The quoting function at Vermont Rebuild was usually just one person. In the beginning, it was Dave Spencer, a former J&L grinder salesperson. After Dave retired, Andrew Searle (likewise, a J&L guy) stepped in. These people would review the customers requests, and, based on previous history, work up a quote. Because a rebuild job is very different than a new machine build, engineering may be consulted for their input. If there was no previous history, we would use the SWAG approach (after all, we collectively had more than a few years of experience under our belt).

There was a clause in all of our quotes stating that the price quoted did not include any unknown major problems, such as broken castings, etc.. These would be addressed later, as the machine was disassembled. But more times than not, we seemed to accumulate a list of what we called “extra charges”, unforeseen problems, that we tried to collect extra money from the customer. Most of the time some “bargaining” was done to at least recover some of our costs.

Quite often someone from the plant would travel to the customers site and look at the machinery to be rebuilt. But there were often surprises that appeared as we disassembled the machinery back in our plant. Sometimes we were lucky enough to have machine manuals provided by our customer.  Quite often we had to search the internet to find, and purchase, proper documentation. The disassembly process is quite slow if the internal makeup of a mechanism is unknown. In more than one instance we had close calls when spring loaded parts were released suddenly by a mechanic who had no warning.

We had several engineers on staff when I joined the company in 1991. At that time, a Project Engineers responsibilities included 1) being the main contact with the customer, 2)doing the basic design layout work, 3)detailing all the parts necessary to build the mechanisms , 4)sending these drawings out to various machine shops for competitive bids, 5)selecting the winning bids, 6)writing all purchase orders for these parts, 7)monitoring the progress of the work  on the assembly floor, 8)keeping track of parts coming in from vendors. Plus, working with the mechanics on the assembly floor as they disassembled, inspected, and tagged worn parts that would be reused.

I should point out that we did very little pure “rebuilding” of machinery; our specialty (and most customer requests) involved updating of the equipment. This might include the addition of new numerical controls and electronics, along with mechanical modifications to add servomotor drives to the major slides; additions of precision ball screws in place of the old acme type; additions of automatic lubrication systems, hydraulics or pneumatics; new machine guarding in place of the old (some machinery was so old there were no real “guards”). Working at Vermont Rebuild allowed an engineer to experience a large variety of work, we never knew just what was coming thru the doors, lathes, grinders, gear shapers and hobs, comparators, cold formers, etc.

 

Along about August of 1991 I received a phone call from Craig Barrett, owner of Vermont Rebuild in Springfield. I had known Craig for some years, although not too well. He would come into the lobby at J&L to get information on some J&L machinery he was rebuilding. At the time, his business was located across from where the fire station is now, in one of those buildings, and J&L was still open. When he called me, he had bought a building on the end of Pearl Street, and the business was growing. He offered me a job in engineering, and after an interview, and some negotiations, I accepted.

Over the two years I worked in Lebanon, I had felt somewhat detached from happenings in Springfield; plus, the commute was wearing on me. Quite often I would be asked to work Saturday mornings, and driving back and forth from Lebanon for a five hour stint was a drag. Plus the aforementioned lack of walking space. All in all, it was time for me to come back to town. As it turned out, I would work the remainder of my career at Vermont Rebuild.

Vermont Rebuild had many former J&L people employed, so I felt right at home. My first job was as a project engineer on a J&L E2 grinder. The mechanic on the job was a former J&L guy, Harold Maxwell. He was originally from Arkansas, so he was known by the nickname “Reb”. Although I seldom heard anyone call him that to his face. A former military boy, his shirt nametag was labeled “Maxwell”. It took me a while to understand that he called most of his friends by their last names, me included. I had spent time in the grinder engineering department at J&L, so I was familiar with the machine he was working on. Vermont Rebuild did not build new machinery, they filled a necessary void by rebuilding and retrofitting older machinery. In the past, rebuilding of machinery was discouraged by the big shops….it was easier (and more profitable) to sell new equipment. Rebuilding a machine does require a different approach; the older machines are usually poorly maintained, worn out, and dirty. Cleaning out all the old oils and crud is not a pleasant thing to do, and the results have to be placed in steel drums and labeled “Hazardous Waste”. Then the company has to pay someone to truck them away.

The basic structure of Vermont Rebuild was somewhat loose: 1) President and CEO; 2) Sales and Quoting; 3) Electrical and mechanical engineering; 4) Office staff; 5) Electrical and mechanical assembly (with a foreman). There was no supervision in engineering, we just worked informally as a team. There was no Purchasing department when I joined, although one was added later. We usually had a short meeting every morning with the CEO, where we discussed the current projects, and their status. The secretary jotted down notes and typed up a summery sheet. Every few days we would reconvene and repeat. Any project that may have problems would be discussed in detail, with only the affected personnel and the CEO attending.

New Jersey Machine participated in the International Packaging Show in Chicago (held every two years). This event is held at McCormick Place, the same venue as the Machine Tool Show I had attended when at J&L. Being there again, but with vastly different machinery, was quite an experience. Labeling, packaging, carton assembly machines, shrink wrap devices, the variety of equipment present was overwhelming.

When I was at NJM (1990-1991), the company was owned by a Swiss firm, SIG. During my tenure, they celebrated their 100th anniversary; every employee (worldwide) received a check for 100 Swiss francs, as a “bonus”. We also had annual company sponsored summer picnics at the Hartland Dam, and an elaborate Christmas party.

Before joining NJM, I had gotten into the habit of walking most every lunchtime. But because the company was located on Etna Road, a narrow two lane with no sidewalks, walking was hazardous. There are several high tech companies located on this road, and traffic was heavy. Because of that, most of my walking took place in our parking lot.

New Jersey Machine had a flex hours policy, where an employee could come in anytime between 7:00 and 9:00 in the morning, and work until their daily hour assignment was complete. This worked quite well for me in the summer, as I rode a motorcycle to work whenever possible; I could ride several routes coming and going, to vary my routine. Most of the time I stayed off I91, and used route 5 in Vermont, or route 12 or 120 in New Hampshire. Sometimes I would ride route 106 to Woodstock, and up thru Quechee, crossing the river in West Lebanon.

The company had a policy of working a lot of overtime; many of the assembly crew had been working 50-60 hours a week for years. So of course their household budgets were based on this income. When business started to slow down, many found themselves extended too far financially. Some of this slowdown was the result of a new company policy “farming out” machining work that had been done in-house. Most of the machinery we had was sold off for various reasons. This kind of reasoning usually backfires, as the company looses control over the processes necessary to keep to a build schedule. And that was what happened; a decline began that continued long after I left; the company was “bought back” by a group of NJM executives; the new owners sold off some of the product lines to raise capital; I don’t know how long they were able to keep going, but I do know they were purchased by a Canadian firm; I don’t believe there is anything left of NJM in Lebanon now.