THE CHALLENGE Townsend Machine Inc., of Chestereld, N.J., performs part production and die/mold machining for a variety of markets, including water treatment, pump and aerospace. Some of its parts resemble standard plumbing pipes; but because they are used in aircraft construction, they require precision milling tolerances as tight as ±0.002 inch. The length can require the use of a 14-inch gun drill on both sides of the part, in order to complete a hole. The company felt that the future of its business lay in the production of complex, fast-turnaround parts with high-performance machinery. Due to rising costs, it also wanted to bring the gun-drilling operations it had been outsourcing back in-house. It needed a machine with gun- drilling capabilities that could also expand its capacity

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