A Warren County family tradition
Don Pennington founded McMinnville Screw Machine and operated the business for over 20 years until its sale in the early 1990s. Don was a well-known, successful industrialist in the area who always wore a smile for those in his personal company.
Unfortunately, Don succumbed to cancer at the early age of 62 in 1997, but left behind a heritage for screw machine business with his family.
Long-term employee/manager Jeff McGee and son, Brent Pennington both had worked with Don for over 20 years in the business. In 1994, Brent and family and Jeff McGee founded Warren County Screw Machine, located at 108 Magness Drive in McMinnville. The company manufactures custom screw machine products and does machining subcontract services. Their business acumen has already required two physical expansions since the initial building was erected, the most recent being a 3,000-square-foot addition done two years ago to place their three CNC lathes in an air-conditioned environment.
The company operates today with 11 employees with a total of 15,000 square feet of manufacturing space. They have three Mazak CNC lathes that can machine parts down to a 0.0003 inch tolerance. They have 10 Acme Gridley multiple spindle automatic screw machines and seven Brown & Sharpe single spindle automatic screw machines.
The company has invested over $1 million in capital spending since its inception. A new CNC vertical milling machine is planned for purchase within the next year.
About 65 to 70 percent of its total revenues come from the custom screw machine products. Primary markets served are automotive and electrical. Major customers include Chrysler, Ford, General Electric, and Square D. They have a major customer in Canada. Some business comes from within the county, including from Carrier, TeNac, and Accu-Router.
Business is rapidly improving for Warren County Screw Machine. They are running 120 percent of capacity with the CNC lathes and about 60 percent with screw machine production. Marketing is addressed with specialty sales reps, repeat, and referral business. A new company Web site is in current development, expected to be ready with 90 days.
Key company strengths include:
A. Fast turn-around time from order to shipment.
B. High tolerance capability
C. Can supply complete paper/document trail to comply with customer ISO-9000 programs. This is most impressive. This confirms each manufacturing step and compliance to tolerances and specifications along the way.
D. A comprehensive quality control department with a full time experienced manager. Each manufacturing step goes through this department for signed approval before proceeding.
Concerns for the business include price competition from China and recent material price escalation caused by China “gobbling up” available material capacity. Warren County Screw Machine has seen steel and other metallic prices go up 25 percent in the last six weeks, and steel plate up 35 percent since Jan. 1, 2004.
Employee additions have focused on machining and quality experience, including new retirees from major industry in the north. McGee cited a close working relationship with the CNC machining program at the Tennessee Technology Center near their plant.
Warren County Screw Machine is currently running 12-hour shifts with its CNC lathe department. The company has two optical comparators with 10 times power, along with a variety of other Q.C. equipment and apparatus.
As a visitor enters the office of Jeff and Brent, a large picture of Don Pennington is proudly on the facing wall. He is wearing a suit coat and tie and is sporting that friendly smile. Brent also has two brothers, Greg and Derrick, who work at the company doing machine set-up and operations. Warren countians appreciate the Pennington family and the mark they have made through two generations of dedication and hard work in our local industry.