HUNTSVILLE, AL – Select Machining Technologies (SMT) is excited to announce the official opening of its new Head Repair Facility in Huntsville, Alabama. This state-of-the-art facility, which became operational in early March, is equipped to provide high-quality repair services for Soraluce milling, boring and turning heads used on its popular range of large capacity multitasking machine tools. The new facility is capable of repairing up to two heads simultaneously in a single repair cell, ensuring efficiency and excellence in service.
The installation of all necessary equipment, tools, and consumables for the facility’s first repair cell was completed in early March. This cell is designed to handle repairs using Soraluce custom head stands, enabling the repair of two heads at once. This expansion is expected to significantly reduce lead times for repairs on the growing installed base of Soraluce milling, boring and multitasking machines in the U.S.A.
To help get the new head repair facility in Huntsville, AL fully operational, Soraluce dispatched Aritz Aguirre, Head Repair Supervisor, to collaborate with Shane Dunaway, Lead Head Repair Technician at Select Machining Technologies (SMT). Together, they completed the first round of three head repairs for U.S. customers. All three heads were successfully repaired and returned to their customers by the end of March.
Currently, the Huntsville facility holds one spare Soraluce universal stepless head. To improve coverage for the North American market, an additional two spare heads, a Multitasking Head and an Automatic Universal Head are in production. By the summer, the facility will have three spare heads in stock, covering nearly half of the types of Soraluce heads currently in use by US manufacturers.
Additionally, the Huntsville facility is co-located with Select Machining Technologies’ parts department, which stocks over $2 million in repair parts for a variety of CNC machine tools, including Soraluce, Ibarmia, Geminis, and Momentum brands. This extensive parts inventory enables SMT to quickly respond to repair needs, ensuring that customers receive fast, reliable service without unnecessary delays.
“We are thrilled to expand our capabilities with the opening of this new facility and its strategic co-location with our parts department,” said Joel Weber, Operations Manager at Select Machining Technologies. “By having both head repair and parts services housed together, we can offer unmatched efficiency and responsiveness to our customers. This positions us to meet the growing demand for advanced manufacturing technology for machining large complex parts here in the U.S.A.”
Looking ahead, the next phase of the Huntsville facility’s development will include adding a second repair cell and expanding repair capabilities to cover additional families of Soraluce heads. This will depend on future demand and the volume of machine installations, which Select Machining Technologies anticipates, will be strong.