Stone Hendrickson started making things at an early age. His uncle got him into archery at around 10- or 11-years old, and his interest in manufacturing spawned very quickly.

As many brick-and-mortar stores are seeing sales drift online and websites like Kickstarter are helping to decide where the market is headed, personal manufacturing has moved from the wave of the future to a tool of production. The “Now Economy” has produced consumers that expect their goods to be high-quality and arrive quickly, which can sometimes be a challenge for traditional manufacturers.

Manufacturing customized or short-run parts can be expensive, which is why the old models for production relied on easily repeatable parts and cost-reduction through volume. We’re now in an era where customization and personalization are less luxury and more expectation. This opens a new opportunity for small-business shops and many are taking advantage of short-run and customized products market via Tormach mills.

With an engineering background, an established career in the aerospace and medical industries and power tools, Rob Green is no stranger to the machine shop.

Playing laser tag for the past seventeen years, Tom Baker of Lafayette, Indiana has turned a teenage hobby into a successful business—all while innovating the future of the game.

Since this Customer Showcase Story was was written Nov 25, 2009, Precision Cycling Components (PCC) has "reached an agreement with TH Industries, manufacturer of Full Speed Ahead (FSA), Gravity, and Vision Brand components, to grant them an exclusive world-wide license to our design." Inventor of the of the All Mountain Post (AMP), an adjustable bicycle seat raised and lowered through a handlebar-mounted lever, Jim Brennan of Precision Cycling Components used a Series I PCNC 1100 to innovate in the mountain bike industry.