Martin Engster on 32 Years of Keeping CNC Spindles Running

0:00 · Overview of Centerline and CNC spindle repair operations

Carl Holden:0:01
Welcome to What's Made in the USA, the podcast that celebrates the people, companies, and ideas behind American manufacturing. I'm your host, Carl Holden, and on each episode, we meet the entrepreneurs, engineers, and skilled professionals who are building real products right here in the United States. Today I'm pleased to have Martin Engster of Centerline, headquartered in Ponca City, Oklahoma. Welcome, Martin.

Martin Engster:0:25
Hey, how you doing, Carl?

Carl Holden:0:28
Thanks for coming on today. We'll jump right in. Martin, can you give us a top level overview of what you make at Centerline?

Martin Engster:0:36
Well, we really don't produce anything. Well, okay, that's true, but not true. Our main bread and butter is we are a repair facility for spindles. So in other words, large CNC machines or any CNC machines from tabletop versions all the way to the big ones in manufacturing of airplane parts or car parts, we repair the spindle that is inside the CNC machine. That is our main bread and butter.

We do manufacture parts to print for different companies, always dependent on whoever needs help. So that's kind of the two things that we mainly do at Centerline.

Carl Holden:1:23
on this podcast we have people from all parts of the logistics of what we do and what we make here in the US. So you you do make things and we consider that a part of that infrastructure. because otherwise the option, especially if we outsource this, you have to ship that somewhere else. And if we're not doing it here in the US, it's just increasing everybody's cost. So it's still really important.

Martin Engster:1:30
Wednesday.

Martin Engster:1:45
Right. Yeah. And anybody that manufactures a part is, unless they're doing 3D printing, there is some type of CNC machine usually involved. So, I mean, when it comes to anything from credit cards to even pharmaceutical industry, your automotive, aerospace, I mean, these are our main type of customers that we work with.

Carl Holden:2:11
Great. what is your role at Center Line and what led you to this journey here at this company?

Martin Engster:2:18
So I am vice president of the company. It is a family owned business. We are going on 32 years soon. It is my father that started the business. He has two sons, me is one of them and my older brother. He is the president at this time. We just recently lost my father in November of last year. So we're still restructuring everything and you know, trying to keep the business going.

2:21 · Family business structure and 3 generations of leadership

Carl Holden:2:41
Sorry to hear that.

Carl Holden:2:49
Yeah, we have had several people on just like yourself who are second or third generation in the business and it's awesome that you're you're carrying that torch forward.

Martin Engster:2:59
Absolutely, yeah, we've got my son is there as well. He is 22 years old right now. We've got a program that actually works with the state as well as the Bo tech and ourselves to for education and specifically for CNC and manufacturing and spindle repair.

Carl Holden:3:19
Okay, great. Now how many people work at centerline? How do you find the right people and and keep them engaged?

Martin Engster:3:25
So we've got about 20 between 20 and 22 people. We have some sales guys that aren't in-house in Mexico. So I really don't count them too often, but on books, we've got 22 employees. Every day is a new day. Every day is something different. We're always putting out fires for other companies. You know, again, when your spindle in your CNC machine goes down, that means that the machine is down. When the machine is down, you're not producing parts. So usually when the spindle comes our way or is on its way to us, it's usually a, I wouldn't say a hot job, you know, definitely an urgency is behind it.

3:36 · Handling urgent machine downtime for manufacturing clients

Carl Holden:4:12
Gotcha. Help me understand, cause the spindle is like how big and why is it more it's easier to replace is just because it's expensive, it's easier to get it like repaired. Help me understand.

Martin Engster:4:23
So yeah, okay, so what a spindle is, is a high-speed electric motor. So pretty simple. However, in the respect to what we do, our CNC machines, it's kind of like if you have a car and you take the motor out of the car and close the hood, I mean, it still looks like one fancy Lamborghini, you know, but it's not gonna go anywhere. So it is the heart of the car. The spindle basically is the heart of a CNC machine. It is the actual motor that does all the work.

So without it, you're not doing anything.

