Inside Hurco blog: news and events from CNC machine company

Visiting customers is always fun, but when they're right next door to Hurco AND they're in the beer dispensing business...it's even more fun (especially on a Friday)!

Yesterday and today, we were at the TOP SHOPS conference right here in our backyard...Indianapolis (which has been the hometown of Hurco since the company was founded in 1968). The Hurco crew decided this conference that celebrates the excellence found in job shops across North America would be the perfect venue to launch Mike Cope's book,"The Power of FIVE: The Definitive Guide to 5-Axis Machining"

Congratulations to Graphic Tool in Itasca, Illinois. They won the Leadtime Leader Award sponsored by Moldmaking Technology. The Leadtime Leader Award was established in 2003 by Gardner Media, the parent company of Moldmaking Technology magazine, and goes to the company that performs beyond the status quo using any and all resources available to it, whether that means teamwork between skilled employees and well-managed scheduling or having the latest machinery and equipment, automation, etc. – or both.

"It’s about optimizing what you have to build the best molds for customers while keeping costs fair and meeting deliveries. It’s not about being the biggest, most fancy shop. It’s about working smarter and with a passion for what you do," according to Christina Fuges, Editorial Director for Moldmaking Technology magazine.

Companies must apply for the award and a panel of judges uses specific criteria to determine the winner in addition to those companies that are worthy of an honorable mention. Graphic Tool was recognized as a Leadtime Leader honorable mention in 2003, but won the title this year.

According to Fuges, Graphic Tool goes above and beyond when it comes to running its shop like a business—streamlining operations, developing employees, doing the right thing even if no one is watching, carrying a winning attitude, embracing change, and communicating openly and professionally.

About Graphic Tool:
If you’ve used products such as aerosol sprays, cosmetics or medications, you’ve probably used products packaged in containers for which Graphic Tool Corp. built the molds. Such molds are extremely precise, often holding tolerances of 0.0001 inch, and the team at Graphic Tool is proud of having won the trust of customers who are among the largest OEMs in the world. Click here to read the article that illustrates why the judges selected Graphic Tool as the 2017 Leadtime Leader Winner.

To see the video highlighting Graphic Tool's “pursuit of perfection,” visit short.moldmakingtechnology.com/2017lla.

COURTNEY FORCE ANNOUNCES SPONSORSHIP RELATIONSHIP WITH ADVANCE AUTO PARTS STARTING IN 2017

We have many employees and customers who are veterans and we are so thankful for their service.

Rob Schonegg is a machinist for Eli Lilly, a pharmaceutical company based here in Indianapolis (home of Hurco, too). As part of our sponsorship with the Indianapolis Colts, we have great seats to the game that we like to share with our customers. Rob was the winner of the drawing and stopped by today to pick up the tickets to the game and passes to the VIP Colts Tailgate party that's before the game.

He's been running Hurcos at Lilly for more than 20 years. He told me this is the second time he's won a prize from Hurco. The first time was when he attended an open house on a Friday evening back in 1997 when Lilly just had a Hurco KMB1 (they still have it and it still makes chips, but they've added a VM30 and a VMX30i to the Hurco collection) . He and his wife were leaving the event and he saw that Hurco was giving away calculators. "Even back then, you didn't need a calculator when you were running the Hurco, but I decided to get one anyway," said Rob. He filled out a form to get the calculator, but was shocked when he was notified that he had won a trip to Disney World. "I didn't even know there was a drawing for a trip," Rob told me.

At the Lilly machine shop, he makes a lot of prototype parts, lab equipment, and parts for plants around the world.

Congratulations Rob! Hopefully, you'll bring some good luck to the Colts on Sunday.

The August issue of Performance Racing Industry magazine arrived today. The magazine's editorial team selected Hurco to represent the Machinery Row Issue. Of course, we think the Hurco MAX5 is worthy of covergirl status. The Machinery Row Preview article has a wealth of information to get teams ready for the PRI show that is held right in our back yard in December. Click here to read the article.