofeo multi-axis turn/mill machines and one Spinner deburring machine. Two new Licos and two new Eurotechs were delivered to the new location and installed during the move by Superior Equipment Solutions.

“Now, the CNC machines line the new shop floor in an organized manner, with all similar machines grouped together,” explains Jared Wiltsie, owner and director of engineering and quality. “All the operator benches face forward and are located in the center of the room. All tooling and workholding are in the center as well, therefore, the parts exit the machines in the center of the floor, too.”

In total, 16 machines are now up and running in the company’s new CNC division. However, even though all the machines were moved in a few days, it took several weeks to get every machine re-qualified and operational.

“Our rigging crew, which we’ve worked with for years, is excellent and always ahead of schedule,” says Scott Wiltsie, director of human resources/co-owner of Vanamatic. “But the number of machines moved over three days was a little too aggressive because we couldn’t get them moved and hooked up, and back online as fast as the crew was moving the machines in.”

Not only did it take more time than expected to get all the machines leveled, wired and running but the shop used the move as an opportunity to switch from cutting oil to water-soluble coolant. “Only a couple of our guys ever used water-soluble fluid before, so it was a new adjustment for most of the operators to manage the coolant concentration,” Scott Wiltsie says. 

Hindsight Is 20/20

Looking back on the move, the Vanamatic ownership team has some tips for success for other shops considering such a move, some which they followed through with and others they wish they had.

• Pick a moving date and stick with it. This team was successful in pulling this off, but next time would have allotted more time.
• Prepare as much as possible in advance. The team says they would have been better off moving the tooling, carts and other machine tool accessories to the new location and organize them prior to moving the machines. Also, they suggest building inventory for the parts manufactured on the machines being relocated. In Vanamatic’s situation, it has a lot of products that run on their CNC machine tools, including its own low-pressure fittings line which is an extremely busy industry segment with an extensive backlog on a normal day.
• Ask for help from suppliers. The shop asked a lot of its suppliers to help with the moving project, including its electrician and movers with which it already had established relationships.
• For multiple facilities, set up line-of-sight connectivity. For setting up a new facility that is in close proximity, it might be beneficial to set up an antenna tower at each location and have two dishes that communicate back and forth as Vanamatic did. That provides about a 2.5-GB connection, which is better than what the shop floor’s connection has, according to Dave Ricker, director of IT.
  
• Do not allow too much time to plan. Because of the short time frame between signing the lease and the move-in date, the shop had little time to plan, which the owners believed was healthy for the process. It forced them to make quick decisions without dragging out the decision-making.
  

  The shop’s precision CNC work is growing substantially, giving the existing CNC machines a good workout. So, when this sector of its business booked up this year, the need for new CNC machine tools – more Eurotechs – became critical to keep up with demand. Therefore, it is planning to expand into the next 12,000-square-foot section of the new CNC division in September this year. Photo Credits: Vanamatic Co. (top), Production Machining (bottom)

• Be transparent with everyone involved in the process. Discussing the plans as a group and putting the layouts on paper was helpful for everyone to be on the same page.

The Project Continues

Although the company is happy with its new space, there isn’t much room for more machine tools in the section of the building it already occupies. Realizing that fact when they signed the lease, the owners strategically chose that building knowing that the CNC division had potential for fast growth. After all, according to Director of Sales Steve Schroder, Vanamatic’s precision CNC work is growing substantially, giving the existing CNC machines a good workout.

So, when this sector of its business booked up this year, the need for new CNC machine tools — more Eurotechs — became critical to keep up with demand. Therefore, it is planning to expand into the next 12,000-square-foot section of the new CNC division in September. Fortunately, the shop’s sublease on the building enabled it to give 60 days’ notice to the tenant in that section which was already planning to move out.

And, as a growing company, it is no surprise it needed to increase its workforce. It added 20 new employees in 14 weeks, which happened during

the planning phase and move. As a highly regarded employer in its area, Vanamatic received about 260 resumes when it advertised it was hiring. “About 65% are already skilled with experience, and the other 35% are more entry level and part time,” Scott Wiltse explains, speaking about the new hires. Now the team is busy with training the new employees for both locations and planning for the next move.

Vanamatic Co. | vanamatic.com 

Absolute Machine Tools Inc. | absolutemachine.com

Eurotech Elite | eurotechelite.com