4:33 · How CNC machine spindles function and why they wear out

Carl Holden:4:54
Mm.

Gotcha, and it doesn't sound like you can just go down to Home Depot and get yourself another spindle.

Martin Engster:5:01
Absolutely not. Yeah, definitely not. OEMs then manufacture a lot of their own spindles, then they also outsource for spindle manufacturers for different applications, different speeds, different products. It all depends.

Carl Holden:5:19
Now these are being sent to you, or do you sometimes go on site? What does the logistics of that look like?

Martin Engster:5:24
Logistics is usually they send them to us. So I would say probably 90 % of the time they send the spindle, they take the spindle out of the machine and then send it our way. And then we do our business from there. Then we'll send it back and they just have to remount it. We do have a couple of options. If for example, you run out or when you're a run out is basically, know, when you're, when you're spinning, you always have to have the center of the, of the spin. So in other words, when you don't have that true center, what we do is we'll come in with a grinding machine and actually get you back to where you should be close to center.

Carl Holden:6:06
Okay. All right, so mm your main customers are CNC shops, but you also have like production facilities. What's kind of the division of that?

Martin Engster:6:16
I would definitely, so I would say a third, a third and a third. And I know that I only mentioned two things that we do at Centerline, but we also sell complete systems for, usually there are smaller systems for like tabletop versions for dental lab days or circuit boards and stuff like that. So our new sales is about a third of our business.

A third of our business, again, our main bread and butter is repairs of the spindles. The spindle repairs can vary anywhere from a $5,000 repair, a $1,000 repair, a really inexpensive one, to $70,000 plus for a repair. So it all depends on the size of the spindle. We go all the way up to about 4,000 pounds. And that is a big spindle usually used for aerospace industry. So the main industries that we service are automotive, aerospace and I would say dental and circuit boards. Those are usually our main clients.

6:26 · Business revenue breakdown across sales and repair services

Carl Holden:7:26
Okay, we we have had on a guest that builds custom circuit boards, so that I'm sure they have a couple of machines like that.

Martin Engster:7:33
Yep. So to cut out the circuit board or to drill the little holes or the fine holes and stuff like that, that's a spindle that'll actually do that. So another way to explain the spindle is if you go to the dentist office, his drill that he's using, it's usually an air bearing spindle, but that is a very, very small spindle. In cost efficiency to repair, that doesn't make sense. So we're in the industrial sector, not the hygienic sector.

Carl Holden:7:52
Okay.

Carl Holden:8:01
Gotcha. Yeah, no, I mean we had a guest on that all they do is take these machines and repair them because in a lot of ways, yeah, you could technically just go buy a new one, but a lot of these just need a repair and they'd work just fine. and the logistics of stuff breaking down it provides jobs and capability for people like yourself to make sure the she machines back up and running. So

Martin Engster:8:15
Right.

Martin Engster:8:23
I'm sure.

Absolutely. Well, the spindle is, you know, it's a wearable part. Since you're dealing with metal, metal on metal, you're always going to have, know, something's going to give. There's bearings inside, you know, with that is grease or lubrication that always, you know, there's a lot of factors that go into, you know, it's just like brake pads on a car. You you got to replace them, just like the bearings in the spindle. You got to replace them. The average lifespan is about 2000 hours plus.

Carl Holden:8:31
Yeah.

Martin Engster:8:56
Everybody of course wants more than 2000 hours, but 2000 hours is usually the warranty period. So that's kind of when they say, okay, this is now time.

Carl Holden:9:04
That's really only a work year then, huh? Wow.

Martin Engster:9:07
Correct, Yep. Depending on how many shifts you're running, know, yeah, correct.

Carl Holden:9:13
Wow. Well, I mean if you think about how fast it's spinning and it's doing it shift after shift, yeah, that makes sense.

Martin Engster:9:20
Absolutely, yep. It is a wearable part. They go down and that's just how it is.

Carl Holden:9:29
you mentioned Mexico's having some people working there, but do you also work with companies, maybe Canada or Mexico, in helping repair spindles there?

