Machine Shops Industry Profile

Companies in this industry use machine tools to modify metal, plastic, and composite materials to produce finished products. No major companies dominate the industry.

Worldwide, revenue for machine shops varies with manufacturing output. Because machine shops play a manufacturing support role, often operating as de facto subsidiaries of their customers, their work tends to be local.

The US machine shop industry includes about 18,000 establishments (single-location companies and units of multi-location companies) with combined annual revenue of about $37 billion.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Demand depends on manufacturing activity. The profitability of individual companies is linked to engineering expertise and operating efficiency. Larger shops have the ability to invest in advanced production machinery. Smaller shops can compete effectively by serving specialized customers, or by providing engineering services. The US industry is highly fragmented: the 50 largest companies generate about 10% of revenue.

PRODUCTS, OPERATIONS & TECHNOLOGY

Machine shops are intermediaries generally performing various operations on unfinished parts or raw materials from manufacturers which are then returned. These parts or raw materials are returned to the manufacturer for further processing. They own and operate special machine tools that can perform a variety of operations, including drilling; boring (enlarging an existing hole); tapping (cutting threads inside a drilled hole); threading (cutting threads on a bolt); cutting; milling (removing material from a surface); and grinding (usually a finishing operation). These operations involve material removal, frequently with great precision. The bulk of machine shop ...