A shared road to success

From its early days, Miltera has relied heavily on GF machines. Shortly after founding the company in 2007, Mike acquired his first GF machine, a 5-axis Mikron HSM 600 U. “This was the beginning of a long and intense relationship with GF,” Mike says. Today, Miltera’s sweet spot is a combination of turnkey solutions and smallbatch, highly specialized machine part production. Miltera’s clients include companies in just about every industry. “We’ve got the whole gamut of manufacturing going on here at any given time,” Mike says.

GF has over time come to consider the Canadian company a reliable external partner, and even supplies prototype linear motor cutting tools to Miltera for feedback and testing. “For the first XSM 400 U LP that was built, we were in possession of serial number 3,” Mike remembers. Today Miltera has a full range of Mikron Milling machines, along with other Milling solutions from GF.

Miltera‘s relationship with its customers often starts with prototyping. When companies need a complicated part manufactured in a limited production run, they come to Miltera. “We can develop the entire process – from how we make a part to tooling techniques and cutting fluid specifications – then test it on our machines,” Mike says. With its arsenal of GF machines, Miltera can mill parts smaller than a fingernail and up to a meter across.

Sometimes that is the end of the story. But often a manufacturer is so happy with what GF Machining Solutions and Miltera have done, or the volume demand for the part has increased enough that they want to manufacture it in-house, justifying the price of a new Milling or EDM machine. But what to do when a brandnew GF machine arrives?

For most companies, producing a new part themselves means buying an expensive new machine, then a long settling-in period of prototype production runs and system optimization before manufacturing begins in earnest. “It’s very difficult for the customer to figure out what they need if they don’t yet have a machine. That means months of testing and development while they’re making the machine work,” Mike says. Meanwhile “the machine sits and does nothing for six months, with its warranty running out.”

It is in situations like these where Miltera’s turnkey expertise comes into play. Rather than leaving the customer on their own to set up a new tool, the close relationship between Miltera and GF saves both time and money for the end users of GF machines. “With our partnership, we’re able to go far beyond the usual,” Mike says. “We make the prototype on our machine, and bridge the gap between a prototype and getting the machine.” After the customer buys one of GF’s manufacturing solutions, typically the same one that Miltera was using to produce the part, “we’re able to directly transfer what we’ve developed to their machine,” Mike says. “When the machine arrives, we’re even able provide training for the customer on how it works, and support them going forward.”

Over the years Miltera has also become a trusted partner for GF in another way, acting as a key resource for Sean and GF’s sales team. “The focus is on finding the right solution for the customer, whether that’s Miltera producing the part for them or acting as a bridge while they are buying and setting up their own machine,” Sean says.

A sale can be a win-win – GF sells a machine, while Miltera often gains a customer for its prototype and turnkey services. “It’s a great opportunity to show the customer how well you can do the job on a GF machine,” Mike says. “We’re able to be a resource to the sales team at GF for a customer that can’t yet quite justify buying that machine.”

For Sean, that close and personal relationship is vital. “It’s a phenomenal way to get into a company. I can bring that customer here and not only can they see a live shop making parts, but they can also talk to Mike about how it might work on their floor,” Sean says. “They walk in here and see parts being manufactured to tight tolerances and machines that really do make money and do what we say they do. That’s pretty powerful.”