Local manufacturers invest in new equipment to stay competitiveBy Deborah Jeanne SergeantAs with many industries, machine shops need to keep up or get left behind.At Universal Metal Works in Fulton, company president John Sharkey, IV has added a new Cincinnati, Inc. 350-ton press brake with a 16-foot bed and seven-axis CNC controls for forming metal.“It’s definitely made us a lot more efficient,” Sharkey said. “We can do more complex bending. It’s also more accurate.”The new equipment helps Universal create more pieces per hour. Although efficiency can mean a reduction in the labor force, Sharkey said that the new press brake has had an opposite effect.“If anything, it helps us get more jobs as we have more formed parts we can put together,” he said.Cincinnati, Inc. trained Universal employees on how to use the machine when they set it up about a year ago. Universal employs 32. Sharkey estimates that the return on investment should occur in around five years.One potential drawback to high-tech equipment is its eventual obsolescence; however, Sharkey feels reassured by Cincinnati’s long-term involvement in the industry and the general longevity of its equipment.“The company has equipment out in the field since the 1930s that’s still out there (more…)

After a few delays, German-owned company is about to start building facility in southern Oswego CountyBy Stefan YablonskiBenjamin Morrow is Daldrop SBB’s Syracuse operations manager.After a brief lag, Daldrop SBB’s work on the future home of its manufacturing facilities is “full steam ahead.”Daldrop SBB, LLC, is a German-owned clean room manufacturing, sales, service and engineering company.It continues work on the 32,000+ square foot cutting-edge project in the L. Michael Treadwell Oswego County Industrial Park in Schroeppel. It marks the largest expansion outside of Germany in the company’s 71-year history.And it reinforces the success of its SHELMEQ cleanroom systems within the pharmaceutical industry — all while continuing to foster the international cleanroom manufacturer’s leadership presence in the United States, according to Benjamin Morrow, Syracuse Operations Manager for Daldrop.“We are a bit behind with construction as we just released the pre-engineered metal building framing steel order,” Morrow said.They are also wrapping up the final engineering for the site and expect to break ground in October, he added.“From our original timeline the project grew a little bit and the scope of what’s going to be happening in this facility changed a bit as well. So we had to do some re-engineering,” he explained. (more…)

Grant to fund infrastructure at L. Michael Treadwell Industrial Park in SchroeppelThe County of Oswego Industrial Development Agency (IDA) has been awarded a $2.5 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) to fund roads, water and sewer infrastructure improvements in the expanded portion of the L. Michael Treadwell Oswego County Industrial Park.“We are thrilled to receive the news of the $2.5 million grant for the expansion of the Oswego County Industrial Park,” said Oswego County Legislature Chairman James Weatherup. “This significant investment will pave the way for the development of shovel-ready sites, enabling us to attract new industrial businesses and stimulate economic growth in our county.”This grant will allow the IDA to more than double the size of the existing industrial park by building public infrastructure into the 185-acre expansion site that the IDA purchased in 2021.The public infrastructure will include the construction of over 3,700 feet of new public roadway, over 4,200 feet of new sanitary sewer and over 3,700 feet of new public waterlines. This EDA investment will be matched with $2.5 million in IDA funds to prepare up to 10 shovel-ready sites to attract advanced manufacturing and semiconductor supply chain businesses that are estimated to (more…)

Need a part? Here’s how the process worksBy Deborah Jeanne SergeantEver wonder how new parts and products are made? Local fabrication shop leaders shared an inside look at the procedure.Many times, salespeople at job sites bring leads to EJ Co, Inc., in Schroeppel.“We find out from the customer what the job is and create a new product request,” said Tim McKernan, facility manager.The company’s staff of engineers take new product requests (NPRs) and design the requested part or product. After developing the price quote, a sold design may require a prototype or may not, depending on the complexity of the project and the customer’s desires.“For the Big Dig project in Boston, the original drainage grates were supplied by a foundry that’s no longer around,” McKernan said. “They wanted replacement grates with a special locking device. We submitted a prototype, and we’ll probably build hundreds of those to replace grates that have fallen apart.”Typically, a project can be completed without a prototype, with drawings and revisions as customers spots changes and has new ideas on what they want. EJ revises the drawing until approved. Then it’s time to build.“Sometimes they don’t know what they want,” McKernan said. “We pride ourselves in (more…)