Recap: Novo Precision Facility Tour
Sept. 17, 2024 – The lobby of Novo Precision in Bristol, CT, is deceptively quiet. Aside from the wire-forming and -cutting equipment on display, there’s little indication that beyond the lobby doors, ultra-accurate machines are clicking and clacking as they manipulate wires as thin as hairs into neat and perfect shapes. And this is just the beginning. Novo showed FORGE and our guests those machines, and much more, on a facility tour of its more than 50,000 sq. ft. of facilities.
Novo’s mission is “to simply solve our customer’s problem.” FORGE brought together a select group of innovators, supply chain members, and ecosystem collaborators to see how Novo solves all those problems.
Trinell Ball, our Connecticut Program Director, told the audience about FORGE’s mission to help innovators with physical products navigate the journey from prototype through to commercialization and impact at scale. After an the work FORGE has been doing to educate and connect more than 100 Connecticut-based startups to regional suppliers, Ball introduced Novo President Bill Hazard.
Hazard explained Novo’s services and products.
Novo Precision services/products
- Precision wire components, such as precision wire forming and medical staples
- Cut to length, such as straightening and cutting wires, finished ends, and solder preforms
- Precision machining, including gun parts and small milled components
- Equipment and engineered systems, from precision wire straighteners to engineered turnkey systems for linear material
“We seek to strategically align our operations with our customers and their products. The right fit is important,” Hazard said. “There are benefits to working with a startup that can outweigh working with a Fortune 50 company.” This is why Hazard was one of the first CT manufacturers to become part of the FORGE supplier network when a FORGE CT office was publicly announced in 2023.
Novo Precision facility tour
Hazard led our group through Novo’s campus. He showed us precision forming and cutting operations, a precision machining area, and R&D shops. Skilled engineers and technicians were hard at work operating and designing Novo’s machines.
In the R&D shop, Bryan Smith, a Novo R&D team member, demonstrated Novo’s latest product prototype, a lean digital metrics stand, which will launch in the next few months. The company uses aluminum extrusions and builds the board in-house. Since Novo is a lean manufacturing/kaizen facility, the company uses its own boards to manage its manufacturing.
Our group left the Novo Precision facility tour buzzing with manufacturing ideas. For the right customer, it’s clear Novo really can simply solve your problems.
Want to become part of the FORGE supply chain network? Looking for a right-fit connection to a manufacturer who can take your prototype or product production to the next level? Reach out to FORGE. We are here to support you.
