520 Machinery Sales: Sales skyrocket as demand soars for machine-tool products In Illinois

A rebound in manufacturing in the Chicago area and Illinois is sparking a boom in sales of machine-tool products, reports Elk Grove-based 520 Machine Sales, LLC, one of the leading machine tool sales organizations in northern Illinois and northwest Indiana.

"Technology is boosting production, and sparking a rise in machine-tool sales which is leading to demand for manufacturing jobs in this sector of the economy," noted John Schneider, owner/sales specialist at Elk Grove Village-based 520 Machine Sales, the exclusive distributor of Doosan and Soraluce machine tools in northern Illinois and northwest Indiana.

520 Machinery Sales specializes in the sale of new and pre-owned computer numerical controlled (CNC) machine-tool products. 520 Machinery Sales also carries a long line of precision products and parts for the service of machine tools, and arranges financing and lease programs for customers.

"Making machine-tool parts can be like creating jewelry or art. There is pride in the workmanship," said Schneider, who noted that the company primarily markets machine tools to the job shop, automotive, medical, mining and construction manufacturing equipment, wind energy, hydraulics, guns and ordinance, aerospace and agriculture industries.

With decades of collective experience and thousands of professional contacts, the 520 Machinery Sales team includes owner/sales specialists Schneider, Everett Dahlberg and Dave Fahlgren. The trio gained industry experience while working together at another Chicago-area machine-tool company.

520 Machinery Sales has posted multi-million-dollar revenue growth over the past few years in the machine-tools industry. Launched in 2009, the company has grown to a staff of 22 people and posted year-to-year sales growth of more than 200 percent in 2010 while marketing nearly 400 new and pre-owned computer numerical controlled (CNC) machine tool products.

This success was followed by another banner year in 2011 with sales growth of more than 100 percent, sparking a move to expanded 6,000-square-foot offices and showroom at 1683 Elmhurst Road in Elk Grove Village.

U.S. manufacturing technology orders skyrocketed 92 percent in 2011 to a whopping $4.074 billion compared with 2010, according to a joint report by Association for Manufacturing Technology and the American Machine Tool Distributors' Association, which compiles data on domestic and imported machine tools and related equipment.

520 Machinery Sale's 2011 sales success is part of the Midwest's growth report for manufacturing technology orders, which zoomed 119.6 percent to $1.377 billion in 2011 compared with 2010.

"Basically, we sell solutions," quipped Fahlgren. "These machines fabricate every steel, aluminum or plastic product made in the world from tombstones and paintball guns to artificial knee and hip parts in the medical industry to the power steering pump housing for a Mercedes Benz in the auto industry."

520 Machinery Sales is known for its customer service and partnering with clients to help them grow their business. "Honesty, ethics and integrity" is the 520 Machinery Sales company credo.

"520 Machinery Sales is a humble, young company that already has earned a reputation in the machine-tool industry for honesty, ethics and integrity along with hands-on customer service," Schneider said.

"Clients often find the owners working past 5 p.m., usually, past 5:20, and that dedication gave us our company name," said Dahlberg.

520 Machinery Sales is the exclusive distributor for the Doosan Infracore line of vertical machining centers, horizontal machining centers and turning centers in northern Illinois and northwest Indiana.

"Doosan is a huge international company that few Midwesterners really know about," said Fahlgren.

According to Business Week magazine, Doosan was ranked fourth among the "World's Best 40 Companies" in 2009. Doosan, originally a Korean-based company, manufactures a wide array of machine tools, ranging from two-axis turning lathes to million-dollar milling machines.

About half of 520 Machinery Sales' business is in marketing pre-owned machine-tools. The company's Pre-Owned Equipment Center specializes in the sale of used Daewoo, Doosan, Haas, Milltronics and Miyano CNC machine tools, and business of selling used machine tools is booming in today's slowly rebounding economy.

"Our goal is to maximize our customer's ability to make money by selling under-utilized CNC equipment," said Dahlberg. The used equipment often is taken in trade, and either reconditioned or resold as-is. Like a used car, the "mileage," or wear determines the resale price.

520 Machinery Sales appraises pre-owned machine tool equipment for top dollar and acts as a seller's broker, negotiating to get the best resale price for the equipment. Used machinery stays in place and is shown to prospective buyers on-site. Sometimes under-used equipment is leased to a potential buyer and sold later.

"We strive towards making a fair deal for the seller of the machine tool as well as the buyer," said Dahlberg.

Despite the business prosperity underway in machine-tool sales industry at the beginning of 2012, industry experts say a staffing problem is developing. Companies currently are unable to find enough qualified employees for programming, setup and operation of CNC machines.

As a result, 520 Machinery Sales is working with Chicago-based Symbol Job Training Inc., to provide students with the educational skills they need for programming, setup and operation of Doosan machines.

The educational organization works on building partnerships between businesses and students while providing hands-on training and education in the field of computer numerical controlled machine-tool products, according to Tom Peters, Training Director of Business Operations for Symbol Job Training.

Although the national unemployment rate recently improved to 8.5 percent, 520 Machinery Sales and other machine-tool companies still are looking to hire more skilled computer-engineering talent from schools such as DeVry and other Chicago-area educational institutions.

"Local technical high schools should encourage the introduction of computer classes that teach the engineering of machine-tool programming and development," urged Schneider. "These high-paying white-collar engineering jobs are needed in today's economy."

Emphasizing American manufacturing is "about brains, not brawn," Schneider said workers need the education and training to operate in today's computerized, high-skilled industries.

For more information on 520 Machinery LLC, or to purchase a new or pre-owned machine-tool equipment, please call 888-520-1768 or visit www.520Machinery.com.