Quality Contour Slashes Cycle Times with Ellison and DN Solutions

When Bryan Bernloehr was in high school, he tried to get a job at a local gas station. They told him no, so he went next door to the local machine shop and got to work chamfering parts, sweeping floors, and doing the entry-level grunt work we all know so well.

When the shop’s senior machinist found a new job, Bernloehr had done enough work with the Bridgeport Boss 4 machine to convince his boss to let him run the CNC machine that suddenly needed an operator. He took to it like a fish to water. The shop eventually went under, but Bernloehr officially had the skills, and the itch. He opened Quality Contour from his father’s garage in 1983 at the age of 18.

40 years and three buildings later, Quality Contour employs dozens and is a well-known Minnesota manufacturing leader that serves the aerospace, racing, hydraulic, and medical industries.

In 2012, the company brought in its first of many DN Solutions (formerly Doosan Machine Tools) turning centers: a PUMA 2100SY. Ellison added DN Solutions to our lineup in 2015, and Quality Contour purchased six more PUMA turning centers between 2016 and 2022.

“All the guys love the PUMA machines. They’re heavy duty and user friendly,” Bernloehr said. “The downtime is minimal and they make money for us.”

Quality Contour is never afraid to level up their equipment when cash flow allows, so when it came time to figure out how to make more money per square foot and get more parts out the door, Jason Pawelk of Ellison Technologies had a new suggestion for them: the PUMA TT.

At an Ellison open house, Pawelk showed Bernloehr the PUMA TT. “The machine was ideal for a part Quality Contour was making for a key client,” Pawelk said. “They were turning a part from 1 ⅝” aluminum bar stock with lots of cross end holes. Every surface on these parts is machined.”

“We needed to make thousands of them per month, and with the TT, our cycle time went from seven minutes to three minutes and 40 seconds,” said Bernloehr. The machine has helped the shop maximize productivity and profitability, all in a minimal footprint.

The Big Difference

Having a guy like Bernloehr at the helm, who’s been machining since well before graduating high school, will put many shops ahead of the game. Combine that with the foresight to invest in the right people and technology, and you begin to see why Quality Contour has such a sparkling reputation among Minnesota manufacturers.

Looking ahead, Bernloehr has a pretty clear picture. “We have modern technology here, and we’ll continue to invest in it to get our low to medium volume work done,” he said. “High precision aerospace work will always be key, so we’ll keep looking to Ellison for the right machines that will drive the business forward.”

Talk To Ellison About Your Next Machine

As for your shop, the right machine is out there. Our team expertly helps you find it, install it and run it for years on end, so talk to Ellison to take the next step.

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Quality Contour Slashes Cycle Times with Ellison and DN Solutions