Local Businesses Rally to Repair High School’s Machining Center

Beloit Memorial High had an ongoing problem with a machine that is vital to their technical education curriculum. They have a Haas machining center that has been in need of repair since last fall.  Regal’s maintenance manager Wes Weideman is in routine contact with the teachers involved, as we routinely donate cutting tools and conduct plant tours for this program.

We believe workplace readiness and exposure to manufacturing processes can be an effective means to attract young people to entry level positions either at our company, or other local businesses.

The school had no one with the skill to troubleshoot and repair this machine.  An outside service would be very costly.  Wes volunteered his and Regal’s Electrical Troubleshooter Mike Banta’s services, to determine what the problem was and attempt to fix it.  After extensive searching, they determined the problem to be a faulty vectors drive which could not be repaired. The replacement cost would be $3,400 for the drive and additional charges for the labor to install it.
 

Wes enlisted the help of another local business, All World Machinery Supply, who not only donated a new Vectors Drive thanks to the CEO David J. Koepp but they also provided support with All World technical specialist Mike Russell, assisting the Regal crew in replacing the part.

The machine is up and running and the students are again learning what manufacturing is all about.