March 17, 2008
MiBiz

By Joe Boomgaard

Subhead: Intricate Grinding attributes expansion to diversified clientele

NORTON SHORES — Strong sales and a strategic diversification of the company’s clientele has Intricate Grinding and Machining Specialties Inc. looking for more room in order to grow.

Once the weather breaks, Intricate Grinding President Brenda Amaya said construction should commence on the addition to the firm’s current Norton Shores facility that will double the size of its shop to 16,000 square feet. Intricate Grinding has been at its present location for the last 20 years and simply outgrew the facility. The company’s production is operating at capacity. "I keep telling the guys, ‘Come on, I know you can fit one more machine,’" Amaya said. "They said if they do, they were going to have to move my desk out."

Intricate Grinding has been able to grow steadily despite a perceived fallout in the manufacturing industry. Sales have gone up an average of 17 percent for each of the last four years. Once the expansion is complete, Amaya hopes for growth in the 25- to 30-percent range. "We’re in a pretty diverse field," Amaya told MiBiz. "Keeping all of your eggs in one basket is a little scary, but we’re in just about every industry there is."

As a tool and die shop, the company has clients in the deep-draw stamping industry for which it makes carbide dies, but for the past 10 years, Intricate Grinding has also churned out octagonal gun barrels for Henry Repeating Arms, a Civil War-era replica and custom rifle manufacturer.

Contract talks with Henry would at least double the work for Intricate Grinding once the company adds capacity.

Amaya said her company also does machining for Campbell Grinder and a water jet manufacturing company. Other customers work in environmental testing and thermal barriers and include piston ring manufacturers.

"We’re into a little bit of everything," she said. "A couple of our customers are getting more into the green markets. That’s boosting their business up and keeps our business going."

"A few of our customers are exploring (the alternative energy) world, and we’re looking at how we can be a part of it. Some of the parts, like the wind turbines, are way too big for what we do now, but there are areas where we can service the people who are doing the bigger parts. And eventually, we may want to get involved in some of the bigger items."

Once the expansion is complete and new equipment is brought online, Amaya said she hopes to add six new employees to the current 22-person crew. The additional capacity will help her diversify even further. She’s already been in talks with some potential clients in the medical device industry.

Amaya said the company has had difficulty in the past finding workers with the desired skill sets to perform the CNC machining and precision grinding the company does. "It’s a tough environment to hire new people," she said.

Intricate Grinding’s business wasn’t always as diverse as it is today. The company started when Amaya’s father, Allen Frantz, left Sealed Power in 1968 to start a business supplying much of the carbide tooling for his ex-employer. The business with Sealed Power sustained the company until it slowed to a trickle in the 1980s and Intricate Grinding began to diversify, Amaya said. That job has come full circle now that the tooling shop at Sealed Power shut down and Amaya’s company again does much of its tooling. The tooling goes to plants across the United States and plants in Mexico and Brazil.

"It was an emotional thing for me after my dad passed away and then to get back and get things from (Sealed Power)," Amaya said. "We went in there and bought some machines. I know there are things in there that he worked on."

Amaya started working for her father as a teenager and came back to the business after graduating from college with a degree in accounting and marketing. She took over as president after her father’s passing.

As a woman at the helm of a manufacturing company, Amaya said her best survival tip for other women is to admit when you don’t know something. Honesty is the best policy.

"I know I can’t run the machines, but after being here for 25 years, I know what’s going on," Amaya said. "The biggest thing I’ve found is that when I don’t know something, I need to admit that I don’t know it and find the answers and help my customers that way."

She said it helps that her employees have many years worth of institutional knowledge about the company. Both plant managers have been with Intricate Grinding for about 30 years and many other workers have spent more than one decade with the company.

"We’re just a big family here," Amaya said. "This started out as a family business and I’m kind of a laid-back boss. I’m not down their throats, and I let them have a pretty flexible schedule if family needs come up."

This article appeared in the Monday, March 17, 2008 issue of MiBiz, read by upper management executives in West and Southwest Michigan. Print subscriptions are free to qualified individuals who are employed in West and Southwest Michigan. For further information about MiBiz, visit www.mibiz.com.