Compass Continues To Invest in CAPEX
CHARLOTTE, NC – Feb. 25, 2025 – Tri-Tec Industries, a Compass Precision operating company specializing in low-to-mid volume OEM components and part contract manufacturing, has purchased and installed a new 4-axis Haas VF-6 mill.
The new unit replaces an old Fadal 60/30 at Tri-Tec from 2007.
”We love investing in new equipment,” commented Compass CEO Gary Holcomb. “The Haas VF-6 model is a proven machine. We have a number of them at Tri-Tec’s sister operating companies Quality Products and R&D Machine. Now we have two at Tri-Tec.”
Tri-Tec Shop Manager Dennis Jenkins described that the new unit won’t add any “bells or whistles” but will improve the company’s efficiency.
“We’re essentially using this machine to expand our production on one of our most popular parts. We will greatly improve our output, doing a little bit more than what we were doing previously,” said Dennis.
“It just allows us to be a little more efficient, a little cleaner and more consistent in the process.”
The new unit matches the speed and efficiency of Tri-Tec’s other VF-6 machine. The Compass operating company installed that machine in June 2022.
Tri-Tec expects the new VF-6 to run the same part for the foreseeable future.
This is the latest example of Compass making investments in their operating companies with new machines or equipment. Over the last couple years, Tri-Tec made some repairs to the old Fadal 60/30 machine to continue satisfying customer needs but that was always going to be a short-term fix.
“It was getting to the point where it wasn’t cost efficient to fix everything that needed to be fixed on it. We were kind of band-aiding it for the last couple years just to keep it running with the anticipation of getting something new and more reliable,” said Dennis.
Compass is always committed to improving customer satisfaction through equipment investments.
“Expanding our capabilities and capacities through investing in new equipment is what Compass is all about,” explained Jim Miller, Compass’s VP of Sales. “It’s always a great day when new machinery is delivered at any of our facilities.”
Tri-Tec operates from its 18,000-square-foot shop in Charlotte, NC. It provides solutions and quality parts to leading companies in the medical, industrial automation, and chemical processing markets and to other OEM’s across the southeast and globally.
Tri-Tec was founded in 1997. ZP Enterprises, LLC, an Atlanta-based firm, acquired the company in 2016. Compass Precision then purchased Tri-Tec and two other Charlotte-area CNC machining companies – Advanced Machining & Tooling and Quality Products & Machine – three years later. Compass has since acquired Gray Manufacturing Technologies (August 2020), Douglas Machining Services (March 2021) and R&D Machine (April 2022), Strom Manufacturing (July 2022) and Bergeron Machine (April 2023).
Tri-Tec has developed long-term, in-depth relationships with its customers and uses its 3 & 4-axis CNC milling, turning and light fabrication capabilities, including welding, as a true extension of customer manufacturing and engineering organizations.