Top Shops 2011: C&R Manufacturing Inc.

C&R Manufacturing is set up to be a single-source machine shop, and is dedicated to total quality control and zero-defects manufacturing with timely deliveries. The shop specializes in CNC turning to produce parts such as axles, shafts, turbocharger housings, woodworking cutters, valve stems, pulleys and gear blanks. It can handle shafts ranging from 1/4 inch to 12 inches in diameter and as long as 60 inches.

C&R Manufacturing ensures high-quality precision shafts and turned parts by using CNC equipment with live tooling that leads to less part handling. Robotic inspection measures multiple diameters to 10 millionths accuracy and communicates with the machine tool to ensure conformability. Bar feeders, automatic gaging and robotic part handling can take a shaft from raw barstock to the finished piece without human intervention. Its manufacturing process maintains a 0.0003-inch deviation tolerance and places out-of-tolerance parts in a separate container.

C&R Manufacturing also has state-of-the-art CNC vertical and horizontal machining centers loaded with a complete selection of tooling for fast, efficient change-overs on long or short runs. Its 10 VMCs and two HMCs offer the range to run miniature parts as well as those weighing as much as 1,000 pounds and stretching as long as 50 inches. The shop also machines prototype parts using CNC equipment and the actual production tooling. This enables it to make the production-run parts look exactly like the prototype. The company offers assembly services and nine-axis robotic welding as well.

Key Personnel

• Ron Wosel, President
• Dick Marx, Operations Manager
• Mike Faltermeier, Shop Foreman
• Cathy Loftus, Financial Manager
• Steve Messick, Tooling and Purchasing

Products/Services

• Okuma LB 3000 live-tool lathe
• Okuma LB15II lathe
• Okuma Crown lathe
• Okuma LR15 lathe with robot
• Okuma LU25 live-tool lathe
• Tsugami BS32 Swiss-type
• Tsugami BS26 Swiss-type
• Hurco VM2 VMC
• Hurco VMX42 VMC
• Hurco VMX50 VMC
• Hurco BMC4020 VMC
• Hurco VMX30U five-axis VMC
• Mori-Seiki SH50 HMC w/12 pallets
• Mori-Seiki NH5000 HMC w/10 pallets
• Techni waterjet machine

End Markets Served

• Agriculture
• Construction
• Electronics
• Energy
• Food Processing
• Hydraulics
• Medical
• Railroad
• Transportation
• Woodworking

Workpiece Materials Commonly Machined

• Alloy Steels
• Aluminum
• Brass
• Carbon Steels
• Inconel
• Plastics
• Stainless Steels
• Titanium
• Tool Steels