Stillion Industries has been machining parts in Southeast Michigan since 1972.  To meet increased demand from regular customers we have purchased new machines in the past few years.  These new machines have helped us increase our capabilities and efficiency.  Stillion Industries’ operations have moved a few times over the years.  Most recently, the expansion of our location occurred in 2014. Stillion Industries’ property consists of 5 buildings with one building dedicated to machining, one dedicated to building Electro Arc machines and testers, and another one dedicated to producing Molybdenum electrodes.

We purchased Electro Arc in 2019, increasing our internal demand for machined parts.  Electro Arc used Stillion Industries as a vendor for years. So we are familiar with many of the new parts we make for the Electro Arc product lines. The metal disintegrator machines are composed of hundreds of parts. We now machine about 60% of the parts needed for those machines in-house. Our Ames testers are 97% machined in-house. We have been able to improve our manufacturing process for these parts over the past 3 years.

As with any major change, the process of integrating Electro Arc operations into the existing Stillion Industries location was tricky. Electro Arc had been in business for 72 years when we acquired it. The number of items that needed to be integrated into our operations was significant. Integrating new staff and staff roles into the machine shop changed our operations completely. Going from offering services to offering products and services required new software, training, and coordination while maintaining existing operations. Three years later, we continue to improve our systems and manufacturing processes.

A Look Inside Stillion Industries

Our main challenge in stocking our own parts has been balancing internal work with outside work. Supply chain issues have also created scheduling delays.  In many cases, we must wait for other jobs to finish in order to complete a job for our metal disintegrators or Ames testers.  Since each tool and machine is custom-made, our turnaround time can be delayed due to a lack of parts. Obviously, this is less than satisfactory for our customers who are also waiting for our products which require parts and products both from our own machine shop and outside sources.

While we can stock our Ames hardness testers ahead of time, we have not been able to stock the metal disintegrators as a shelf-ready item to order.  The investment per machine is significant and since we offer over 40 different models, with  custom options for building power, we cannot pre-fabricate these machines.  Changes in the economy have affected our buyer behavior and we haven’t been able to anticipate the volume of new orders. 

We have also explored offering refurbished metal disintegrators for sale.  This is advantageous for customers who would not normally be able to afford a new machine. We offer machine refurbishing services for machine owners as well.  Our first refurbished machine was in new condition and was sold with a 1-year warranty. Used machines found on the market through avenues like Ebay won’t offer this benefit.  Electro Arc had elected not to offer refurbished machines in the past.  Stillion Industries is exploring the possibility of offering refurbished metal disintegrators regularly.

As an additional option, we are considering offering a buy-back program for owners of metal disintegrators who would otherwise sell their machines through third-party machine sellers.  This way, the machines can be factory certified and we can continue to offer used machines for sale.

All Parts Manufactured by Stillion Industeries are Made in Michigan

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