Lake County custom tool manufacturer sees new business influx, solves production bottleneck

GWS Tool Group has seen an influx of new business this year.

In fact, the Tavares-based maker of custom tools posted a 13.85% increase in year-over-year revenue. New orders for the company's custom-made cutting tools largely came from the aerospace sector. But, to fulfill on these orders, Executive Vice President Tomas Roman said GWS needed to solve a production issue that was slowing them down.

Through the month of May, GWS tested and approved a machine that automates laser marking — etching identifying information — on each tool so it can be shipped to the client. That was a big improvement for the firm, since it previously was done manually at GWS, and the company couldn't keep employees engaged with the mundane task.

Since opening in 1989, the company has expanded to include 14 facilities around the U.S. and one in Canada, including through acquisitions. Here, Orlando Inno speaks with Roman, who oversees all locations, to find out what’s new at the Lake County manufacturer.

What kinds of companies are your clients?

We are a cutting tool manufacturer, and our clients are all over the country, really, all over the world. We manufacture products that other manufacturers use to make products. The aerospace sector is a significant customer base for us.

How’s business?

Demand is high right now. We are exceeding pre-pandemic demand. The aerospace sector has had a huge uptick, whether they're supporting defense, power generation, or things that fly. The demand from aerospace customers is hot and heavy, consistent across the eastern seaboard. Since last year at this time, we’ve had a 13.85% increase in business for our Tavares site.

How have you adapted to produce more cutting tools and meet the demand?

We had to solve a bottleneck that had been holding up production speed. One of the last steps in the production process is “finish marking” the product. We laser mark the product with the part number, lot number, and quality information. We had people doing it, loading the tool, hitting the laser mark button, taking the tool out, loading the next tool. It was monotonous, and we struggled to keep people doing that job. It was an area that was keeping us from getting product out the door. Here we have an already-finished product read to ship and all it needs is numbers etched on it. Now, we've implemented a laser that has a camera system and conveyor belt on it. The laser brings the tool in, finds the tool, laser marks the tool and moves it along the conveyor belt so the next tool comes in. 

How long since the bottleneck was resolved?

We received our first unit about a month ago. It’s active in one facility where we’ve tested it, and now it’s going to be deployed at all 13 sites. 

Does replacing people with machines eliminate jobs in manufacturing?

We're at a point where we don't acquire new equipment unless it comes with some sort of automation. We can only find so many people to stand in front of machines and help make tools. In our specific environment, a machine is going to load the next piece, unload, unload the finished piece, and load the next piece. These are menial tasks that people don’t want to do. Where we need people is to operate the machines, do the work that requires the thinking, like mechanical set-up, inspection and monitoring for quality. So rather than having to stop what he or she is doing and break their train of thought on an extremely challenging task just to go load another machine, the robot takes care of that and people can keep their focus.

How and where do you find workers?

Lake Technical College has a Center for Advanced Manufacturing. We sit on the advisory committee and recruit entry level folks that have no experience in the industry. We train them from within. We also relocate folks who do have experience from other states. Workforce development is a big focus for us. We have three students who are graduates of Lake Tech’s most recent class that just started with us.

GWS Tool Group

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