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RISING
FROM
THE
ASHES
By Jennifer Bohanan
Allen Tool Phoenix’s
success is a
testimony to the
integrity, expertise,
and resolve of the
people who work
there.
4
roughcuts and fine finishes
“If
it’s easy, we don’t do it,” says
Cheryl Maines of Allen Tool
Phoenix Inc. (ATPI), describing
what might be considered “typical” work
for the East-Syracuse, NY based custom
contract manufacturer. “Many of our customers are from the aerospace and defense
industries. We’re accustomed to projects
with a very small margin of error.”
If you’re familiar with the name Allen
Tool, it’s probably because the company has existed in some form since 1922.
Then, in 1991, after merging with another
company, Allen Tool closed its doors, leaving many of its long-time employees, including Material Manager Cheryl Maines
and Tool Room Foreman Dick Cook facing unemployment. “Dick and I decided
to start a new company,” recounts Cheryl, who now serves as the company’s general manager. “He had good commercial
contacts, and I had customers in the aerospace and defense industries. We believed
our professional integrity would carry us
forward.”
Hoping to “rise from the ashes” of their
“Bill [Alibrandi] goes out on the floor and
helps out when we’re troubleshooting or
developing a process. He is a partner.”
-Cheryl Maines, Allen Tool Phoenix
former company, the newly-minted entrepreneurs called their enterprise Allen Tool
Phoenix.
The new business owners leased used
equipment and facilities space from a machine shop that was undergoing a downsize and enticed two employees from the
soon-to-be-former company to join them
in their new enterprise. “The old facility
closed down on a Thursday, and our ‘new’
employees started the following Monday,”
Cheryl says. “Eventually, as we grew, we
took over the whole space. Today we have
18,000 square feet and 20 employees.”
As it turns out, many of those employees hail from the original company and
many are still with ATPI today. “We don’t
have a large turnover,” says Cheryl. “Some
of the older guys have retired, but they
passed on what they know to the younger ones.”
“The type of employees who do this
work are well worth hanging onto,” adds
Heath. “Many of our jobs are handled by
a single person who takes ownership and
sees it all the way through.”
One customer compared the parts he
receives from ATPI to “fine pieces of jewelry.”
Abrasive-Tool is an important technical resource for the manufacturer, because
the highly precise nature of their custom
work sometimes requires unconventional
solutions. Heath recently partnered with
Bill Alibrandi, who works out of ATC’s
Syracuse office, to develop a completely
new tool. “We needed something that no
one makes, and we came to the conclusion
that we would have to make it ourselves,”
says Heath. “We combined something we
produce here with an off-the-shelf product. Bill helped us put it all together, and it
works great.”
“Bill goes out on the floor and helps out
when we’re troubleshooting or developing
a process,” adds Cheryl. “He is a partner.”
ATPI has been expanding into new
areas over the last few years, taking on
more commercial and higher volume production work, and developing new processes, such as thread rolling.
Recognizing the value of the custom manufacturer’s expertise and experience, customers have begun to bring ATPI
in earlier in their process. “They’re starting to talk to us up front, before they put
anything on paper,” Cheryl says. “We take
pride that they consult with us on the end
result they’re looking for.”
ATPI also takes pride in the customer service they offer, so they rely on Abrasive-Tool to back them up. In addition to
Mark Altman, ATPI CNC machinist,
demonstrates milling with a diamond
coated Robbjack endmill. (Photo by Tom
Dwyer)
~continued on page 6
Mark Altman, ATPI CNC machinist (left) and ATPI Plant Manager Heath Severn, inspect
a PCD (Polycrystaline diamond) side and face mill designed and manufactured by Allen Tool
Phoenix with parts sourced through Abrasive-Tool Corp. (Phioto by Tom Dwyer
www.abrasive-tool.com 5
RISING FROM
THE ASHES
~continued from page 5
their relationship with Bill Alibrandi, they
frequently get inside support from ATC’s
Tim Horr. “We are often in a hurry,” says
Heath. “We need quick turnarounds, and
sometimes we need to buy last minute.
ATC never drops the ball. We always get
what we want when we need it.”
As ATPI looks forward and finds ways
to continue their success, they easily acknowledge that they rely on the partnerships they’ve established, with their expert
employees and ATC, and with the customers who trust them to get the job done,
so they can continue to get it done right.
Mark Altman, CNC machinist, adjusts tolerances for machining abrasive aluminum
(Photo by Tom Dwyer)
6
roughcuts and fine finishes