Company Adds Second Nakamura WT-150-II MMY Machine
WINONA, MN – Aug. 11, 2021 – Possessing more demand than capacity is a great problem to have. But nonetheless, it’s still a problem.
That’s what Compass Precision’s newest operating company, Douglas Machining Services, LLC, encountered early this summer.
“I talked to Gary [Holcomb, Compass Precision CEO] about it,” said Douglas Machining President Dan Douglas. “Do we pump the gas or pump the brakes? Which way do you want us to go?
“We had more work than we had capacity.”
Compass chose to pump the gas and provided investment capital for Douglas Machining, a leading supplier of precision metal components, specializing in mill/turn machining, to add a new Nakamura WT-150-II MMY to its impressive collection of mill/turn machines.
”Dan and his people have done a fantastic job growing Douglas,” explained Gary. “And with their track record of serving customers so well, it was an easy decision to invest in an additional high-end machine.”
Douglas Machining already had one WT-150 machine prior to this purchase, so there was no learning curve for any of the machinists. The new WT-150 arrived at the end of June. The Douglas staff installed it on day one, and the machine was fully operational the next day.
Dan described the WT-150 machine as “a great little workhorse.” It’s smaller than a Nakamura WT-300, which is another mill/turn machine Douglas has in its arsenal. But the WT-150 is faster.
The previous WT-150 machine the company owned was always busy with the same part. But now with double the capacity, the Douglas team can satisfy other customer needs with the smaller mill/turn machine.
“We got that machine (WT-150) back on our production schedule, and it’s running other stuff now,” said Dan. “It’s just nice to have the extra capacity to get stuff done. Without it, I don’t know how we’d be doing what we’re doing.”
The WT-150 has twin turret spindles, a two-inch thru spindle and the ability to multitask. It also possesses 6,000 RPM chucks and the capacity for 5-axis milling.
The additional WT-150 machine will help Douglas continue to supply its large customer base in industrial and specialty markets in the upper Midwest and throughout the United States.
Douglas Machining operates from an 18,000 square foot facility in Winona, MN, which is about 115 miles southeast of Minneapolis. The company is home to a state-of-the-art equipment base, including nine multi-tasking mill/turn machines. Six of these units have 5-axis milling capabilities while the other two offer 4-axis milling. Additionally, Douglas has numerous 3 and 4-axis vertical mill centers, traditional CNC lathes, an EDM machine, a coordinate measuring machine and room for growth.
Compass Precision was founded in 2019 by its CEO Gary Holcomb and by Dennis Prado and Ryan Davis, managing partners with Main Street Capital Holdings, a Pittsburgh-based private equity firm. Main Street acquired three CNC machining sister companies — Advanced Machining & Tooling, LLC, Quality Products & Machine, LLC and Tri-Tec Industries, LLC — in the Charlotte area during the fall of 2019 and placed them under a new umbrella company, Compass Precision, LLC.
Less than a year later, Compass added Gray Manufacturing Technologies, LLC in Denver, NC as its first add-on acquisition in Aug. 2020.
President Dan Douglas founded Douglas Machining in 2005. Compass acquired Douglas Machining as its fifth operating company in March 2021.