Summit Tooling Reshapes Milling and EDM Processes With Automation

Among many die/mold shop owners, automation has been viewed as expensive, complicated and better suited for higher-volume production of milled parts. Dan Martin of Summit Tooling outlines how his mold shop identified and adopted low-volume, high-mix automation to improve the quality, costs and lead-times in the face of skilled-labor shortages. Through investments in automation, Summit Tooling has managed to double its sales while continuing to run one shift with the same number of employees, thanks to unattended, lights-out operation.