Precision machining puts Sangat on growth track

LONGMONT – In an economy swamped by bad news, one Longmont-based company looks to sail into rapid growth this year.

Business at Sangat Precision Machining and Grinding Inc., buoyed by hard work, a commitment to quality and customer service and good marketing, doubled in the past year.

“And beyond that for next year, it looks like we’re going to increase by about a factor of 10,´ said Phil Smith, Sangat’s sales and marketing manager.

Smith said 2009 revenues are projected at $2.3 million based on capacity, ongoing sales and marketing activities.

Sangat Precision took its name from a Bahasa Indonesian word meaning “extraordinary” or “remarkable.” It opened its doors in its current location in February 2008. The company machines custom parts for medical equipment, the aerospace industry and firearms, just to name a few.

“We talk to our customers. We find out exactly what their requirements are for finished fit,´ said James Ray, Sangat Precision’s owner and president, and then they make the parts. Designs created by customers are translated into computer models by Sangat and then machined in-house using automated equipment.

 Specializing in hard-to-work-with materials, they’ve made parts smaller than a centimeter to 37-inch stage rings used in rocket launches with jobs costing from hundreds to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The idea for Sangat Precision started when Ray, then in his 30s, began engineering school at the University of Colorado and struggled finding machinists who delivered what he needed.

“My parts were late. They were out of spec, and they couldn’t really be bothered,” to correct the problems in a timely manner, Ray said. So Ray, a former gunsmith, began making parts for friends in his private shop as a hobby.

“And then it started to be I would get calls from businesses … asking, ‘Could you make a run of parts?

“And I said, ‘OK, there’s a real need here.'” A need driven by clients’ desire for precise parts delivered on time and with great customer service, he said.

For help translating that need into a successful business Ray hired Chief Operating Officer Michelle Jordan in 2006.

“I spent the first year on the property designing a business,” Jordan said, including creating a company vision and value set, developing procedures and policies and identifying qualities desired in employees. A commitment to these values and policies play out in the company’s record.

“We’re so strict on delivering on time,” Jordan said, and the company has never delivered a late part nor has it delivered a bad part, unlike some competitors.

A point illustrated by a recent conversation Ray had with a potential client.

“I talked to a company that had been using a Pacific Rim manufacturer, and they had a 40 percent rejection rate,” Ray said. Sangat completes quality control checks on parts as they are made to ensure none are rejected. Rejections lead to lost time, especially when using foreign manufacturers where shipping can take weeks, making Sangat’s quick turnaround and reliability a big seller to customers.

“Essentially we thought responsiveness was key,” Smith said. In addition to delivering parts on time, responding to initial inquiries and getting quotes out quickly is also the norm, as is speedy communication if a problem arises.

“We’re in the information age after all, and it’s as quick as an e-mail most times,” Ray said. Customers are contacted immediately with design sticking points that might cause delays.

While Sangat creates parts for a variety of clients, including the U.S. government, they don’t share client information with the public.

“We maintain their privacy to a very high degree … our clients very much appreciate that,” Ray said. The level of privacy required at Sangat Precision, coupled with its federal firearms license with a class 2 tax stamp, requires background checks on each employee.

Sangat Precision recognizes today’s machinists as highly skilled, intelligent workers able to navigate complex computer programming and automated machines. More than two dozen workers would have been needed to turn out the number of parts Sangat Precision produces with just a few workers. Ray hopes this will allow manufacturing jobs to return to the U.S.

The company has seven employees and plans to add more when the need arises.

“We employ the best possible technical personnel to run the equipment at our facility,” Smith said. “Typically we only hire experienced CNC programmers with machine operation experience, and our current staff includes a master-level CNC programmer/machinist who does all of our five-axis programming and operation. We play our machining staff an average rate that falls around $32 to $34 per hour.

“There’s been sort of an exodus of manufacturing going overseas, and we’re adamant about bringing those jobs back to the United States,” Ray said, and the look to local talent before searching farther from home.

As business grows the company plans to hire additional employees and is looking to add a night shift to their business in the 2009. In addition to quality and customer service, Internet marketing tailored to desired businesses have boosted Sangat’s sales, Smith said, and since many machine shops still shy away from the Internet Sangat is at a distinct marketing advantage. These factors allow for an expanded future business plan.

“My mission has been to establish a solid foundation so that this company grows not into something significant for Boulder County necessarily but something significant as a manufacturing company in the U.S.,” Smith said.

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