Tennessee Screw Machine
|
Don Pennington, who perpetuated growth with his warm and friendly style, founded the local manufacturer. In 2000, the Mitchel Group of Indianapolis, Ind., acquired Tennessee Screw Machine. The Mitchel Group, which operates a sizeable screw machine operation in Indianapolis, was founded in 1933. Today, the firm generates approximately $30 million in annual sales with 325 employees, of which 49 are at the McMinnville plant.
The Mitchel Group is privately owned and is now in its third generation of leadership. The other operating site is a new joint venture plant opened in 2005 in India, which is beginning to grow.
All plant sites compliment each other and product streams back and forth between Indianapolis and McMinnville multiple times per week. A new plant in India is expected to allow The Mitchel Group to be competitive with Asian imports in order to maintain key customer relationships.
Of particular interest locally, Tennessee Screw Machine has a sizeable vendor relationship with Carrier Corporation, which now involves a major shipping effort to Mexico and to a lesser extent Tyler, Texas. Tennessee Screw Machine developed a unique ability to machine, centerless grind, and mill precision shafts for Carrier of all diameters and lengths. Hopefully this subcontract business will remain in Warren County.
The automotive market represents 95 percent of the business enjoyed by the Mitchel Group with the HVAC (Carrier) market being the remaining 5 percent. Major accounts in automotive include Cummins (trucks), John Deere, Mercedes Benz, and Johnson Controls.
The Mitchel Group is fully QS9000/ISO-9001 certified, almost a necessity to serve automotive. Tennessee Screw Machine has several major accounts located in Tennessee. The Mitchel Group employs an in-house direct sales force comprised of six traveling sales reps.
The Mitchel Group provides a full turnkey manufacturing capability revolving around the precision machining sector. Tennessee Screw Machine is the largest screw machine house in the area with approximately 100 screw machines locally. They also have broach machines, five centerless grinders, a CNC vertical machining center, a large CNC lathe, four surface grinders, an abrasive finishing machine, and two Euro-Turn screw machine systems.
The Indianapolis operation has a sizeable inventory of machine tools and also has a heat-treating process in-house. Indianapolis also has wire EDM machines to make new machine tooling. Tennessee Screw Machine has a machine that recycles 75 percent of the cutting oil used from metal chips. They also have a complete Quality Control department with small CMM machines, optical comparators, hardness testers, granite plates, etc.
Perhaps most impressive with Tennessee Screw Machine is the fact they completely rebuild their Davenport screw machine on average of once per year in-house. They have the machinery, equipment and knowledge to do that. This practice has a lot to do with their strong reputation for high-quality products.
The ability to rebuild equipment and do major repairs in house has became a necessity since the original U.S. screw machine manufacturers (National Acme, Davenport, etc.) are no longer in business. The Mitchel Group takes advantage of this in-house capability at their Indiana plants as well.
Current lead time for a new customer part is four to six weeks. This lead time carries the advantage of in-house tooling manufacturing. Screw machine part capability is 2 inch O.D. to extremely small O.D.s. The local plant operates two shifts per day. All machinery maintenance and set-up is done in-house. The work force features a lot of seniority with an average tenure of 10 years. Company purchasing and sales is located at their Indianapolis headquarters.
New employees start at $9/hour and are hired on a temporary status for an initial 90 days. The company gives a new employee five reviews during the first year. Training is conducted on the job.
The local management team is comprised of the following people:
Duane Dishman, building (plant) manager
Dwayne McCormick, manufacturing manager
David Bouldin, quotation engineer
Jennifer Patch, customer service
Patricia Patton, human resources
The company has a Web site at www.mitchel-group.com. The Mitchel Group participates in regional trade shows, such as the Job Shop Shows. Of local interest is the fact that Tennessee Screw Machine donates steel and metals to the machine tool program at the Tennessee Technology Center here. The company could be interested in the pending Foreign Trade Zone in Warren County.
The Mitchel Group acquired the immediate adjacent 15 acres of land next to Tennessee Screw Machine allowing for future expansion. While there is no current plan to expand, the firm is looking to grow their business further with new and additional existing customer services such as parts assembly.
The Mitchel Group is a very focused, specialty company with significant heritage and expertise. We are very pleased to have Tennessee Screw Machine as an important part of Warren County’s industrial community. Their commitment to their industry will undoubtedly lead to further company success and growth.