Minnesota-based DCM Tech is a rotary surface grinder provider with decades worth of experience. The company offers a range of products for a myriad of applications, and has recently begun to expand into the additive manufacturing space. Here, they explain why they've made the move into 3D printing and how they can provider value to users of the technology.
Who is DCM and what are your core competencies as a business?
DCM is an American designer and manufacturer of precision rotary surface grinders. We have been in business and family owned since 1975. Today, the founder of the company still stops in most days to say good morning to us all, and his son is currently our president. We are very proud to have them both actively participating in day-to-day operations.
Our equipment is designed by our in-house engineering team, we manufacture the majority of the components here in our factory, and they are all assembled, configured, and tested here. The thing I find really cool about DCM is that it is a small business, under 40 employees, with many that have been with the company for 30+ years.
We are an OEM business at our core, but as you will see throughout this interview, it is our service and attention to each individual customer that sets us apart.
DCM Tech
Why have you decided to enter the additive manufacturing market?
As the additive manufacturing market has grown, we have seen a growing need for reclaiming and resurfacing build plates. Many of the new and potential customers we have been working with recently are either having these plates resurfaced externally, they are milling the excess material off, or using other methods. These processes are often slow and costly, especially on misprint plates with extra material to remove. With the use of our precision grinder and the correct abrasive combination for the customer’s material, we have proven the ability to speed up this process exponentially.
What really makes DCM stand apart for other machine manufacturers is our in-house engineering, technical, and service teams. We treat each customer/potential customer as if they are our only one. The team first works together to qualify if our machine is a fit for the application. We then offer a free sample grind and part qualification to show that customer results on their own parts. If they decide to proceed with a DCM machine they are in the care of a dedicated Technical Specialist that facilitates the purchase, installs the machine, trains their operators, and continues to be a direct point of contact.
What products do you currently offer?
We offer a full line of rotary surface grinders with table sizes from 18” – 48” and motors from 10HP to 50HP to accommodate a large range of part sizes and customer needs. The machines can be configured with options like part detection sensors, machine tending robots, customer data interfaces, and custom internal programming based on each companies unique needs.
DCM Tech
What are some of the key capabilities of your products?
- Precise: Our machines feature precision to 0.0001”, which means the operators have much finer control of important parameters that affect finish, cycle time, and overall machine performance.
- Clean: Our machines are fully enclosed and feature mist collection and coolant filtration systems. This means they don’t throw dust and swarf around like other industrial grinding machines. This is important not only for a clean work environment but also for operator safety.
- Easy to Use: The controls on the machines are touch screen conversational controls. When many people think about these kinds of machines they picture dials, and large control panels with buttons and analog screens. Our machines are about as far as you can get from that. With a new generation of machinists coming, we work hard to make sure these controls continue to be easy to understand.
- Programmable: This means that our machines can be programmed for even quicker operation. An operator can program and save thousands of “recipes” in the machine, so if they have a part they do often they can quickly recall those grind parameters without having to set the program again manually.
- Advanced Technology: We continue to add new technology to our machines based on the needs of our customers. We often engineer a solution for a customer and realise it could help others, so we offer it as an option going forward. We now offer machines with automatic part detections sensors, precision cross-slide control, and remote data processing & operation. As I type this we are now working to build a work cell with a robot tending a IG 282 SD.
DCM Tech
Can you tell us more about your custom process development offering?
Because we have been in the grinding business for so long, we have experience with hundreds of different materials, abrasives, and parts. We use this experience and the partnerships we have forged over the years to help our customers find a solution that works for them before buying their machine.
The team at DCM also offers a free sample grind of a potential customer’s own materials. This allows us to show them proven results, as well as help to identify a baseline process including abrasive formula, feeds and speeds, cycle times and other grinding parameters for their specific application.
Within additive manufacturing, what are your products suitable for?
Today we have seen the largest need for our grinders in reclaiming and resurfacing build plates. As the production manufacturing side of additive manufacturing starts to grow, we predict more need for precision grinding in the finishing of these production parts and components.
And which regions do you currently serve?
We currently serve customers worldwide. Today, the majority of our customers are located throughout North America, but our international business is continuing to grow.
