Compass Precision Shop Distinguishes Itself At Supplier Summit

OLDSMAR, FL – February 27, 2024 – R&D Machine proudly announced Tuesday that it received a 2023 Supplier Excellence Award from Honeywell Aerospace at the company’s Space Supplier Summit held last week in the Phoenix. R&D is an operating company of Compass Precision, a Charlotte-based manufacturer of custom, close-tolerance metal components for mission critical applications.

“Honeywell Space is served by hundreds of vendors scattered through the United States and abroad,” stated Justin Kovscek, Vice President & General Manager of R&D Machine (pictured above, right). “From this group, twenty-five companies were selected to attend the Supplier Summit. Of those, five vendors were recognized as top suppliers and received a supplier excellence award. We were absolutely thrilled and proud when our name was called.”

R&D Machine has supplied precision machined components to Honeywell Space for decades from its facility in Oldsmar, FL. Many Honeywell engineers and procurement personnel have visited the Oldsmar shop and collaborated on the manufacture of parts for a wide variety of space programs. R&D Machine also supplies other portions of Honeywell Aerospace, most notably Honeywell Defense which is involved in numerous military aircraft programs.

Honeywell Space is a great organization,” said Jim Miller, Compass Vice President of Sales (above, left). “Their requirements are demanding. And as we heard last week from several speakers, the need for compressed leadtimes is intensifying as the space industry continues its rapid growth. We came away from last week’s summit excited for being recognized as a top supplier and more determined to get even better as a vendor to them.”

R&D Machine manufactures precision metal parts for mission critical markets such as aerospace, defense, and space. Most of its components are used in airborne applications including aircraft, satellites, and outer space vehicles. Many of the company’s most complicated parts are made on one of the firm’s nine 5-axis CNC milling centers. R&D also has a full complement of other machining centers and lathes, some with live tooling, along with a fully equipped metrology lab that includes three highly automated coordinate measuring machines.

After a long and successful history as an independent shop founded in 1992, R&D Machine became part of Compass Precision in April 2022.

“Someone at Honeywell asked me last week why we purchased R&D Machine,” commented Compass CEO Gary Holcomb. “I explained that Compass only acquires really good shops, then works hard to make these shops even better. R&D came to us with a cadre of great customers including Honeywell, a bunch of advanced equipment, and some terrific employees. We are flattered by the recognition this Honeywell award provides. Our acquiring R&D is looking really good right now.”

“R&D Machine epitomizes what Compass shops are all about,” added Bill Canning, Compass Vice President & COO. “We do the tough stuff, making complex parts that most CNC machine shops won’t touch. We manufacture these components on-time, to spec, every time. If something goes wrong, we are transparent in our explanations and dogged in our response to make things right. I think customers like that.”

Compass Precision was founded in 2019 based upon the simultaneous purchase of three precision CNC machining companies in North Carolina – Advanced Machining & Tooling (Salisbury, NC); Quality Products & Machine (Charlotte, NC); and Tri-Tec Industries (Charlotte, NC). Compass added Gray Manufacturing Technologies (Denver, NC) to the fold in August 2020, then acquired Douglas Machining Services (Winona, MN) in March 2021. Since then, Compass has purchased R&D Machine (Oldsmar, FL) in April 2022; Strom Manufacturing (North Plains, OR) in July 2022; and Bergeron Machine (Westford, MA) in April 2023, bringing its number of operating companies to eight.

For more information about R&D Machine, please contact Justin Kovscek at jkovscek@rdmachine.com. For more information about Compass Precision and its other shops, contact Jim Miller at jim.miller@compassprecision.com.