Located in Michigan’s port city of Muskegon, Machine Ethics LLC serves as a one-stop-shop for industrial machine repair, preventative maintenance, and rebuilding services. The company, with its 150 years of combined experience and knowledge in all types of equipment maintenance, is the backbone for many manufacturing businesses and CNC machining centers in the U.S. Since the inception of Machine Ethics, industrial clients have considered the company as their go-to maintenance service provider because of its quick response time and cost-effective services. Even today, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Machine Ethics remains unparalleled in its steadfast approach to reinvigorate industrial equipment and keep its clients’ ‘business engine’ running.

But, How Did it All Start?

Machine Ethics’ humble beginnings are rooted in the challenges faced by businesses due to the rigid service structures of OEMs. Bill Keller, the owner of Machine Ethics, faced these problems first-hand during his tenure at a camshaft manufacturing company. “I started as an operator at the facility, gradually working my way up the ladder to becoming the maintenance manager at the plant,” he says. As the manager, Keller was responsible for keeping the machines running without a hitch. Every time a machine needed repair, he had to contact the OEMs and request technicians. However, an OEM technician functions exclusively for a specific brand, which meant Keller had to employ multiple technicians for machines of different makes. As a result, it became an increasingly challenging task to keep the maintenance cost within budget.

Keller realized that he had to cut costs, and the only way to do that was finding an alternative to approach. He began assembling an in-house maintenance crew and trained them to work on different machines. Soon, he had a highly-skilled team of technicians who could conduct routine maintenance services on machines of multiple brands—all at a fraction of the cost they would have spent otherwise.

“Soon, it dawned upon me that there were many other managers and owners who were facing the very same challenges in their plants,” remarks Keller. With a specific vision of assisting them, therefore, Keller laid the foundation for Machine Ethics, a company that would deliver comprehensive repair and maintenance services and relieve machining businesses from their ongoing equipment upkeep problems.

Delivering Exceptional Service at Cost-Effective Rates

Today, the most notable facet of Machine Ethics is its ability to deliver services to a broad range of equipment, irrespective of their make or model. “So, clients don’t have to approach different OEM vendors to repair specific machines depending on the brand,” says Keller. With a brand-agnostic company like Machine Ethics, industrial clients are able to streamline their overall maintenance process. What makes Machine Ethics a favorable choice for clients is its ability to function seamlessly alongside OEM technicians. “We work well with most OEMs and are sometimes subcontracted by them. We are also an OEM representative. But our pride lies in our ability to work on a large variety of machines. This allows the customer to use us as one-stop, especially when we are there already working on another machine. This way they don’t have a downtime while having to wait for a different OEM to respond,” says Keller.

The specialty of Machine Ethics lies in its ability to work on a large variety machines, which means the clients can depend on the company for all their repair and maintenance needs

Additionally, Machine Ethics’ team of highly skilled and trained technicians ensure that the excellence of work delivered by them is second to none. Owing to this, the company has become an indisputable choice for industrial customers all over the nation.

That being said, Keller points out that, “Every company that Machine Ethics works with has a ‘personality’ of its own, which determines their unique requirements.” For instance, a larger company might want the compromised components to be replaced entirely instead of maneuvering a repair operation. Whereas, a company with a more stringent and tighter budget would often choose to repair the component and utilize it until the end of its useful life. “Hence, our first step is to troubleshoot such issues and deliver the simplest solution that fixes the problems as per the ‘personality’ of our clients,” explains Keller.

When a customer approaches Machine Ethics with their equipment problem, Machine Ethics’ technicians first conduct an extensive preliminary assessment to locate the root problem of the machine issue. Based on the diagnosis, Machine Ethics then presents several repair and replacement options to the clients.

