Only the Best Machines to Make the Best Parts
BADEN-WÜRTTEMBERG, GERMANY – April 8, 2025 – Compass Precision, LLC has no limits to finding the best ways to satisfy a customer’s needs. Even if that means flying about halfway across the globe.
Leaders of two Compass Precision operating companies attended a week-long open house of a potential machine supplier in southern Germany during the end of March. Co-General Managers Christina Douglas (pictured on right in above photo) and Ben Kubis (above left) at Douglas Machining Services and Quality Products Vice President & General Manager Dustin Jones (above center) made the trip.
Both operating companies are interested in purchasing a mill/turn machine at some point in the near future. The machine supplier which hosted the open house specializes in mill/turn units.
Compass doesn’t currently have any of this supplier’s mill/turn machines. But the trip helped establish a relationship that could lead to Douglas or Quality eventually acquiring a state-of-the-art machine from the German supplier.
“We have two older mill/turn units that we want to replace, and we’ve been having a lot of maintenance and breakdowns going on,” said Christina. “So Ben and I were wondering if maybe we should look into different manufacturers.”
Just as Christina proposed that question, she received an invite to the open house. The supplier offered Compass four invitations.
Although Quality doesn’t possess any mill/turn machines currently, Dustin saw the trip as an opportunity because of his desire to add a mill/turn unit in the future. Dustin also used the trip as a chance to visit a German customer.
”German-made CNC machines have a terrific reputation,” explained Dustin. “This was a great chance to learn more about mill/turn and other units from a solid equipment vendor we didn’t know much about beforehand.”
The week-long open house was a complete behind-the-scenes look at the supplier’s operation. Christina, Ben and Dustin received the chance to witness how the company’s machines are made at their German factory. They also met with a partner company that supplies some tooling.
Those in attendance at the open house also learned about the supplier’s apprenticeship program and the casting the company uses for machine bases.
“It was cool to see their machining. The way their technology and machines are built are a lot different than our existing machines,” Ben said. “It kind of opened our eyes to different – a lot faster, more accurate machines.
“And we saw in assembly and all the components individually, which really showed why they are a better machine than what we have now.”
Douglas Machining, which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary, is Compass’ operating company that specializes in mill/turn machines. When Douglas chose that as its focus and first began investing in mill/turn machines, Nakamuras were top-of-the-line units.
Those units remain elite in the industry. Christina, though, doesn’t want to be closed minded and miss a chance at adding a different first-class machine.
Christina raved about the German supplier’s machine ingenuity and efficiency.
Ben, Dustin and Christina were three of 63 Americans in attendance at the open house. Most of the other U.S. companies at the week-long event already owned their mill/turn machines. In fact, representatives from one company in attendance possess 55 of their machines. Those representatives travel to Germany every year for the annual open house.
Number of sales, though, isn’t a main priority of the mill/turn machining supplier. Producing top-of-the-line units and developing a relationship with their customers is their main goal.
That is an extremely attractive trait to Compass. Nothing is more important to its eight operating companies than having dependable, efficient machinery that helps meet customers’ needs in the best way possible.
The machine supplier displayed their desire to build relationships the entire week Dustin, Christina and Ben were in Germany. Representatives of the company met the three of them at the airport to begin their European journey.
The company also hosted nightly dinners for their guests, including one at the Hohenneuffen Castle, which is a 900-year-old historic castle in the northern foothills of the Swabian Alps.
“They were so personable and really nice to get to know. They were honest,” Christina said. “The president and CEO, people that have been with their company for 50 years, were on our tour and answering our questions. That was really nice. You don’t get that very often.”
Nightly dinners also offered Ben, Christina and Dustin an opportunity to network with other American manufacturing companies. Not to mention, the three of them received the chance to spend some time together. Although Douglas and Quality are sister companies, because of their location in different time zones, the general managers had not previously met face-to-face.
“We got to meet a few other owners of some companies. We talked about what we had, what they had,” said Christina. “That could open up some potential opportunities.
“Some people are into really cool things. We look forward to seeing what that may bring.”
Overall, the trip, which was the first time any of the three co-general managers visited Germany, left Dustin, Christina and Ben highly impressed.
“They go above and beyond. We have gotten more out of this new relationship than we have out of others. We occasionally have a salesman check in, but we’ve never had any opportunity for anything else,” said Ben.
“Glad we went. It was definitely a great opportunity, and we were very thankful to go,” concluded Christina.