Gray Manufacturing CNC Machinist Excelling at 5-Axis Machining
Denver, NC – July 30, 2024 – As far as machinists go, it doesn’t get much more valuable than Anthony Palermo. Behind the unique accomplishment of working at two different Compass Precision operating companies — Quality Products & Machine and Gray Manufacturing Technologies — Anthony has risen to the level of running one of the most intricate machines at any Compass location.
Anthony was also one of the company’s very first Employees of the Month recipients in April 2020.
But a year ago, Anthony was down in the dumps, stuck in a slump that didn’t appear to have an end.
“Things weren’t going my way, and it just seemed like anything I did was just garbage and garbage, and I was in a lull. It was like, ‘This isn’t me,’ kind of thing. ‘I’m better than this,’” said Anthony.
Thanks to hard work from Anthony and support from the Gray staff, particularly general manager Evan Grose, Anthony worked out of his slump and is back to producing at a top level.
“He gave me a good old pep talk,” Anthony said of Evan. “Something that not a lot of people in my life do. I’m always grateful for him.
“Ever since then, I’ve been wide open trying to make sure we get parts in and out efficiently in that area and with little scrap rate.”
Anthony runs the Mazak Integrex 400 at Gray, which he described as a 5-axis mill/turn machine that works similarly to the horizontal machines he learned at Quality Products.
Since his bounce back, Anthony has offered a lot of assistance to Gray’s mill/turn machinists. He said he’s found the latest job he’s helped on the most rewarding.
“It was totally meant for the 500 or the 700 Mikrons (Gray’s Mikron 500 U or 700 U 5-axis machining centers), but our customer wants this part as quickly as we can get it to them,” said Anthony. “Evan told me to try and do it on the Integrex, and so far, it’s been going pretty good.
“We quoted it accordingly, and I have been able to meet the cycle times that they’ve quoted it at, and I’ve been doing pretty good with the surface finish and all the tolerances and able to make this part on the Integrex when they thought it would be for the 500 or the 700.”
”I couldn’t be prouder of Anthony,” stated Evan. “The Integrex is a tough machine to learn, to master. We sort of threw Anthony to the wolves out there and he came back a hunter.”
In addition to Evan, Anthony has used Chris Adkins and Jeremiah Aversa as resources at Gray. Jeremiah has particularly helped Anthony with fixturing.
“Anthony is good people,” added Compass COO Bill Canning. “He’s sort of like that guy who missed a lot of tackles in training camp, but by December is playing like an All-Pro.”
Before his tenure at Quality Products began in 2019, Anthony worked at O’Reilly’s Autoparts. That’s where he met former Quality Operations Manager Patrick Mayne.
After striking up a long conversation together, Patrick offered Anthony a job at Quality Products in the O’Reilly’s parking lot.
While Anthony landing at Compass was pure happenstance, it’s bloomed into a great relationship, one that Anthony looks forward to continuing to grow.
“I think Compass is a good place to grow and learn. There’s a lot of brain power within Compass with all of our sister companies and we just utilize everyone’s talent.”