A few years ago, a large multinational pump manufacturing company found themselves at odds with their business decision. As luck would have it, one day a customer walked into their door seeking machine ductile and stainless castings for their old-style pumps. Lo and behold, the manufacturer had abolished their legacy pump manufacturing infrastructure in previous weeks. They had wiped their shop floor clean of the patterns, tooling for castings, and fixtures for machining, that were required to manufacture the “old” line of pumps. With the prospect of installing new-age machining and systems to develop newly designed pumps, they even got rid of the machines used to build multiple products and product families. Stunned, they quickly approached Ohio-based Coleys CNC Machining with the request to develop old-style pump production line. Coleys is unique in that it considers clients as partners and becomes a part of their vision and mission. Reacting quickly to the immediate need, Coleys swung into action and developed the entire infrastructure along the lines of what the client wanted to resurrect and rebuild. “It was a monumental feat for us. We developed one piece of the project at a time, developing patterns, procuring castings, designing and building fixtures followed by machining and grind/hone/lapping. We assigned tasks and goals, and methodically checked off each step to meet the client’s expectation in time,” says Kevin L. McDaniel, President of Coleys.

Coleys' business strategy is to become an extended arm of its clients, their machining division. At the outset of client engagement, the company wants its new partners to imagine how they would use its infrastructure if it were their own. Clients are taken for a tour of the shop floor, introducing them to the staff, apprising them of the quality and diversity of the machinery and systems in place, and the current projects being executed in the facility.

As Coleys takes care of the production, its clients can focus on sales, customer satisfaction, and business growth

With the promise of high-level performance, quality parts to print, and on-time delivery, the company remains on its toes to cater to the new and evolving client requirements for product design and development. And, in that pursuit, Coleys continuously invests in enhancing its capacity through new technologies and automation. The company can deliver the prototypes in less than three weeks, and once approved, it can produce the components and products at scale and deliver those in less than two months. As Coleys takes care of the production, its clients can focus on sales, customer satisfaction, and business growth.

Take, for instance, the case of Coleys’ another CNC client, a company that designs actuators for mobile hydraulics to lift and shift heavy objects for work trucks, such as cranes, plows, and heavy armored doors. The client was looking for a trusted partner who can machine complex components of all shapes and materials for a variety of outside operations while they design, develop, and test their custom designed actuators for a diverse group projects. They needed a partner that could place assembled prototypes in their engineers’ hands in three weeks. Because the likelihood of going to production, greatly decreased after three weeks. Several existing partners failed to deliver the prototype on time, let alone provide consistent results. Coleys was called in to address the issues. Coleys was quick to gather the product details, including 3D models, fast track each planned step, and build the prototype in time. The company paid close attention to the custom requirements and ensured the end product exactly matched the purpose it was designed for. During the process, Coleys machined, assembled, and tested the components and prototypes and delivered that to the client in less than three weeks. The project ended on a high note as the client was able to achieve a lighter, compact actuator that had the necessary reliability, weight, and speed. “It would have taken many years and millions of dollars of investment had they decided to build it on their own,” says McDaniel.

Currently, Coleys has taken an online approach to interact with its partners, brainstorm ideas, and keep them posted on the project developments. But that hasn’t dampened the spirits at Coleys as the team looks forward to build amazing new products and components for its clients. Investing in equipment, people, and services optimization, the company readies itself to meet the expectations of its partners, today and tomorrow.