Worcester Business Journal

THETICKER In The File Liora & Peter Stone SHOP TALK $2.59B This interview was conducted and edited for length by Brad Kane WBJ editor 147 th >> n Worcester's ranking among 150 cities in terms of getting married affordably. Source: WalletHub Title: President (Liora) and Vice President (Peter) of Precision Engineering Residence: Holliston Education: Syracuse University, bachelor's degree of science in nursing (Liora); Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School Source: Massachusetts Department of Revenue n The amount the state of Massachusetts collected in taxes in January, coming in 4.4 percent over the same period in 2015. Precision Engineering expanding industries, products, locations Go to WBJournal.com to watch a video clip from our interview with Liora and Peter Stone 160 Source: ReWalk n The number of patients involved in a U.S. Department of Veteran's Affairs study that will put ReWalk's exoskeleton to the test. Liora and Peter Stone, president and vice president of Precision Engineering in Uxbridge n Marlborough's commercial vacancy rate. 11.9 % Source: Marlborough Economic Development Corporation 8 Worcester Business Journal • February 15, 2016 www.wbjournal.com L iora and Peter Stone founded Precision Engineering in 1988 in Uxbridge, offering structural metal fabrication and micro- scopic welding. Today, the company has 49 employees and specializes in metal fabrication of enclosures for electronic devices. The couple with two children have added new machines and expanded to include products for transporta- tion, medical and aerospace industries. They are looking to move into a larger location. Where are you finding new business? L: We have started to expand our customer base and the industry sectors we are serving. We have been primarily working with commercial enterprises – large original equipment manufac- turers – that worked on large components that went into buildings that were being refurbished. In the past year, with some of the machinery we bought in response to our current customers' request, we have been able to also expand into other industry sectors. We are currently negoti- ating with the railway company that has been awarded the contract for the MBTA Orange Line project, and hopefully we are going to be able to work with them on a component for that train. So that is the transportation sector. Recently, we have received an aerospace certi- fication, so we are starting to work with compa- nies in the aerospace sector. It allows us to increase our revenue, but it also allows us to weather any slowdowns in one industry. So if one sector is affected, the other will not be impacted. Which new venture has the most potential? P: The transportation looks like an intriguing project. It is a long-term project, so it will take a couple of years to get going. We are just at the beginning stages. The companies that are doing it are taking a look at us, basically prequalifying. We are also working on a new medical line for a company that is developing a battery charging system for hospitals. We just finished 500 units to a hospital in Texas. It has really taken off, and they are actually asking us to go from a prototype of a unit we have worked on for the last couple of years – we have maybe made a couple hundred units – to where they are asking us to make 200 units per week. It is a system that recharges batteries and removes the bacteria in the unit. What are some of the other exciting projects? L: We have been able to partner with a lighting company that has a partnership with Target department stores. Target is going to be refur- bishing all their stories throughout the country, and we are working with a company to make all the metal components for its lighting project. Recently, we went to Fort Worth [Texas] and saw one of the stores that was actually being built with this new lighting system. They were happy with it, and we are excited because that is a big project. P: There are 2,500 stores, and we are working on 45 stores right now. It is a seven or eight year project. Does this new work mean you will have to add more employees, equipment or locations? L: Yes, yes and yes. We have already begun to hire additional skilled employees … We added a second shift to our powder-coat line recently. We actually increased our employment about 20 percent in the last year or year and a half. In regards to machinery, we have added a second laser machine. Those machines are expensive; they can run from $800,000 to $1.5 million. That doesn't include all the work you have to do to the building to get them in. Those are big additions. Some smaller investments are in other robotic additions to our current machines: automation. Robotic inspection equipment is one of the things we are looking at. Over the past year, we have looked at a new location. We currently have two buildings in this industrial park, and we have about 40,000 square feet total. We feel that we need to go to up to 100,000 square feet pretty quickly over the next three years. This particular building doesn't have the ceiling heights that we need. Ideally, what we would like to do is consolidate both buildings into one building with higher ceiling heights and with more room for expansion. Recently, we did look at some property, but it is just not finan- cially feasible at this time. It is still on our wish list, and it is still something we are looking at. It will happen; just not today. n On WBJournal.com

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