Absolute Machine Tools Celebrates Milestone
They are marking 30 years as a machine tool importer and distributor in North America.
Posted: March 27, 2018
Absolute Machine Tools, Inc. (Lorain, OH) is marking their 30th year as a machine tool importer and distributor in North America that sells and supports a comprehensive selection of machine tools, including Johnford heavy duty machining and turning centers, Tongtai high production machining and turning centers, You Ji vertical lathes, QuickTECH mill/turn centers, LICO multi-slide multi-axis screw machines and mill/turn centers, APEC 5-axis gantry-style linear motor machines, Nexturn swiss-type lathes; AccuteX wire EDM and sinker EDM machines; Yougar EDM hole drilling machines; and Precihole gundrilling machines.
Steve Ortner and friend Hayden Wellman founded the company in a garage in 1988. Working as representative for digital readout maker Anilam, Ortner made contact with Taiwanese machine tool manufacturer Johnford in 1990, which became their first OEM partner. Partnerships with You Ji for vertical machines and Tongtai for drill tap machines and turning centers came next, followed by relationships with Nexturn, QuickTECH, and Precihole. In 2009, Absolute bought a building in Mason and added the AccuteX lines of Wire EDM equipment. In 2013, they opened their Elgin technical center and achieved authorized integrator status with Fanuc Robotics America. And, in 2017, they acquired Advanced Machinery Systems to become the exclusive importer/distributor of LICO CNC screw machines for turning complex small parts. EDM drilling specialist Yougar also became a partner in 2017.
“Not one of our partners is new to the machine tool industry,” said Steve, now the president of Absolute, explaining how his company has offered some of the most heavy duty, accurate, and productive machine tools in the industry from the beginning. “In fact, we’ve had a partnership with Johnford going on 28 years now. We’ve made it a focus to remain reliable and consistent in our relationships with our OEMs, which carries through to our customers and our support to them with service and spare parts.” Absolute now has direct full-service technical centers in Lorain, OH; Livonia, MI; Mason, OH; and Elgin, IL.
In addition to vastly expanding the selection of machine tools they provide, they increasingly offer engineering services. “Our business has changed from customers simply buying a standard machine and applying it themselves to purchasing more complete turnkey systems for a certain application or family of parts,” noted Courtney Ortner, their chief marketing officer. “We help customers be flexible and profitable with their investment. We want to be a partner in solving their manufacturing challenges by providing profitable systems. Having multiple sources of machine tools allows us to apply the best machine to the job.” She pointed out that providing such services to their core customers is critical when manufacturing trends such as Industry 4.0 and other emerging technologies are difficult for job shops to implement.
Courtney, a sales and marketing professional, married Steve in 1992 and joined him in managing the company in 1993. Back then, the couple worked together seven days a week building the company. “In the beginning we only had ourselves to worry about,” she said. “The company evolved from a small garage into four fully-staffed technical centers and a distribution network that spans all of the United States, Canada and Mexico. Now it’s many more than just us. There’s a responsibility that goes along with that, and we are never complacent with our success. We keep striving every day to provide advanced technology and services to our customers.”
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