The Graff-Pinkert used machinery business, or the “treasure hunting business,” as I sometimes call it, is often fueled by events which some people would characterize as lucky or serendipitous. We often go into a customer’s shop to sell a machine and end up buying a machine instead. A random tip from a customer or dealer we’ve never met before has led us to a source of equipment or information that altered our business dramatically. But you only find treasure when you’re ready to receive it, you have to make your luck. The following are a few big deals from 2013…
Author: Lloyd Graff
Yesterday was an emotional day for me. I gave out end of the year bonus checks to the employees of my used machinery company, Graff-Pinkert, holding impromptu talks with each person after delivering each envelope. I thanked each person for their contribution, asked them how they could improve next year and how I could help them. Paternalistic, very old school. I found myself holding back my tears during some of the sessions. I scurried to an empty shop office to pull myself together — and wept. Some context. As I drove to work yesterday, I was wallowing in a sense…
I’m looking forward to the Rocky redux coming out Christmas day called Grudge Match, starring Sylvester Stallone and Robert De Niro, both playing aged boxers coming back for one more bout. But just as interesting to me is the sight of the strutting, cocky General Motors, fresh out of bankruptcy, challenging BMW, Ford, Toyota, and even Tesla to a fist fight in the auto arena. Right now GM is everywhere. I’m waiting for even Mike Tyson to start shilling for them. They have their own Italian stallion (mare) in new CEO Mary Barra, who is on every magazine cover but…
By Lloyd Graff My birthday is in a couple days. Just another day. A number. Just a number. A day to celebrate. But it haunts me, too. It’s a day closer to my last one. CELEBRATE, celebrate, celebrate. That’s what “they” say. What do “they” know? Do “they” know how it feels to get to the age that your Mother died? Do “they” know how it feels to suffer from the same health stuff your parents had? I know I’m supposed to wake up in gratitude, that I survived the night and get to live another day. Often I do,…
I normally deal in subtleties — close calls on whether to buy a machine, take a gamble, hire a new person, eat a piece of pie. But occasionally a deal comes along that is so breathtakingly clear you just shake your head and say YES! We are in one of those odd moments. When the handwriting on the wall is so clear even a blind man can read it. The investment incentive, Section 179 of the Federal Tax Code, can bring savings of more than a million dollars in taxes in the right situation, and is most likely ending in…
Recently, I spent a nice few hours with Rory Gintert, head of DMC America Inc., a large, successful Korean machine tool builder just starting to sell machines under its own name in America. Gintert showed us a beautiful array of sophisticated CNC machines at their newly finished facility in South Elgin, Illinois. How is it that such a large and ambitious machine tool builder like DMC is unknown here? DMC has been building bread and butter machines for Doosan, Hyundai and Samsung for many years. It kept them busy as they built out their own product line in Asia. Now…
I know I am an outsider. As a Jew, I do not experience Christmas as a religious holiday, but I will ask the following question anyway. Why is Christmas seemingly all about shopping and presents to so many people? I can understand giving to charity at the end of the year as an appropriate expression of giving thanks for the birth of Jesus, but do we need to buy an Xbox to make Christmas a happy day? As a Christmas observer, but not a celebrant, it seems like the most miserable time of year. Besides putting up with awful weather,…
I have made a career out of accurately figuring the value of things — particularly machine tools — and placing bets on my guesses. For a long time the prevailing wind was behind appreciating prices. If I bet on inflation, scarcity would usually bail me out. But now I believe that paradigm is played out. I think Ben Bernanke, student of the Great Depression, sensed the end of scarcity when he became head of the Federal Reserve, but he could not announce it at his confirmation hearing for fear of being hanged for economic heresy. The Fed Blubberers (excuse me,…
Winfried Benz, Managing Director of Licon mt, has observed that the implementation time required in the industry is constantly decreasing. The company is responding to this with optimized processes and an expanded range of products. Q: Mr Benz, Licon mt has announced that it intends to focus on new markets and target groups. What are the motivations for this shift? A: This goes hand-in-hand with our product development. In terms of the size of workpieces to be machined, we have moved from large to smaller parts in the area of twin-spindle machining centers. With our latest development, the twin spindle machining center LiFLEX…
I normally do not write about products or technical stuff because, frankly, squirting mustard on a hot dog is a big mechanical challenge for me. But I am excited enough about a new product today to write a piece about it, because it is on the verge of significantly changing my neighborhood — the machining world. A little robot made by a small Danish company, Universal Robot, is showing this week at FabTech in Chicago. Their product, the UR5, is cheap, versatile and easy to program. I probably couldn’t do it, but I am pretty sure you can. It is…