BRIGHT CLIENT
GENT MACHINE COMPANY
Precision Focus & Strategic Investments Have Big Impact on Small Parts Company
By Michele Linton, practice growth manager, michele. linton @ reacpa. com( Cleveland office) hat started in 1927 as a small screw machine company in Rich and Adam Gent’ s greatgrandfather’ s barn has evolved and expanded into a go-to supplier of small, custom precise parts utilized by businesses across a variety of industries. Today, brothers Rich and Adam co-own Gent Machine Company, which occupies 64,000 square feet in Cleveland and boasts nearly 60 employees.
“ We’ re hired as specialists in the industry to make a product for a company,” explained Rich Gent, vice president and co-owner of Gent Machine.“ In a way, we’ re a commodity. There are thousands of companies like ours in the United States, and a majority of them are small. We have to stand out to succeed.”
“ We recognized that if we’ re going be successful, we had to start to modernize this company,” Rich continued.“ Our father did incredibly well running a very successful small screw machine company and he looked to us to take the next step.”
Diversification
In 2007, the brothers invested in new machines, Marubeni Citizen CNC lathes, a move that effectively diversified the business. These machines increased the company’ s size and ability to produce highly complex products. By offering the latest and greatest in machining technology, Gent Machine is able to serve companies that operate in the automotive, housing, firearms, hydraulics, industrial supply and law enforcement industries.
“ The entire world is going to higherprecision products. In order to have things more precise, you need newer and more accurate equipment,” said Rich.“ We needed to step out from the pack and distinguish ourselves as a fresher, more advanced option.”
Top Tier Certifications
The company recently received its ISO 9001:2008 & TS 16949 certifications. These quality management systems, according to Rich, elevated Gent Machine to an elite manufacturing group of Tier 1 suppliers for the automotive industry. The company also caught the attention of Tesla, which is now one of their largest clients.
Easily Discoverable
Another strategy the company deployed over the last decade to further differentiate itself has been to invest in its website and search engine optimization( SEO) – basically, what helps Google find you and move your site to the top of its search results. According to Rich, the company regularly updates its website with news, photos and information about their capabilities in addition to deploying solid SEO practices.
“ We want potential customers to have a really good understanding of our operations and what we do,” explained Rich.“ People don’ t always know what exactly the part they need looks like – but they know to“ Google”‘ screw machine’ or‘ machined products.’ Our goal is to be at the top of those search results.”
Rich said, over the last 10 years, this strategic investment has drastically increased the number of customers who have found them after a Google search.
All of these efforts, along with adding additional services, an HR consultant and a network of manufacturing representatives, have helped Gent Machine Company more than quadruple its sales and staff over the last decade.
To learn more about Gent Machine Company or to browse materials and services, visit www. gentmachine. com.
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