When I bought Focused on Machining in 2016 I knew it would be imperative to immerse myself and my business in all things machining, manufacturing, and tooling. I was fortunate to find the NTMA, which stands for National Tooling & Machining Association. The local chapter that I'm very involved in is the Rocky Mountain Tooling & Machining Association (RMTMA).
Since I came from a finance background, and as a new owner who was about to embark on manufacturing, it was important that I surrounded myself with a network that I could lean on for questions, advice, and resources. The local chapter has been a sounding board for me- between our regular members who have decades of experience in aerospace, medical device, and transportation manufacturing to the trusted industry partners who specialize in insurance, materials, banking, and business coaching. I’ve been able to take this business to heights that I didn’t think would be achievable in such a short matter of time.
How have the program and services helped me directly?
Education and Training for my employees
NTMA has an apprentice program through NTMA-U’s course work that will teach new apprentice machinists the basics of GD&T, math, blueprint reading, CNC simulation, and Quality control. This program aligns with many of the state’s certified apprenticeship programs. NTMA members get significant discounts and support when accessing these vital materials. Besides from the actual shop topics that my employees and I enjoy, the RMTMA has held webinars on best practices for hiring during COVID, Improving the performance of a machine shop, Finance for non-financial Managers, Costing is a science, Pricing is an Art, online quoting systems and so much more. What I learn from these sessions and implement in business has helped dramatically.
Benchmarking reports- data, statistics, and finance you won’t get anywhere else.
If you’re like me, you know that numbers can provide valuable data on where you were, where you are, and where you’re going. The NTMA conducts two surveys a year and provides valuable benchmarking reports so that members can measure where they are against their competition. Operating costs & executive Compensation surveys cover what it costs to do business and executive compensation. The second is a Wage and fringe benefits report. These surveys go out to members where their confidential responses are built into a dashboard where participating members can see their data compared to other businesses by size, location, or subsector of the industry. These powerful tools pay for themselves. Data like this from Deloitte or PWC costs thousands. This benefit is included with your NTMA membership.
Insurance benefits & program discounts
NTMA has relationships with industry-specific insurance providers that help members with discounts on liability, general, and workman’s comp insurance. The NTMA also has insurance discounts for company-provided health insurance plans through United Healthcare. NTMA also provides some rebate and discount programs through companies like Grainger, Staples, Office Depot, Airgas, Sherman Williams, Unifirst, and Priceline.com. Discounts like these directly impact my bottom line- I’m saving money on everyday supplies.
Networking, Business Referrals, and Shop Tours
My favorite benefit of being an NTMA member is the endless opportunities for manufacturing business owners to connect and refer business to each other. The advice, guidance, suggestions, and many business referrals I’ve received from my peers in the NTMA is why I’m here. When OSHA stops by my shop unexpectedly or a machine breaks down that needs to be fixed immediately, I know I can reach out to my peer network in NTMA and get solutions. With the 30+ companies that are represented here in the Colorado area, I know someone has dealt with this issue before. In fact, many of our members are 3rd or 4th generation machine shop owners! Where else will you have contacts that truly understand the same issues you have? You will find this with NTMA.
As you can probably tell, the NTMA has been an invaluable resource for my business. If you own a shop, I encourage you to join. Please feel free to reach out to me If you have any other questions. For direct resources on the NTMA, go here - https://ntma.org/membership/
Justin Quinn, President