Stecker Machine Company: ‘You design it, we machine it’

Rich Palzewic

Staff

July 26, 2023

MANITOWOC – What began as a tool-and-die shop in a garage has now grown into a thriving CNC machine shop in southern Manitowoc County.

Stecker Machine Company (SMC) is a family-owned business located at 5107 County Road C in the Town of Newton.

SMC – which now has more than 265 employees – is celebrating 50 years of business success in 2023.

“It is a classic American story of hard work and long-term success,” SMC Co-Founder Jerry Stecker, who along with his brother Charles, started the company in 1973, said. “I love that our CNC machine shop took on tough projects, has grown despite challenges and continues to thrive throughout this remarkable journey. We could not be prouder of this milestone. I am thankful for having built strong relationships with customers, suppliers and employees.”

The company was transferred to Jerry’s son Brian Stecker and long-time employee Brad Kurtzweil in 2015 – now both co-presidents.

“It started with two people in a garage,” Kurtzweil laughed. “Many mom-and-pop businesses do not make it over time, so we are thrilled it is going so well. Jerry focusing on the right things made all the difference.”

From that small start in a garage, SMC currently has two facilities and 316,000 square feet of total space.

“Jerry did a great job setting us up to be successful,” Kurtzweil said. “What we are doing now is building upon a phenomenal base. We have followed Jerry’s early business strategies: focus on solving customers’ needs, do not back down from a challenge, reinvest back into the company – both through technology and people – and put a priority on company culture. Without question, our employees make Stecker Machine who we are.”

Continued growth
Kurtzweil said his journey with SMC is a good example of moving up the ranks.

“I started with the company in 1999 and had several different roles over the years,” he said. “I was a machinist, worked in quality and moved on to project management and sales. It was a logical progression with Brian and I. Jerry did a great job handing things off when the company was in good hands.”

Kurtzweil – who has been with SMC for almost half of the company’s life, said he has seen “significant changes” during that time.

From left, Stecker Machine Company’s Brad Kurtzweil (co-president), Jerry Stecker (co-founder), Brian Stecker (co-president), Matt Oswald (human resources/marketing manager) and Dave Mills (application engineer) have all helped run the company. Submitted Photo

“We are in a whole new building now,” he said. “The automation, everything now has an app and how the machines work is a night and day difference. It is more user-friendly now and much like using a phone. When I started, there was zero automation in place and everything was looking at code.”

Kurtzweil said SMC’s philosophy has resulted in consistent growth over the decades – in part to the support of the community.

“We are thankful for the people of Manitowoc County, especially the Town of Newton,” he said. “It is also important for us to support the community, whether it is the local fire departments, first responders or the Little League Baseball team.”
Kurtzweil said 2022 was SMC’s best year to date.

“Things slowed down a bit during the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, but we have bounced back well,” he said. “Both 2021 and 2022 were good years.”

CNC machine capabilities
Kurtzweil said SMC uses best-in-class CNC – which stands for computer numerical control – manufacturing and state-of-the-art robots to create custom-machined parts from metal castings, primarily aluminum and iron.

“In layman’s terms, it is a machine tool controlled by computers,” he said. “It is a code that tells the machine where it needs to go and how fast to go. The machines remove metal from the part using drills and a variety of other tools.”

Type of work
Honored as a 2022 Top Shop by the editors of Modern Machine Shop, Kurtzweil said SMC produces several engine and transmission parts.

A Stecker Machine Company employee works on a piece of equipment. Submitted Photo

“A lot of that is in the agricultural and heavy truck sectors,” he said. “We specialize in more complicated machine parts.”
Each job, Kurtzweil said, is a little different.

“Usually, a customer comes to us with design,” he said. “It is going to be a production application where we would likely purchase a casting or multiple ones, and we would manage that – we have foundries we work with. We design and build fixturing and tooling in-house to use with the machine tools.”

From there, Kurtzweil said it moves into some type of production.

“It might be a couple of hundred per year to more than 100,000 per year – the same part,” he said.

Company future
Because of SMC’s growth, Kurtzweil said the company is always looking for quality employees.

“We like to treat our employees well and think of them as family,” he said. “We give people the opportunity to grow – it’s good for both sides. You can use my own case of what can happen if you start with the company and put your time in.”

Kurtzweil said SMC also cannot rule out expansion.

“It’s in the early stages – I don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves – but I think we’ll eventually have to expand,” he said.

Though technology has increased production dramatically, Kurtzweil said he feels there is still room for improvement.

“In particular, with the high-volume work, there are good ways of automating it,” he said. “Now, how do we use that automation for more job-shop or lower-volume jobs? How do we further use the technology we have in additional applications?”

For more information on Stecker Machine Company, visit steckermachine.com.