PMPA Member H & R Screw Machine Products Finds Success in its Wide Customer Base and Diverse Machining Capabilities

When it was founded in 1976, H & R Screw Machine Products was no more than a single Brown & Sharpe screw machine in a small building located behind the home of founder, David Halladay. Mr. Halladay, who spent years as a technician in several screw machine shops, dreamed of owning his own company one day. So, with the help of his business partner, Walter Randolph, the two opened H & R Screw Machine Products. What started as a small operation with just two customers evolved into a company that manufactures millions of precision machined components each month in a 38,000-square-foot facility in Reed City, Michigan. Today, the company is run by Mr. Halladay’s sons, Tim and Tom Halladay, who spent most of their lives working their way up through the company.

“As a company, we all work very closely together and we try to treat our employees like family,” says Tom Halladay, president of H & R Screw Machine Products. “We have many people on staff who’ve been with the company 10 to 30 years, and they’re a major reason why we’ve succeeded over the years.”

In the company’s early years, 100 percent of sales came from the automotive industry. However, after adding several New Britain, Wickman and Davenport multi-spindle screw machines, the company was able to diversify its customer base. Now, the company manufactures most of its products for a number of different applications for the hydraulic, heating and cooling, consumer products, heavy equipment, appliance, office furniture, material handling and military industries. H & R Screw Machine Products also offers CNC and Swiss CNC machining for tight tolerance and lower volume applications.

“Being diverse in our machining operations has helped us a great deal,” Mr. Halladay says. “It has really helped us stay steady through up and down markets. We don’t see the enormous peaks and valleys we experienced in our early years.”

Mr. Halladay says another key to the company’s success is the facility in which it operates. Opened in 2000, the building was designed to provide optimum efficiency and workflow. Unlike most companies, H & R Screw Machine Products’ facility is air conditioned, which not only keeps its employees comfortable, but also helps eliminate rust on the steel components. H & R Screw Machine Products’ headquarters also features aqueous parts washing systems, a quality assurance lab and a scrap and oil processing system. The company’s state-of-the-art scrap and oil processing system conveys steel and aluminum scrap material from its screw machine department. The oil is then automatically removed from the turnings. The turnings are magnetically separated for recycling, and the oil is filtered and returned to the machines for continuous re-use.

In an attempt to make operations leaner and more efficient, H & R Screw Machine Products turned to PMPA for advice. Mr. Halladay says several PMPA members allowed him to tour their facilities and see what they did to streamline their operations and create a better visual workspace. Members since 1992, Mr. Halladay says H & R Screw Machine Products benefits from many of PMPA’s services, including its conferences, newsletters, listserves and various education initiatives regarding tooling, management and training.

“PMPA is a great organization that has been very helpful to us,” Mr. Halladay says. “PMPA allows us to both gain knowledge and help other members find the answers they need. It seems like we always have somewhere to turn if we need a fresh perspective on a challenge in the workplace.”

H & R Screw Machine Products Inc. is located at 5566 220th Ave., Reed City, Michigan 49677. Phone: 231-832-2356. Website: hrscrew.com