Compass Precision Operating Company Continues to Invest in New CNC Equipment
Winona, MN – October 18, 2022 – Douglas Machining Services announced Tuesday that it has acquired a new vertical machining center to meet growing customer demand. Douglas is an operating company of Compass Precision, a Charlotte-based manufacturer of custom, close-tolerance metal components for mission critical applications.
“We continue to need additional capacity to serve our customers,” explained Christina Douglas, General Manager – Commercial for Douglas Machining. “Fortunately for us, Compass is eager to invest in new equipment when the demand is there.”
Douglas’s new CNC machine is a Milltronics VM6030IL vertical machining center with 3-axis capabilities. The company already had two similar units from Milltronics along with one of the manufacturer’s VM6030XP machines and four VM5025IL models.
“Douglas has had great experience with Milltronics vertical mills,” said Ben Kubis, the company’s General Manager – Operations who shares overall management responsibility for Douglas Machining with Christina. “We really like the Milltronics user interface and ease of programming. The units are also very rugged, and service has been good. And once someone learns to operate one of our Milltronics units, they can hop over to another one without losing a beat.”
The investment in this new Milltronics vertical machining center represents the fifth new CNC machine Douglas has purchased since Compass acquired the firm in March 2021. The other four machines are Nakamura multi-tasking mill/turn units capable of completing both milling and turning operations within a single set-up. Douglas brought these four machines on-line during the second half of 2021.
“Every time we think we have enough machines, one of our customers brings us a new project,” exclaimed Christina. “We work hard to keep on top of demand. With this new mill, we are good for now. But I am sure we will be needing more machines down the road.”
The company also has been adding employees. Since early 2021, total headcount at the company has increased by 20%, growing from fifteen employees to eighteen.
“We are very pleased with Douglas Machining’s performance since we acquired the company about a year-and-a-half ago,” said Gary Holcomb, Compass Precision’s CEO. “Former owner Dan Douglas ran a terrific shop. Compass is thrilled with the opportunity to carry on his legacy going forward. And since taking over for Dan six months ago, Christina and Ben have done a great job. I look forward to more equipment investments at Douglas in the future.”
Douglas Machining specializes in producing intricate custom metal components for a wide variety of industrial and specialty markets in the upper Midwest and throughout the entire United States. The firm operates from an 18,000-square-foot facility in Winona, MN, a picturesque town along the Mississippi river about 115 miles southeast of Minneapolis. The company is home to eleven vertical machining centers, ten multi-tasking mill/turn units, three lathes, one wire EDM machine, and two coordinate measuring machines.
Compass Precision was founded in 2019 by Gary Holcomb and two private equity partners based upon the simultaneous purchase of three precision CNC machining companies in North Carolina – Advanced Machining & Tooling (Salisbury, NC), Quality Products & Machine (Charlotte, NC); and Tri-Tec Industries (Charlotte, NC). Compass added Gray Manufacturing Technologies (Denver, NC) to the fold in August 2020, then acquired Douglas Machining Services in March 2021. Since then, Compass has purchased R&D Machine (Oldsmar, FL) in April 2022 and Strom Manufacturing (North Plains, OR) in July 2022, bringing its number of operating companies to seven.
In addition to Douglas’s five new CNC machines purchased since its acquisition, other Compass operating companies have invested in thirteen additional CNC and EDM machines including two 5-axis mills, two 4-axis mills, one 3-axis mill, two mill/turn units, three lathes, and three EDM machines. The firm also has purchased two new coordinate measuring machines.
For more information about Douglas Machining Services and Compass Precision, please contact Gary Holcomb, Compass CEO at [email protected].