MakeTime Launches Shop Advantage Program at Top Shops Conference

Kentucky-based startup MakeTime announced the launch of the MakeTime Shop Advantage Program at Modern Machine Shop’s Top Shops Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The program is said to be the first of its kind, designed to make technology, sophisticated hardware and business services more accessible to the U.S. manufacturing base, which reportedly contributes over $2 trillion to the U.S. economy annually.

The announcement highlighted the program’s inaugural partners including:

Autodesk
Sandvik Coromant
Dell
Transportation Impact
Manufacturers Capital, a division of Commercial Credit Group Inc.

Todd Pritts, Chief Product Officer at MakeTime, says that manufacturers have historically experienced barriers to adopting new technologies and processes. MakeTime’s program is designed help machine shops bridge the technology gap faster and facilitate a more productive U.S. manufacturing workforce. “MakeTime’s mission has always been to refuel U.S. manufacturing,” he says. "We started by building technology that makes it easier for manufacturers to get parts made with American suppliers; now we can go one step further and provide American suppliers access to the tools they need to get ahead, and stay ahead, of the technology curve in the global manufacturing climate.”

Through the program, machine shops will be given access to special offerings for cutting tools, CAD/CAM software, computer hardware, CNC machine tool and manufacturing equipment financing and more.

The Shop Advantage Program is exclusive to qualified members of MakeTime’s network of over 1,000 U.S.-based machine shops. All machine shops based in the U.S. are eligible for qualification when they create a free account on MakeTime.

“Partnering with MakeTime on their newly-launched Shop Advantage Program makes a lot of sense,” says Jeff Rizzie, Director of Digital Machining for Sales Area Americas at Sandvik Coromant. "We are both focused on driving out the waste that exists in today’s manufacturing supply chains. Providing easy access to Sandvik Coromant’s industry-leading metalcutting solutions and know-how through the MakeTime platform enables their suppliers to provide world class machining services.”

Robert Yancey, Director of Manufacturing Industry Strategy and Business Development at Autodesk, says that the program “provides Autodesk with a great opportunity to expose the industry to the latest manufacturing software and technology to help MakeTime’s supplier network solve their current business challenges and further their capabilities in manufacturing.”

“We are excited to partner with MakeTime and offer our technology products and solutions to their supplier network,” says Mobolaji Sokunbi, Head of Strategic Partnerships, North America Small Business with Dell. “We believe that this partnership will make Dell technology products and solutions more accessible to MakeTime suppliers, making it easier for the U.S. manufacturing base to grow faster.”