A "whatever it takes" attitude is accelerating the growth of two-year-old Infinity EDM, LLC. The Jackson based company already has seven Mitsubishi EDM machines and a staff of five full-time and two part-time employees. In January, one of the part-time employees will become full-time, after graduation from the tool and die program at Moraine Park Technical College.

Partners Rich Marx and Mike Knier's aspirations are to increase the company's capabilities, but they don't want to lose the sense of satisfaction they feel from working closely with a customer to develop an EDM job from the time it comes in the door until it is delivered.

"When we go to a customer's shop to pick up a job, we go over the work to be done and add our input as to how the job can be done most cost effectively," Mike said. He and Rich also want to equip each member of their team with the customer relations, programming, and other skills necessary to follow a job from start to finish. "This allows Rich and I to go out and develop new contacts," Mike explained.

Infinity's customer base is mold and die shops in Southeastern Wisconsin. "Generally by the time a mold or die is ready for EDM it is late in the production process and there isn't much time left to finish the entire project, Rich said. "We do whatever it takes. Our average turnaround is two to four days, but we have had work dropped off on Saturday that the customer needed first thing Monday morning."

Rich and Mike strive to maintain high company morale by allowing second shift to run early on Fridays ending by 5 p.m. In addition, Rich and Mike buy the food on Friday and everyone gathers for lunch. "And we don't talk about work," Mike added jokingly. The short break for lunch helps build a unified team and contributes to efficiency.

Since the beginning, maintaining low overhead in office amenities while investing in machines has been the emphasis of Infinity's owners. Occupying a space in a new multi-tenant building, Rich and Mike have made a big investment in System 3R tooling. They are impressed with the service they have received from Schweda and Mitsubishi on machine installations. "Recently, we required a new machine to be up and running the day it was delivered. The Mitsubishi Technician arrived at two in the afternoon," Mike recalled. "He worked for five hours straight with no break, got the EDM running, gave us his phone number at the hotel and said to call if there were any problems. The next day, after we had finished our rush job, he came back to finish up. That was great service."