Martin Engster:9:38
Yes. So we handle, I mean, we'll accept spindles from anywhere. It really doesn't matter where they're from, but our main hub is here in the Americas. So we do have customers all the way down in South America, but usually Mexico, Canada, U.S., where the majority of the work or the clients are from the U.S.

Carl Holden:10:02
Okay. how if like the last couple months, tariffs or any other hindrances where you guys have had to adjust?

Martin Engster:10:11
Yeah, the tariffs are definitely a bummer. It really doesn't affect us too greatly just because whenever we're buying the parts for our repairs, what we do is we take those parts and those are the ones we use in our repairs. So the price gets passed on to the customer. it's not... I mean, they're fully aware of the fact that the tariffs are... a thing. you know, yeah, we just kind of put them into the quote and it gets passed on to the customer. But it definitely it definitely sucks.

10:21 · Managing tariffs and increased demand in industrial manufacturing

Carl Holden:10:50
Well, and it's not really a Yeah. Well, and it's not really we're not trying to ask a political question. We have found that some of the businesses that we've talked to have seen a positive effect because they were competing against stuff that they just couldn't price appropri appropriate. And then other companies like yourself, it's just it's an increased cost. So it's just interesting to know.

Martin Engster:11:06
Absolutely.

Martin Engster:11:12
Yeah, but, I know honestly, like you just said, I mean, we've definitely seen an influx in repairs this year over some of the previous years. And I definitely want to say, I mean, again, I'm not a political guy either. you know, I don't want to get off on that, on that tangent, but, when manufacturing is forced basically to increase, that means that more things break, which means entails that I have more business. yeah, it absolutely, I think the proof is in the pudding. I think the USA is doing something right. mean, do we like the increased costs? Of course not. But keeping things in house and providing more jobs for us, the Americans and all that stuff, think it definitely, yeah, again, the proof is in the pudding.

Carl Holden:11:42
Wonderful.

Carl Holden:12:06
Well and that's what we're my little part is to try to spread the word of the positive effects of how, you know, we can just work to build that infrastructure. do you plan on adding any more things to what you do or any other what's your plans for growth over the next five years?

Martin Engster:12:20
So again, we just lost my dad. So at this point, we're just kind of trying to restructure everything and trying to get back into the flow. Everything is going great and business is going good. we're me and my brother, we're really doing well. My son is again, is up at the company as well. So he'll be third generation. He's responsible for all the bearings and the bearing work that we do. So it's it's definitely Right now, we're trying to figure out how to potentially start using AI a little bit more, but I'm not sure how that really, we're still trying to figure that one out. Let's put it like that. It's definitely a good tool, a good tool to have and to maybe potentially use. We're just trying to figure out how we might be able to use that. And then as far as growth goes, I mean, we always have plans to hopefully expand maybe our manufacturing or our spindle repairs.

12:31 · Growth plans, family succession, and exploring AI tools

Carl Holden:13:20
Awesome. Well, thanks for sharing everything you have today about Center Line. we're gonna get a ask a couple questions to get to know Martin a little bit better. what is a favorite place that in the US that you like to visit?

Martin Engster:13:23
I'm sorry.

Martin Engster:13:30
boy, hear me again.

Martin Engster:13:35
man, favorite place in the U.S. that like to visit. I I hate to say this, but I live in Oklahoma. We have a little spot of land here, my dad, my mom and I, and it is, I love being here. I love Oklahoma. I've lived many different places in the world. I'm a foreigner myself. Moved over from the United States when I was a young boy with my family, but.

Yeah, I love Oklahoma.

Carl Holden:14:08
Good for you. You're the first one to say I love where I live. Good for you.

Martin Engster:14:09
Yeah, it's taken us a while, but I mean, I've lived here in Oklahoma now for 30 plus years, I believe. Well, yeah, for as long as we've had the company. So 30, 32 years I've lived here in Oklahoma and yeah, I love it. I truly do.

Carl Holden:14:26
Just to kind of maybe rephrase, is there anywhere you like vacation wise enjoy going, or do you mostly like kind of stay in Oklahoma?

Martin Engster:14:35
No, use when I usually vacation, it's usually out of country. So yeah.

