Machines and equipment are crucial for manufacturing companies to meet their production goals on a regular basis. Today, technology is enabling industrial machinery manufacturing companies to develop highly efficient, reliable, and faster machines.
As innovation has become the new language across the manufacturing industry, various modern machines and equipment are being introduced into the market. Having five decades plus of experience in developing thousands of machines across several sectors, PEKO Precision Products plays a significant role in bringing the machine revolution to life.
PEKO participates in a full range of manufacturing aspects, from innovative technology solutions to electro-mechanical product manufacturing, including vertically integrated contract manufacturing.
These activities take place in its expansive 400,000 total square feet of modern, climate-controlled manufacturing floor space. They are supported by PEKO’s highly skilled engineers and tradespeople, as well as the company’s commitment to investing in the most advanced industrial equipment and technological tools.
Empowering PEKO to focus on its highest value services to customers and effectively meet the company’s stated vision is its Business Development Manager, Scott Baxter.
Let’s in-depth explore the story of PEKO, its specializations, innovations, and much more.
Specializing in Early Commercialization
PEKO has spent the last five decades transforming itself from a small tool and die shop to a premier machinery contract manufacturing company. Decades of contract manufacturing experience have given PEKO a unique take on the machinery manufacturing industry. “We’ve worked with thousands of different machines across hundreds of industry segments,” Scott shared with us.
Talking about the efforts that brought PEKO to today’s new levels of success, Scott says, “The most innovative change we have made is capitalizing on our development strength to create a New Product Introduction (NPI) division that specializes in commercializing early lifecycle machinery and equipment.”
He adds, “This is a skill set that many OEMs have lost over the years, but PEKO has, in fact, gotten stronger in this area.”
Once the machine is commercialized, PEKO has a production division that has performed the serial builds for many years. These two robust offerings combine to bring PEKO’s machinery commercialization process to the forefront of contract manufacturing.
Aiming Forwards and Upwards
Informing us about the vision and the mission statement of PEKO, Scott says, “The vision of the company is to be the premier contract machinery and equipment builder for industry-leading OEMs.”
Furthermore, he adds, “The mission is to develop tomorrow’s technology with industry leaders and progressive partners to manufacture today’s machinery in a global economy.”
Offering Exceptional Products and Services
The main service categories at PEKO are New Product Introduction engineering services and production contract manufacturing. In the former, PEKO provides all the necessary technical resources to produce prototypes and pilot builds of new-to-market machinery. These efforts are supported by engineers providing ancillary work like DFMA, FMEA, design support, CAD modeling, BOM creation, and more.
Once that work is completed, the production Contract Manufacturing division takes over to produce repeatable builds of machinery products in volumes of dozens or hundreds. This service is provided by excellent customer service and quality systems, manufacturing infrastructure, and fulfillment centers.
PEKO provides these services to high-tech industries like medical, semiconductors, renewable energy, defense, and more.
Core Strengths
Highlighting to us the core strengths of PEKO, Scott says, “The core strengths of PEKO really lie in our expertise in development and manufacturing processes and how they relate to building machinery and equipment.”
“We apply best practices to development stage machinery, a skill which most OEMs have lost over the years. Combining that with a strong manufacturing infrastructure of in-house metal fabrication and assembly is a recipe for successful production manufacturing,” he added.
All of this translates to a product commercialization system to get machines to market. Moreover, PEKO’s manufacturing teams are skilled in PLC controls, electrical, cabling, frame fabrication, component manufacturing, motion control, and all other facets of machinery development and manufacturing.
Leveraging Technology
Adopting the latest and greatest technological advancements has become essential in every industry. Giving his opinion on the adoption of modern technologies at the PEKO, Scott says, “As a contract manufacturing firm, we are excited to see the newest technologies being integrated into the newest machines by our OEM customers.”
Scott believes that these technologies are driving enormous opportunities for machinery manufacturing by getting software companies into the hardware market. New business models are being created by capitalizing on AI’s ability to collect and interpret data.
According to Scott, the software companies powering these modern technologies are relying on machinery manufacturers to produce the hardware that generates the inputs for AI. Furthermore, he says, AI is being integrated into hardware to provide feedback and calculations so it can interact with the environment.
