|
For
employment opportunities please contact Al Grabowski al@lwmachineco.com
Please email all inquiries to al@lwmachineco.com
 
 
Story of L&W in
January 2009 issue of A2Z Metalworker :
A2Z
METALWORKER • 56
• Jan/Feb 2009
Meet the L&W
Family of Companies,
Including;
• L&W Machine Co
• L&W Fluid Inc.
• Voytech Inc.
In this economy, knowing your suppliers’ financial
health has never been more important than it is today.
The L&W family of companies includes L&W Machine
Company, L&W Fluid and Voytech (its engineering/
design arm), all owned by Al and Ewa Grabowski.
L&W is 100% debt free. They are celebrating their
20th anniversary this year, and you can feel confident
they’ll be around for many more years. The companies
occupy 25,000 square foot of facilities, located in Phoenix,
Arizona. L&W provides expert contract manufacturing
services that include engineering, machining, orbital
welding, inspection, testing and assembly.
Al started L&W Machine Company in 1989 with his
father, Lech
Grabowski. Lech
was born and trained as
a journeyman machinist in Poland. He was described
as the “best mill hand you will ever find”. Many
of the
current employees have been at L&W for many years,
often being trained under the tutelage of Lech, who
passed away 6 years ago. “They were trained by the
best”, Al says. “Lech was tough, but fair. In training his
employees”, he continued. “if they didn’t cry and
leave,
they became long-term highly skilled machinists who
are still with us today”.
L&W Machine Company purchases only new machinery,
never used, and of course always internally
financing the purchase to avoid loans. Their equipment
is state of the art, including two Okuma mill/turning
centers,
2 Okuma vertical machining centers”, a Mori Seiki 5
axis pallet pool vertical machining center with 181 tools
(used to produce the first part using simultaneous 5
axis milling in May of last year), 7 HAAS vertical
machining
centers with table capacities up to 64”x40”x30,
a
HAAS horizontal machining center, 3 Mazak
CNC lathes.
“We don’t go shopping for new machines if we
don’t
have the money”, Al said. The company is loyal to its 3
machine dealers in the valley, including Arizona CNC,
Ellison Machinery, and Reid
Machinery. “They provide
superior service and products, and we’ll continue to
buy the best products from these companies”.
Voytech Inc is structured to handle both engineering
A2Z
METALWORKER • 57
• Jan/Feb 2009
and integration. The company meets unfulfilled needs in
the areas of electrical and mechanical assembly, testing,
design and prototyping, which have resulted in several
new products and/or product improvements. They use
state of the art drafting and programming software,
including
CAMWorks and Teksoft CAD-CAM software, as
well
as SolidWorks and Pro-E, which
produce complex part
geometries and animations of machining processes.
L&W Fluid Inc. emerged 5 years ago from a local,
long term customer of L&W Machine Co. While this
customer was struggling, Al saw an opportunity to purchase
its assets and hire its employees. He formed new
company L&W Fluid Inc, and today it provides expert
contract manufacturing services that include orbital
welding, MIG and TIG welding, UHP assembly, inspection,
leak detection and pressure testing. L&W Fluid
Inc. can handle a wide variety of jobs, from welding,
turnkey mechanical, fluid and pneumatic assembly and
testing. They pride themselves on their more than 150+
years of combined experience in manufacturing of UHP
semiconductor process equipment, which facilitates end
products that meet the highest degree of purity and
accuracy. Their facility includes a spacious class 1,000
clean room and class 10 work stations.
L&W’s customers are diversified, including semi-conductor,
medical, aerospace, communications, commercial
and high end architectural. Their customers include
many Fortune 100 companies, and they are often Tier
1 suppliers to their customers.
Al’s philosophy of retaining three distinct
businesses
is interesting. Some time ago he visited manufacturing
facilities in Switzerland.
One company, in particular,
VAT, who makes valves for the semi-conductor industry,
caught his attention. Their machine shop was required
to bid on all business for their engineering business, just
like any supplier would be required to do. “This cuts
down on waste”, Al said, and ensures that each
business
is operating competitively as its own entity”. L&W
Machine has to be competitive in its pricing to L&W
Fluid
in order to gain the machine shop business.
L&W’s employees are loyal to the company, and
many have been with the business for many years. It
is no wonder they stay, though, as L&W demonstrates
loyalty to its employees. The company has never initiated
layoffs, and their benefits are outstanding. They offer
medical benefits, profit sharing and pension plans. Each
year, based upon company performance, 20% of company
profits are put into retirement for each employee,
with 10% allocated to profit sharing and 10% to the
pension plan. Unlike many large companies who offer
this benefit, L&W’s
plan is not a matching plan, it comes
100% from the company.
Today, more than ever, you need to know that your
supplier is well financed so that they can continue to
improve
their capabilities with new and better technologies
and skills. You know you have this with L&W, without
question. For more information, call them at 602-323-
2560 or visit their website at
lwmachineco.com.
|
