What started as a small business that manufactured plastic helical gears for a gas metering valve company has today grown to help NASA in repairing The Hubble Telescope on two repair missions and most recently, the Viper Satellite Refueling project. It’s worth noting the facts that catapulted STD Precision Gear to the forefront in manufacturing high precision components. “However, it was not a success story overnight,” quips James M Manning, Founder & CEO of STD Precision Gear.

It all started 37 years ago in a basement cellar with the purchase of the first gear hobbing machine, cutoff saw, milling machine, engine lathe and a rotary 3-phase generator, equipment necessary for manufacturing the plastic helical gears for the gas metering valve company and phenolic gear blanks for a local commercial production gear company. Today, STD’s facility houses a vertically integrated base of machine tools and employs skilled craftsmen that provides STD with the means to consistently manufacture high precision, complexly configured, tightly toleranced gears to include spurs, helicals, worm gears, shaped and hobbed face gears, bevel gears, gear racks, gear assemblies, timing belt pulleys, splines, sprockets, ratchets, jackscrews, nut tubes, ground threaded shafts, ground worms and other related mechanical transmission components.

Credit goes to all employees of STD Precision Gear. Manning states he often quips to the employees, “we are neither a partnership nor a firm, we are a company, where we all rely on each other to do our respective jobs accurately and in a timely fashion.” Being a supplier to the aerospace, aircraft and medical industries require a registered quality management system with employees capable of providing superior documentation as well as skilled machinists, capable of programming, setting-up and operation of the machines producing the products.

“Our machinists manufacture the products in conformance with the stringent quality controls in place at STD, as set forth within the AS9100D and ISO 9001:2015 regulatory requirements of the aerospace and aircraft defense sector,” says Manning. An advanced quality management and controls system coupled with measuring and test equipment provides their employees with the necessary tools to deliver superior product and documentation that has defense organizations all over the USA reaching out to STD as the go-to entity for their high-precision product requirements.

As an AS9100D, ISO 9001:2005 OASIS registered and Nadcap accredited company, STD’s core focus on quality has enabled the defense sector to steer several missile programs to the pinnacle of success.

STD also has played and continues in a crucial role, providing gear products to JPL, NASA and NASA primes for the Mars Rover program, ISSA Space Station program, Hubble Telescope, Viper Satellite Refueling program, and Dream Catcher program, manufacturing many complex products for these various space missions,” states Manning with pride.
Manufacturing their blanks in house, STD’s shop floor boasts of a vertically integrated, multitude of machinery and equipment with capabilities to include: Saw Cutting, CNC Turning, CNC Swiss Screw Machining, CNC Wire EDM w/3rd Axis, CNC Die Sink (Ram) EDM, various grinding processes; Cylindrical Grinding (Internal/External), Surface Grinding, Centerless Grinding, CNC Thread Grinding, Surface Lapping, Honing, Thread Lapping, CNC Milling w/5th Axis, Acme Thread Grinding, Acme Deep Hole Tapping for Nut Tubes and Jack Screws, Gear Hobbing, Gear Shaping, Rack Cutting, electropolishing, isotropic superfinishing, precision micro-grit blasting, CNC Dot Matrix Impact Marking, Laser Engraving/Etching, Electroetch and Nitrogen Purged/Vacuum-Sealed Packaging capabilities.

In support, the shop holds Nadcap accreditations with merit from PRI for Heat Treatment; AMS 2759/3, AMS 2759/11, Induction Hardening: AMS 2745, Hardness Testing: ASTM E8 and Chemical Processing; Passivation AMS 2700, ASTM A967, ASTM A380. Holding these accreditations allows STD to perform on-site precipitation hardening (aging), stress relieving, induction hardening, hardness testing, passivation and high humidity testing. “Passivation is a function that is not present at most gear manufacturing companies. At STD, our products are made from various stainless alloys requiring passivation and corrosion testing as a final operation. By passivating our products in-house we eliminate several days of lead time, more importantly, we avoid the need and cost of having to perform 100 percent inspection of any external gear/spline teeth, threads, etc. and the delays resulting from handling damage that often occurs while in the hands of outside special processors,” points out Manning.

Today, STD stands unrivalled due to its ability to deliver complex, precision gears on time and deftly handling the most urgent client requests. To this end, the company’s investment plans are such that any newly acquired machinery & equipment will augment functionalities of existing machinery and equipment, at the same time adds additional functionalities and capabilities, enhancing the vertical integration policy set forth by Manning. In a scenario where an existing machine is either down for scheduled maintenance or malfunctions, the new machine can keep the operations going without missing delivery deadlines. Dovetailing with this policy is STD’s conducive work environment. STD fosters a collaborative work environment where the employees are empowered, thus creating a true manufacturing team, where everyone is equally important and responsible to ensure operational excellence, which invariably furthers product excellence.