Case Study: Guidemark Precision Machine Saves $500K with Firetrace | www.firetrace.com

High-End Producer of Aerospace, Medical, Precision Parts

Guidemark Precision in Quakertown, Pennsylvania works to produce high-quality, precision parts for aerospace and medical applications. With demanding deadlines, their shop is constantly running lights out operations and pushing their machines to max capacity.

Guidemark understood the risks of machining metals at high speeds using oil-based coolants. They needed to find a way to mitigate these risks to ensure their shop, employees, and contracts were protected in the event of a fire.

Protecting Assets, Investments, and Employees

A successful machining operation has hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions invested into the setup and capabilities of the shop. In the event of a fire, the impact of downtime and lost contracts can be just as costly, if not more so, than physical damage. Guidemark Precision found that Firetrace effectively saved their shop from a fire incident that they estimated would have cost them over $500K, not to mention collateral damage to the shop, their reputation, and employee safety.

Machine Cost - $270k
Tooling Cost - $30k
Downtime Cost/Lost Contracts - $200k+
Total Cost Savings - $500k+

Accidents Happen, Even in the Most Careful Shops

The machinists at Guidemark Precision have years of experience in precision parts machining, but sometimes incidents occur that are out of their control. Their most recent fire event occurred due to a tool breaking mid-cycle and igniting as the finishing tool came in. With the Firetrace system in place, the fire was out before operators even realized there was a fire. Guidemark did not incur costly downtime or repairs, because the system suppressed the fire before it could cause any damage.

Providing Peace of Mind

Being an operator in a precision shop can be a stressful and dangerous job to have. With all the day to day stress of being an operator, the risk of an uncontrolled fire event is not something anyone wants to deal with. Operators at Guidemark precision felt relief when they realized their Firetrace systems had done their job and suppressed the fire before it could cause any damage. Knowing that they have 24/7 protection from a fire event gives everyone in the shop peace of mind about their work and safety.