Carl Holden:14:38
Gotcha. Well, hey, that's good too. now it's a you obviously are coming from a different perspective than many of the ones that we have interviewed in that you came to this country and sometimes we we ask people what's a childhood memory of the USA, but like, well, tell me a little bit about you coming here. Maybe you were really young. I I don't know.

Martin Engster:14:43
Yeah, absolutely.

Martin Engster:15:06
Well, I mean, I can tell you one thing. It was one heck of a shock. So we moved from Germany and Germany is heavily populated. If you can imagine, Germany is almost half the size of the state of Texas, but we have 88 million people there. So, I mean, it's just heavily populated. There's no place that you can stand. And if you can see about a mile, you'll see more houses.

Carl Holden:15:21
Yeah.

Martin Engster:15:33
So when we moved to Kansas, we moved to Galena, Kansas out into the country, I was eight years old. That was one heck of a shock. I mean, didn't know, you know, top from bottom and our neighbor had a big long horn bull and that was my friend. I mean, I couldn't speak English. know, animals were my buddies. My dad got me a Labrador. So.

That was it. I was out in the field in Kansas and played my dogs.

Carl Holden:16:06
Well, your last name makes sense now, Angster. That that I have some German I think my last name has some German roots. my dad was looking at genealogy, et cetera. So that's awesome. last question. you you've got a son who's moving in the business, but also if all the young professionals coming into the workforce could hear you, what is some advice that you would give them?

Martin Engster:16:08
Yeah.

Martin Engster:16:34
Be on time.

Carl Holden:16:35
E on time. Okay.

Martin Engster:16:37
Holy shit, mean, pardon my language, but it is this generation or my son's generation, everything is always like, it's so whimsical. It's like, I'll be okay, it'll work itself out of this, that, and the other. You don't understand that somebody else is waiting on you, that someone else's time is also valuable, not just yours. And that is the biggest problem I think I see today is the willingness to work, number one, and just showing up on time.

Carl Holden:16:39
Ha ha.

16:44 · Leadership advice for the new generation of workers

Carl Holden:16:45
Yeah.

Carl Holden:16:51
Mm.

Carl Holden:17:04
Yeah, no, that's no one has even touched that. And but that's also like critical. And I I would say probably kind of started with my generation, millennials and under, they're not the most on time and procrastinating and all those kinds of things. It just never sets a great precedent for your professional career. I don't know anybody, anybody who is successful that is like light to stuff, you know.

Martin Engster:17:27
so not

Martin Engster:17:33
Correct. Yep. I mean, in the military, you're 15 minutes early, you're late. So, you I mean, it's, you have to try to keep in mind that other people's time is also valuable, not just your own, you know? And being able to realize that or stepping outside of your own bubble, that's, it's, yeah, it's crucial. It'll get you far in life.

Carl Holden:17:34
So

Carl Holden:17:39
Yeah.

Carl Holden:17:57
When it totally makes sense and yeah, it totally makes sense for a business like yourself where every day that they're not operating, they're losing money. And you have to be conscious of the fact that the longer you take, the longer it's hurting that business. And especially in any kind of repair, like timeliness is critical to them being able to get the stuff they need to get done and just Honestly make sure that they can st keep paying their bills.

Martin Engster:18:29
Absolutely. Yeah, it's, you know, I mean, it goes further on. I mean, if you're missing or whatever else, somebody else has to pick up your slack. Somebody else has to do what you were supposed to do. So that's, you know, that goes back to just being on time or just showing up, you know?

Carl Holden:18:45
Awesome. Well thank you for sharing that and everything that you've shared about Centerline today. I've enjoyed our conversation. Any other things you'd like to share as far as advice to youth or to as far as manufacturing here in the US?

Martin Engster:18:50
Absolutely.

Martin Engster:19:00
No, think we're, I think we covered just about all of it.

Carl Holden:19:04
Awesome. Awesome. Well, thank you so much for coming on today. We really appreciate it having you.

Martin Engster:19:08
Thanks Carl, I really appreciate being on. It was fun.