Andrew (Andy) Reinwald’s experience in manufacturing started in his high school years when he worked in his grandfather’s shop, Ripley Machine and Tool Co. He began operating machines full time upon his graduation in 2011, and then was promoted to operations manager shortly thereafter. He became president of the company when he took over ownership in 2015. According to his grandfather and nominator, Quentin Bensink, Andy has worked hard to explore uncharted territory to drum up new business and has used creative, yet effective, avenues to do so.

“Andy has shifted the focus of our shop to providing high quality production CNC turning,” says vice president of Ripley Machine and Tool Co., Mr. Bensink. “He has made multiple changes in the shop’s flow to help develop new business.” He also has used social media and the company’s web page to drive sales, he adds.

Since becoming president, Andy not only has led the company to achieve ISO certification; he has added several new machines with live tooling and bar feeding capabilities to support more automated processes. He also installed the company’s first Swiss machine.

These changes, coupled with cost-cutting, has helped Ripley experience drastic increases in sales and an award to top it off. The company saw a 50% increase in sales in 2017, a 30% increase in 2018 and a 15% increase expected in 2019, according to Mr. Bensink. Under Andy, Ripley Machine was honored with the Modern Machine Shop Top Shop award in the business strategies category in 2018.

Although Andy never seems to leave the shop—he puts in a minimum of 70 hours most weeks—he understands there are more important things in life. Andy takes great pride in his Christian faith; he lends a hand to needy people and has been known to create jobs to help people out.

“I am also proud to have continued the tradition of charitable giving that my grandfather embraced while owning the business,” he says.

“As I approached retirement age, I often worried about the future of Ripley Machine without my presence and the ability to continue to provide an income for our employees” Mr. Bensink says. “But it is clear that with selling the company to Andy, I had nothing to worry about. The future of Ripley Machine is very bright!

“I hope to continue to improve and grow Ripley Machine,” Andy says. “I am amazed by what God has done in my four plus years of owning the company, and I look forward to seeing how He will use the company going forward. I am very excited to be involved in the future of manufacturing!”

 

For more information about other Production Machining 2019 Emerging Leaders, read “Meet Production Machining’s 2019 Emerging Leaders.”

If you’d like to nominate an Emerging Leader for 2020 or find out more information about the program, visit our nomination page.