Columbia, Connecticut-based Columbia Manufacturing, a 39-year-old privately-held manufacturer and supplier of precision metal components for turbine engines, announced November 20 that it has completed a capital investment to install a large-scale coordinate measuring machine (CMM). With the addition, the Eastern Connecticut-based company becomes one of only a few specialty manufacturers in the U.S. to offer such large-scale CMM capabilities.
The new Mitutoyo machine will enable trained technicians to electronically inspect and verify large and bulky parts as big as five feet wide, nine feet long and five feet wide, with tolerances less than the width of a strand of hair. These measurement capabilities are attractive to the aerospace industry, which demands exact tolerances in the fabrication of turbine engine components.
Columbia Manufacturing said the investment is the latest and grandest step in its year-long effort to modernize and become competitive in the aerospace industry.
“Over the last year, we have strengthened our workforce, invested in facility improvements and improved processes with a focus on operational excellence,” said Columbia president and CEO Robert Friedland, who became the company’s leader in November 2018. “We set ambitious goals and are on track to achieve our vision with 2019 projected to be a record year for new bookings and 30 percent year-over-year growth in our maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) segment.”
Bob Nieszczezewski, Columbia’s CFO and vice president of MRO operations, added, “By modernizing operations and incorporating new technologies like the large-scale CMM, we are positioned well for continued growth in both original equipment manufacturing (OEM) and MRO,” added Bob Nieszczezewski, Columbia’s CFO and vice president of MRO operations. “We have the workforce, the facilities, and the machine capacity to take on new contracts and the underlying processes to deliver the highest quality work on time.”