Over and Above the Adversities
Challenges are ever-present in every industry. Making a way out of them helps companies to take their growth story to new levels. With over five decades of experience, PEKO has the expertise and knowledge to rise above the challenges that arise from time to time.
Walking us through the current challenges faced by the company, Scott says, “The biggest challenge faced by PEKO at the moment is supply chain and labor.”
Talking about the solutions under consideration for these challenges, he says, “On the supply chain side, identifying critical components and making larger buys is helpful to mitigate risk.”
“Finding qualified assemblers is now more difficult than ever, but perks and rising wages can help bring in new talent. Another way is through internal training programs,” he added.
The Guiding Light
Entrepreneurship is not an easy task to undertake. Still, with the help of advice from experienced leaders in the industry, the path becomes more apparent, saving one’s valuable time and resources.
Offering that wisdom in the form of advice to budding entrepreneurs in the machinery manufacturing industry, Scott says, “This is a great business. Make sure you have the necessary capital and engineering background. Start small and work your way safely into larger and larger jobs. Make sure your messaging is great so your customers understand what you can do for them.”
Plan of Action for 2022 and Beyond
PEKO is on a mission to become a premier contract machinery and equipment builder for industry-leading OEMs. Discussing the company’s plan of action to achieve that mission, Scott says, “We’re looking at a 15% year-on-year growth. This will be accomplished through a combination of growing customer accounts and adding new accounts in emerging industries such as robotics, smart systems, and renewable energy.”
The Passionate Leader
Having a passion for manufacturing that shines through his business relationships, Scott Baxter has spent over 14 years as Business Development Manager at PEKO Precision Products in Rochester, N.Y. Scott’s bachelor’s degrees in both manufacturing engineering and economics grant him a unique perspective on the machinery manufacturing industry. He also loves helping machinery and equipment project stakeholders bring their products to market.
Scott joined the company in the depths of the 2008 recession. During that time, good jobs were difficult to come by. A few years later, Scott and the team rebranded the former “Systems Automation” division that made custom automated machines to “New Product Introduction Engineering,” specializing in early lifecycle machinery assistance. At the same time, PEKO de-emphasized its component manufacturing in favor of high-level assembly jobs, primarily in machinery and equipment. These powerful changes helped the company focus on its highest value services to customers and meet the company’s stated vision.
Demonstrating Excellence
“I must give a huge thank you to the PEKO team for the initiative and incredible attention to detail that is evident in the drawings and 3D models of this new design! There have been a stupendous amount of details discussed during our twice-weekly meetings over the last few months, and PEKO translated all of that into accurate hardware models. This is a testament to the productive partnership we have developed over the last several years, and it was only made possible by the extreme proficiency of the PEKO team!” – Mechanical Engineer, Fortune 500 Communications OEM
“We needed to find a true manufacturing partner that could not only build our product, but work with our technical team on its design, functionality, and refinement… from program managers to skilled tradespeople, partnership defines the PEKO culture. They worked with all parts of our organization to bring our product to market and stood with us to make that product successful. PEKO’s product design and validation efforts positioned our new product for success relative to cost, performance, and reliability goals. These accomplishments resulted from PEKO’s engineering strengths and vertically integrated manufacturing capabilities as our new product gained sales momentum. PEKO said they could effectively respond to our volume increases, and they’ve been true to their word. And they’ve been creative and flexible when determining how to extend manufacturing capacity to deliver product volumes beyond forecast. Their approach to manufacturing has been instrumental in our success.” – Manufacturing Manager, Industry-Leading Optics Equipment OEM
“PEKO is a terrific company, and we can see why that is: you have excellent folks leading the way. Most companies like to say they are on the cutting edge, but PEKO is, and it was impressive to see in person.” – Government Agent, US Department of Homeland Security
“PEKO’s team was able to transition a less than perfectly documented 4000+ part documentation package into 3 identical units that we accepted, commissioned, and ran in our factory. I had a great experience working with the PEKO team; they are truly world-class.” – Mechanical Engineering Manager, Emerging Global Provider of Silicon Equipment
Awards/Recognitions
30 Most Reputable Companies of the Year 2021 (The Silicon Review)
