Photo | Courtesy of EMUGE-FRANKEN
Bob Hellinger, president of Emuge Corp.
August 11, 2020
Q&A: West Boylston manufacturer reached 100 years through aggressive R&D
West Boylston manufacturer EMUGE-FRANKEN, which produces taps, thread mills, drills and other rotary cutting tools, celebrates its centennial this year. A century after its founding, the company has expanded from three to more than 1,900 employees, while boasting an international footprint, including its international headquarters in Lauf, Germany. Bob Hellinger, president of Emuge Corp., spoke with WBJ about what it’s like to operate a 100-year-old company, its new German manufacturing facility and what it looks like to be resilient in the face of challenging world events.
How does it feel to be part of a company that has been in business for 100 years?
It is quite an accomplishment to make 100 years and even more so as a privately held company with the original family who founded EMUGE-FRANKEN. It is a testament to our employees past and present who have made EMUGE-FRANKEN a leader in our industry.
How has the coronavirus pandemic impacted EMUGE-FRANKEN?
The pandemic has slowed business activity, especially in our aircraft and automotive sectors. All indications point to a gradual recovery to probably last for another year. The pandemic has shut down business travel and being an international company, our employees were frequently traveling between the U.S. and Europe. We are hoping travel restrictions will begin to ease at some point.
EMUGE-FRANKEN prides itself on solving our customers’ toughest application issues; making tooling and machining suggestions for productivity improvements and cost savings. As you can imagine, working smarter, more efficiently, and reducing costs is more important now than ever. As an essential business, we are finding new and innovative ways to provide safe onsite engineering support, when it’s possible, and using a range of new virtual tools to support customers from the screen to the spindle. In addition to our application engineers around the country, we have a full team of technical specialists sitting in Massachusetts ready to help customers.
When you consider the various world events that have taken place in the last century, what advice do you have for other companies trying to survive the various challenges and upsets that history throws at business owners?
One of the keys to the longevity of our company is a commitment to providing the highest quality products and not cutting corners. We have always spent a high percentage of our total budget on research and development, which allows us to stay ahead of technology changes. By constantly evolving our product offering, we remain relevant to the market. Everyone knows the adage about the buggy whip manufacturer. We do not ever want to be in that position.
What will the expansion in Germany mean for EMUGE-FRANKEN and its customers?
We completed a 20,000-square-foot expansion to our facility in West Boylston last fall and are now manufacturing cutting tools in the new facility. Our parent company is located in Lauf, Germany, and it is constructing a 200,000-square-foot expansion to our main production threading products manufacturing facility. This expansion will allow us to increase capacity to keep up with demand worldwide. Even though the current economic conditions led to a decrease in orders, we do not see this as a long-term issue and our building for the future.
Is there anything else new coming down the pipeline?
EMUGE has been known primarily as a manufacturer of high-end taps. The expanded manufacturing capabilities in our West Boylston facility, including the production of standard and special end mills and state-of-the-art coatings, make us well-positioned to serve manufacturers in Aerospace Alley, an area of aerospace component manufacturers concentrated in Connecticut and Southwestern Massachusetts, with fast turnaround time and delivery. With continued R&D support from EMUGE-FRANKEN, we’re continually expanding our portfolio of high-performance end mills. For example, EMUGE-FRANKEN developed a whole new category of end mills to help manufacturers reduce machine cycle time by 90%. Circle Segment end mills shine in 5-Axis machining applications, which are becoming more widely adopted by manufacturers of aerospace components.
We are seeing R&D efforts ramp up to support growing markets such as medical device manufacturing. Overall, we are well-positioned with the tooling, technology, and staff to support customers' toughest applications.
This interview was conducted and edited for length and clarity by WBJ Staff Writer Monica Busch.
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