Does a metal stamping tool with the potential to revolutionize an industry sound ambitious? Maybe. Is it possible? Absolutely.
That's exactly what the founders of
M.O.M. Tools have in mind for the metal fabrication business.
M.O.M. (Men of Miami) Tools was established in 2003 by two
Miami University graduates, Anthony Lockhart and John Collier. The pair created a patented "Dual-Head" punch for the metal fabrication and fastener industries, with the idea to improve productivity and reduce tooling, maintenance and scrap expenses.
With their innovative product, Collier and Lockhart believe the industry can be revived � with jobs that will stay in Ohio.
Lockhart says the Cleveland-based company found a niche, offering a product that has a longer life and better quality of a "punched" hole than the current tools on the market.
Typically, when a hole is punched through metal, it wants to close itself. The entire process takes "just a milli-fraction of a second," not visible to the naked eye. M.O.M. Tools' Dual-Head system has two cutting mechanisms and a groove to catch excess "flow." And the tool can last up to 15 times longer then conventional tools on the market.
"We want to revolutionize the metal stamping industry," Lockhart says. "Hopefully, by our efforts, we can retain some of the business in this country."
That type of innovation is bound to attract some attention. The
Great Lakes Innovation & Development Enterprise (GLIDE) grant program awarded the company $25,000.
"Our goal is to continue to add jobs and continue to grow," Lockhart says. "And these are not minimum wage jobs by any stretch of the imagination."
Source: Anthony Lockhart, M.O.M. ToolsWriter: Colin McEwen