Welcome EMI-Vocus

Mobile Precision has been very busy the last few months, but we finally have a little breathing space to catch up on the news.  That news is a new customer, EMI-Vocus (www.emivocus.com), a company providing equipment and services to the high-tech and semiconductor industries.  You’ll find out everything you need to know at their web site, but what we’ll focus on in this update is how EMI-Vocus became aware of Mobile Precision:  Word of mouth.

John Holtz, formerly the owner of Vocus, joined forces with EMI and took on the responsibilities of Director of Operations for the merged companies.  A number of EMI employees had had their tools calibrated by MPTS before, and suggested our services to Mr. Holtz.  He took their advice, and the result is a new relationship between EMI-Vocus and MPTS, built on the foundation of an established customer.

Our thanks to the EMI people who recommended MPTS, and to Mr. Holtz, who acted on their recommendation.  We look forward to handling the calibration needs of EMI-Vocus in the years to come.

Our Annual Certification

As part of Mobile Precision’s NIST traceability and ISO compliance, we are required to have all of our standards certified as within tolerance by a third-party calibration lab.  The third-party lab must be accredited by national and international organizations such as ISO, and perform their calibrations and certifications under those organizations’ guidelines and procedures.  Additionally, the third-party lab’s own standards and equipment must be certified by a still higher-level lab, and so on, back to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

NIST is a federal agency headquartered in Gaithersburg, MD and has an annual budget of nearly a billion dollars.  Their official mission is to “Promote U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards, and technology in ways that enhance economic security and improve quality of life.”  Here’s what that means to Mobile Precision’s customers:  When we calibrate and certify your tools, we’re meeting or exceeding national standards for reliability and accuracy.

You’ll learn all you need to know about NIST if you click their logo on the left side of our home page.  And, if you have any questions about NIST traceability, give us a call.

Introducing Wolcott Design Service

The last few months have been very busy at Mobile Precision.   We completed work for several customers already profiled here:  Quality Bending, Allied Systems, Simplex Mfg, Forest Medical, and others.  But this week we took on a new customer:  Wolcott Design Service.

WDS falls under the broad heading of “Cottage Industry.”  It’s a one-man show, in a small shop on its owner’s property.  But the size and “Cottage Industry” category could be misleading.  Bob, the brains and hands of WDS, does very fine work.  Among his projects are intricately machined prototype laptop computer housings and, on the other end of the scale, large fixtures for one of Portland’s biggest manufacturers.  It was a pleasure to meet him and find out what he has going.

You can find out more about Wolcott Design Service by clicking here:  http://www.linkedin.com/pub/robert-wolcott/4/291/149.  Thanks, Bob, for having us come out.  We look forward to doing your tools in the future.

Northwest Hydraulics: The muscles of construction

In January we calibrated the tools for Northwest Hydraulics, a company that manufactures and repairs hydraulic cylinders.   We call them the muscles of construction for a good reason:  Practically every piece of construction equipment uses hydraulics, from the familiar bucket of a backhoe to the drive train of an earth mover.  If it weighs a lot and needs to be lifted, pushed, dug out, filled in, or rearranged, NW Hydraulics can build a cylinder for it.  Mobile Precision Tool Service goes through their tools every six months, and we’re happy to do it.  They’ve been a customer for many years, and we thank them for their loyalty.

Straddling 2009 and 2010

Mobile Precision finished 2009 calibrating tools for two very different companies:  Bench Made Knife and Integrated Power Services.   Bench Made showed us a very cool extreme-duty knife, the Infidel, a double-action knife whose blade comes straight out of the handle instead of flipping open.  Check it out under the “Black Class” product line at www.benchmade.com.

Integrated Power Services doesn’t make knives.  Their focus is on specialized industrial equipment; really big specialized industrial equipment.   They build, repair, and modify electric motors, and nearly anything attached to them.  For instance, when we were there at the end of December, they were refurbishing a 70,000-pound drive shaft that attaches to a hydroelectric turbine for a dam in Montana.  The picture will save a thousand words.   Equipment this big needs big tools to measure it, and Integrated has some of the largest mandrel mics MPTS does: 54 inches.   Integrated is also one of our oldest customers:  Over 30 years and counting.  We thank them for their loyalty.   Click www.Integratedps.com to find out more.

