Leading manufacturer of ultra-precision machinery, United Grinding North America, sets itself apart through innovation, automation, and education
With nine global machine tool OEMs including Mägerle, Blohm, Jung, Studer, Schaudt, Mikrosa, Walter, EWAG, and IRPD in its portfolio, nearly 200 employees, and products spanning from CNC grinding machines to optical measuring equipment and even industrial-grade additive manufacturing technology, United Grinding North America stands out as an industry-leader of ultra-precision technology. The company increases its customers’ competitive edge through complete turnkey solutions, as President and Chief Executive Officer Markus Stolmar, begins: “United Grinding North America is part of the broader United Grinding Group. We are present across Europe, the US, and Asia, with offices in Bern, Switzerland, in Miamisburg, Ohio, in the US, and in India, Shanghai, and Singapore. We also have manufacturing facilities in Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Germany, and China.
“Alongside the Miamisburg office we have the North American Solution Center. This 110,000 square feet facility is kitted out with demonstration areas, workspaces, labs, and everything else we need to generate solutions for our customers. We also have an onsite refurbishment lab, where we touch up old machines with upgraded controls, better mechanics, and automated elements. The automation we do 100 percent ourselves. The basic framework for automating tasks is built into our standard machines, and then we integrate the more sophisticated and bespoke elements here in the US. This makes the machinery much easier to customize. We also use the Solution Center to show customers how the machinery works and train them in using it safely and effectively. We can even demonstrate to customers how their specific solutions are integrated into the machines we create.
“In addition, we do a lot of our testing out of the Solution Center. Our team undertakes cycle time studies, which help improve processes and weed out any imperfections in the model. We also push the envelope in terms of the kind of technology we are using – the Solution Center is all about innovation and creativity, so it comes as no surprise that it’s been the site of some of our biggest advances and accomplishments.
“Most of our projects start with a standard machine, and then we develop it into a turnkey solution. The customer essentially buys a machine, and then we make it work for their purposes. Sometimes the customers will put in their own technology, and it becomes a kind of collaborative project, other times customers come to us with a problem that we need to solve. For instance, they have a part that won’t hold, or they don’t know how to make a specific element of their product in the necessary timeframe. Because requests vary, our team is very flexible and can work with customers however they need to reach the desired outcome.
“We’re adept at providing whole solutions. It’s very rarely just the machine they need, it’s peripheral equipment like cooling systems or waste management tools. Sometimes it’s a case of using different oil, or introducing a new cooling mechanism, like water. There are lots of smaller additions that our service provides on top of just machinery. When we say we’re selling a complete solution to a problem, we mean it.” This model of partnering with customers from pre-sales technical clearances and process development across the entire lifecycle of the machine is critically important and is how United Grinding North America has built partnerships with top global manufacturers over decades. Markus continues: “We have almost 40 factory-trained field service technicians strategically placed across the US, Canada, and Mexico, and we maintain a healthy inventory of spare parts right here in Ohio. This helps ensure when a customer needs our help, we have the personnel and equipment to get their machine back to peak condition as fast as possible.”
To provide high-level solutions quickly and effectively, United Grinding North America relies heavily on its team of engineering specialists. As Markus discusses: “There’s a lot of expertise here in Miamisburg. We have engineers and managers who have been with us for over 20 years – I’ve been here for 24 – we just had an applications manager retire after more than 50 years with the company. There are experts in every stage of the design, testing, and manufacturing process, so there’s always someone you can go to with even the most specific requests. Expertise and experience in the field is invaluable in this industry, which is why we’ve recently made major investments into our apprenticeship program. 
“Like everyone in the manufacturing world, we often struggle to find the right people in-house. I come from Germany originally, and it was an apprenticeship that helped launch my career and bring me into the manufacturing industry. I learned all the basic skills you need to get started, and it was one of the most formative experiences of my career, so it was important to me that we prioritize these programs going forward.
“We’ve just signed on for our second year of apprenticeships. We had four join us in 2023, and we’ve added four more this year. If the program proves successful, we may even start taking on additional apprentices in the future. We have a lot of experienced engineers coming up for retirement, so now is definitely the time to invest in the future of our workforce, while we still have amazing people on our team who can help them learn.”
Prioritizing its people is just one way in which United Grinding remains proactive. The company has big plans for the coming years, as Markus reveals: “In the future, I would love to see United Grinding start building machines in the US again. It’s a dream of mine, to bring manufacturing back to North America in a meaningful way. With the support and investment of our partners in Europe, working business to business, I see a path forward in that regard. I believe that the closer we are to the manufacturing process, the closer we are to the customer. They can see us building something with their own eyes. There’s a good case for expanding our manufacturing footprint here, increasing volume, and driving customer requirements to the market. There will always be challenges, new software, new materials, but these are hurdles that United Grinding is in a strong position to clear,” he concludes.