PMPA Member AccuRounds Finds Success in Operational Excellence and Community Leadership

AccuRounds was founded in 1976 by an Italian immigrant, Len Tamasi, when he purchased a company called B&F Swiss in Canton, Massachusetts. Wanting to focus on manufacturing highly precise round components, Mr. Tamasi changed the name to AccuRounds, and in 1979, moved the company to its present location in Avon, Massachusetts, only 17 miles south of Boston. In its early years, AccuRounds primarily used CAM screw machines to manufacture its components, but Mr. Tamasi saw opportunity in what was then a new and innovative technology: CNC Swiss screw machining. As one of the first contract manufacturing companies to run these computerized machines, AccuRounds gained an early advantage in its competition by having the technology to manufacture complex components with faster turnaround times.

“We were always looking to be on the cutting edge,” says Michael Tamasi, president and CEO of AccuRounds. “We saw the winds of change early and knew the type of work these machines were capable of, while providing our customers with quicker delivery times.”

Michael Tamasi began working at his father’s company in 1985 and eventually took over as the president of AccuRounds in 1993. Today, he oversees 75 employees operating out of the company’s state-of-the-art, 45,000-square-foot facility. The company specializes in CNC Swiss screw machining, CNC turning and milling and precision grinding for all types of materials. Over the years, AccuRounds has thrived by maintaining a diverse portfolio of customers from industries including medical, aerospace, semiconductor and many others. Following in his father’s footsteps, Mr. Tamasi is actively incorporating the latest
technologies into his operation, such as 3D printing, automation and machine monitoring, and analytics to better serve his customers.

“In the last 18 months, we’ve seen a major transformation,” Mr. Tamasi says. “It’s all about velocity—faster throughput. We are equipped with the latest technology to provide our customers with the best possible manufacturing solution.”

In addition to its robust technological capabilities, AccuRounds focuses mostly on lean manufacturing to shorten lead times and keep its prices competitive. Through what the company refers to as “Operational Excellence,” AccuRounds has organized its production floor in value streams, which reduces non-value added activity, lowers in-process inventory and improves the flow of both product and information. In order to maintain these high standards, AccuRounds heavily invests in the growth and training of its employees. Since the company was founded, employees have been expected to follow a set of core values known as “GETIT,” which stands for, “Gratitude, Excellence, Team First, Initiative and Trust.” AccuRounds also launched a training program called ALLU, an acronym for AccuRounds
Lifelong Learning University, which gives each employee a personalized professional training regimen.

As the industry continues to find ways to attract new talent in the workforce, AccuRounds keeps its doors open year-round for tours and events to try and spark interest with local middle school and high school students. For Manufacturing Day alone, Mr. Tamasi says the event brings in around 300 people from the community, and the company recently gave tours to a group of more than 150 local fourth graders. Outside its walls, AccuRounds participates in vo-tech school advisory boards and sponsors and manufactures parts for the robotics teams of local schools.

“The public still has this paradigm that manufacturing plants are dingy and dirty, but it’s far from that. They are highly technical, air-conditioned, well-lit and futuristic,” Mr. Tamasi says. “People can’t operate their phones, use their cars or turn on their computers without companies like ours, because we’re the ones that make the components that go into those products.”

Mr. Tamasi says AccuRounds makes it a top priority to not only be a major part of the local community, but also reduce its carbon footprint. The company invested in a number of environmentally friendly practices, such as installing rooftop solar panels, a hazardous waste system, a centrifuge system to reclaim machine oil and an air filtration system to remove air contaminants from machine tools.

As a PMPA member, AccuRounds benefits from the organization’s networking possibilities and access to information via its listserves and technical support. Mr. Tamasi says he enjoys the friendly competition between PMPA members and has even hosted other members at AccuRounds’ facility.

“The industry is small, and we need to help each other work harder and smarter,” Mr. Tamasi says. “It’s great being able to bring up a question to another member, bounce ideas off of other people and realize you’re not the only one dealing with a particular issue.”