Alongside this, Machine Ethics also plays a critical role during relocation or onboarding of new machines at client facilities. It could be that a new equipment needs a different power source, whether it is electricity or compressed air. All the client has to do is point out the requisites, and Machine Ethics’ technicians will do everything from start to finish, until the equipment is ready to integrate with the workflow. The specialty of Machine Ethics lies in its ability to work on a large variety machines, which means the clients can depend on the company for all their repair and maintenance needs. These capabilities, among others, make Machine Ethics a truly one-stop-shop company that can take care of almost every challenge faced by the manufacturing customers.

Taking it Up a Notch with Preventive Maintenance

In addition to a reactive approach of solving client’s upkeep woes, the company also offers a custom preventive maintenance program. “We offer free evaluations and quoting on all customer equipment for designing a customized program suitable for them,” informs Keller. With a parameter to be scheduled weekly, monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, and annually, these programs (based on ISO quality standards) are designed to keep clients’ machines running smoothly, thus eliminating downtime and increasing productivity. “Our goal is to make preventive maintenance easy and simple,” says Keller. So, when it comes to a repair job and predictive maintenance program, all the client must do is sit back and let Machine Ethics do the legwork without a snag.

Making the Workspace Safe and Sound

Machine Ethics also goes above and beyond to make the clients’ workspace as safe and efficient as possible. The company specifies the required dress codes for different areas of manufacturing depending on the hazard levels.

This ensures that the personnel are well informed on the use of personal protection equipment (PPE) according to the compliance and safety requirements. The technicians at Machine Ethics are trained to watch out for any possible safety concerns, whether it is a loose belt or a misaligned belt guard, or it could be an exposed electrical wire. The company ensures that the clients are aware of the situation and ensure that the equipment is safe and secure after every repair. By bringing it back to OEM specifications, Machine Ethics guarantees that the equipment functions at optimal levels.

Staying Ahead of the Digital Wave

According to Keller, owing to the current manufacturing and machining industry, the problem is not always found within the physical components of the machines. Today, machines are becoming increasingly digital, and hence, programming errors are also coming into the picture. As the former automotive capital of the world, Michigan is home to many manufacturing companies that leverage CNC equipment. And a persistent challenge that troubles these companies is the shortage of CNC programmers. With the foresight of understanding such issues, Machine Ethics is consistently upping its game to meet the programming needs of its clients. To that end, the company deploys its programmers at client sites and helps them with all their programming needs. As a result, the manufacturing companies with CNC machines can maintain business continuity without missing a beat.

A case in point is a machining company from Michigan that had employed a single CNC programmer to set up 12 machines. The programmer was overstepping his bounds, and this proved troublesome for the company. So, the client decided to seek the expertise of Machine Ethics in helping them solve the problem. Machine Ethics was swift to send an experienced programmer to take the place of the employee, assisting the customer through their issue. In fact, Machine Ethics went one step further and simplified their entire programming process while training several new employees to take up the programming—ensuring uninterrupted flow of business operations.

There is No Greater Resource than People

Along with training the clients’ operators, Machine Ethics also places a high emphasis on the internal training of its own employees. “We value our employees above everything else, and I am proud to admit they are drivers of our success,” says Keller. By investing in the employees, Keller ensures that the workforce is always motivated and driven by the want to achieve greater success. Today, skilled repair technicians are few and far between. Machine Ethics, therefore, follows a ‘don’t just hire, train them’ approach, wherein new trainees accompany senior technicians on their assignments to learn the craft and imbibe the essential skills. With a flexible scheduling approach, Machine Ethics ensures that its workforce functions like a well-oiled machine. “We always lean on each other, and that helps us learn from each other’s mistakes,” says Keller.

Building on such a strong work culture and customer relationships, Machine Ethics is now focused on taking repair and maintenance to the next level. The company sends its technicians directly to client facilities no matter where they are located, whether it is in the U.S. or on the other side of the world. And, taking the next step on Machine Ethics’ stairway of growth, the company is also planning to expand its workforce in the upcoming months while also expanding the scope of its service offerings. To learn more about Machine Ethics, visit their website at www.machineethicsllc.com.