<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1Mr0Ly_1FP7KmhA00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1Mr0Ly_1FP7KmhA00" width="1000" height="800" ></figure><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1cX792_1FP7KmhA00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1cX792_1FP7KmhA00" width="1000" height="800" ><figcaption>Left to right: Spencer D’Agostin, assembly and service manager; Ben Barney, fabrication manager; Mark Tingley, founder/CEO; and James Searing, director of operations for Accelerated Machine &amp; Engineering in Rockford, contributed to the massive Galaxy Gantry CNC machine. (Olivia Costello photos)</figcaption></figure>There isn’t much that Accelerated Machine &amp; Engineering can’t do from its Rockford headquarters at 3044 Eastrock Court. Whether it’s producing a part or the machine that makes it, this company makes complicated ideas a reality.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=29tFdc_1FP7KmhA00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=29tFdc_1FP7KmhA00" width="572" height="800" ><figcaption>Mark Tingley</figcaption></figure>“We create, build and maintain the most useful solutions in industry,” says Mark Tingley, founder and CEO. “So, the create part is engineering and design services. The build part is manufacturing, fabrication, CNC machining and assembly. And then the maintain part is we rebuild and repair industrial equipment, like CNC machines.”It’s a broad mix of products, services and markets that Accelerated serves. The lineup includes small parts for aerospace and defense, and it also includes fellow manufacturers who need help with product development or designing the machine that makes a new product. The common thread is engineering.“We can build to your print, but what sets us apart is that we can put together an engineered approach for supply chain, for quality management, for the whole infrastructure needed to make the parts,” says Tingley. “And we can ramp that up right in house.”The big ideas start in the engineering office, where a dozen engineers design and test their concepts. In the next room over, those ideas come to life on the 17,500-square-foot shop floor. The whirring of CNC machines and the whine of grinders fills the air.In one corner, software engineer Eric Hartwig is pecking on his computer while hunched over a contraption of steel and wire. It’s a machine that will one day inspect industrial saw blades.This is one of many jobs the Accelerated team is building as a contract manufacturer. Because of the company’s in-house engineering and manufacturing talent, it’s able to help customers develop an idea, build it, inspect it and deliver it – whatever part of the process the customer needs. Sometimes, it’s a one-off job, maybe a part for a broken machine, a specialty tool or a unique machine. Or maybe it’s a recurring order.Next to a giant Hurco CNC, there’s a cart with small metal cylinders. Destined for a high-tech munitions system, they’re being produced at a rate of nearly 500 every two weeks.“We’re developing the whole process for this,” says Tingley. “You can see the fixture to hold it in the machine, and we did all of that work in-house. We designed all of the packaging trays in-house, too. That’s what the engineered approach is. It’s the ability to not just make the part but to bring the whole ecosystem around it.”<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2WJrMT_1FP7KmhA00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2WJrMT_1FP7KmhA00" width="572" height="800" ><figcaption>In satisfying its contract customers, Accelerated Machine Design &amp; Engineering relies on nearly 120 Rockford-area suppliers.</figcaption></figure>For as much as Accelerated Machine Design &amp; Engineering can accomplish under one roof, it can’t do everything. When there’s a need for metal, plastics and secondary services – specialties like heat treating, painting, anodizing – Tingley turns to his nearly 250 Rockford-area suppliers.“We service a lot of accounts on the East Coast, the South and the West Coast. What they always tell us is the diversity of the services in this area is amazing and our cost is amazing,” says Tingley. “And they say it’s very competitive compared to the West Coast or southern part of the U.S.”For as rich and as strong as the manufacturing talent is in this region, it’s also presented an ongoing challenge, particularly when it comes to hiring people. On the engineering side, nearly 75% of the team comes from outside the region. Tingley says he’s constantly recruiting engineers to come to Rockford, but it’s a process. First, he has to get them excited about the work he does. Then, he sells Rockford.“I have to spend a lot of time educating people on what it’s like to live in the area, because they pull up a Google search and they see crime or education problems first,” says Tingley. “The truth is, this is a great place to raise a family, it’s a great place to make a living, it’s a great place to call home.”It’s not just engineers that prove a challenge. Talented machinists are hard to find, too, especially right now, as older workers retire at a faster pace than they can be replaced. Here, too, Tingley finds there’s an advantage for our region.“It’s true, we don’t have as many machinists as we used to, but one of the things about our region is that we’ve supplemented this talent with innovation,” says Tingley. “So, even though the skilled workforce and the amount of labor is reduced, I think innovation and productivity have continued to go up.”Like many of his fellow engineers, Tingley is also a transplant to Rockford. He grew up on a grain farm outside the small town of Hutsonville, in southeastern Illinois. He studied engineering at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Ind., before landing in the Rockford area with the company that eventually bought out Ingersoll Machine Tools. It was an exciting time for the young engineer, as he worked hands-on with Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner airplane. It was a rapid education in product development, innovation and manufacturing.“As I was doing that, I saw a need in the marketplace for a company that could do new development, new innovation, but also quality manufacturing with quality manufacturing systems,” says Tingley.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3WMvWr_1FP7KmhA00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3WMvWr_1FP7KmhA00" width="1000" height="800" ><figcaption>As a contract manufacturer, Accelerated Machine Design &amp; Engineering designs and builds many solutions for other companies, like this machine that will one day inspect industrial saw blades.</figcaption></figure>He launched his company in 2008, just as the economy started to crash. It was both a blessing and a curse. Though it meant lean times for manufacturers, Tingley found a wide talent pool.More recently, he’s found opportunities in onshoring, as rising tariffs make his company more competitive domestically. But, there have also been challenges in workforce, energy costs, taxes and other “headwinds,” including transportation. It’s especially important when you’re moving heavy machinery and occasionally sourcing from overseas. As Tingley sees it, that’s just another opportunity to engineer a solution.“We’re going to have challenges tomorrow that we didn’t even anticipate, so the key is that you can’t stand still,” he says. “As soon as those challenges hit, you have to figure out how to innovate and break through, either with better efficiency or better technology, better innovation. The key is you can’t stand still.”He certainly isn’t. At another facility just down the road, Tingley’s team is working on the latest innovation: the Galaxy Gantry CNC machine. The gargantuan equipment can mill an area roughly 40 feet by 16 feet across and 6 feet deep. The machine itself is 50 feet long, 45 feet wide and 20 feet tall.After it’s tested here in Rockford, it’ll be shipped to a customer in California – a load of roughly 10 semi-trucks – before another one pops up in its place. It’s specially designed to move in components, including a Spanish-built 30-ton disc that will rotate on the floor as the Galaxy Gantry mills components for rockets and satellites.“I’ve gotten to see such cool technology, and some of the things we do you won’t see in the marketplace for another five to seven years,” Tingley says. “So, we usually get a decade’s sneak peek at a lot of new technology, and then 10 years later it’ll be on the news. That’s the pinch-me part of my job.” </div></body>

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There isn’t much that Accelerated Machine & Engineering can’t do from its Rockford headquarters at 3044 Eastrock Court. Whether it’s producing a part or the machine that makes it, this company makes complicated ideas a reality. “We create, build and maintain the most useful solutions in industry,”...

Accelerated Machine & Engineering: Engineering is the Secret Sauce

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There isn’t much that Accelerated Machine & Engineering can’t do from its Rockford headquarters at 3044 Eastrock Court. Whether it’s producing a part or th

Accelerated Machine & Engineering: Engineering is the Secret Sauce

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