Ran-Bro Tool Company: Hard-headed production

Ran-Bro Tool Co. is another machine shop MPTS does tools for twice a year.  Like a lot of shops, there’s usually something interesting going on there.  This time around, for instance, Ran-Bro machinists were finishing up the molds for protective head-gear.  And not just any head-gear.   If you’ve ever seen a movie or documentary show about modern aircraft carriers, you’ve also seen the helmets worn by the deck crew.  That’s what the molds were for:  To make the basic shell around which and inside of which all the equipment fits to help the crew do their job.

Life may be like a box of chocolates for some people.  But when life is like a machine shop, it’s even more fun.

MPTS begins work for Bench Made Knife on December 8.  Watch for posts here, and check out the correction to the previous Bench Made post, which was sent in by delacombo.  Thank you for setting us straight.

American Machine & Gear

In late October Mobile Precision finished a two-week stint at American Machine & Gear, Inc.   AMG does what’s in its name:  Gears and machine work (we always like companies that live their names).

Because gears can be really small to really big, AMG’s tools cover a large range of linear measurement.  We cleaned, calibrated, and began tool history cards on over 140 tools, most of them micrometers — including a 48″-54″ mandrel mic nearly as big as Peter (though not so heavy).

AMG’s web site can be reached here:  www.amgearpdx.com.  We thank them for their business, and look forward to seeing them again next October.

Simplex Manufacturing: It’s good to be all wet

Mobile Precision Tool Service recently finished calibration and certification for a company whose highly specialized products are seen the world over:  Helicopter-mounted firefighting equipment.  When you see hundreds, or even thousands, of gallons of water dropped all at once on a hot spot, there’s a good chance the tank doing that work was made in East Portland.

Because of the dangerous work they do, and the severe conditions their products encounter in the field, Simplex has exceptionally high quality requirements.  To help them meet their AS9100 standards, MPTS provides them with an additional layer of traceability and quality control:  Individual tool certification sheets.  Ask us about them when you contact us, if your company must meet aviation or MIL-Spec standards.

Like their product, Simplex is a unique company.  Find out more about them at www.simplexmfg.net

A Flurry of Activity

It’s been quite a while since we had any updates to blog about here.   But, in the last three weeks, MPTS has been at several different companies.  First up is a new customer, Bridge City Steel.  They are a general metal-working shop whose website, though sparse, will direct you to the all-important sales department:  www.bridgecitysteel.com.  MPTS thanks BCS for their business, and we’ll be back there in six months.

Next is Quality Bending and Fabrication, now into their second year of calibration with MPTS.  QB&F is bucking the current economic trend by expanding their fabrication into a popular Oregon industry:  Wind turbines.  They’re concentrating on units as little as ten or twelve feet in diameter for local, on-the-grid commercial and industrial businesses.  They even have a design fitted for cell phone towers.  Everything except the blades are built right in their Tualatin facility.  We’re excited to see Quality Bending grow, and proud to help them maintain their quality and standards.

Then there’s Eastman Plastics, an injection molding company in southeast Beaverton (one of Portland’s suburbs).  They’re also new to MPTS, and you can find them at www.eastmanplastics.com.  Our thanks to Glen and everyone at Eastman, and we look forward to seeing you next year.

Finally, one of our largest customers:  Allied Systems Company.   They were the first company profiled here, and we do their tools each March and September.  That means you’ll see them spotlighted here regularly.  For now, we’ll just provide their web site, www.alliedsystems.com, and our thanks for being a loyal customer over the years.

Helping the Benchmade Knife Company stay sharp

Benchmade Knife Company is one of Mobile Precision’s biggest customers.  They’re also a little different in that their products are directly sold to the general public.  Many of our customers build something that’s part of something else you buy:  A cooling unit for a computer motherboard, for instance.  However, with Benchmade, what they make is what you get.

You can find Benchmade at www.benchmade.com, although you’ll have to create an account to view the site.  Or, you can go to one of the cutlery specialists located in Portland-area malls and see the knives close up.  They are considered some of the best knives anywhere.  Mobile Precision Tool Service is happy to keep their tools accurate so their knives stay sharp.

P.S.  Benchmade knives are also popular with law enforcement and military personnel.