Jeff Maki is the owner of Maki Precision Machining, a machine shop based in Laporte, Indiana, specializing in making components for the aerospace, automotive, defence and medical sectors.
Maki Precision Machining is an enthusiastic adopter of CloudNC’s CAM Assist AI solution - we caught up with him and the head of his machine shop, Austin Whitmer, to find out more.
Q: Jeff, how did you get started with Maki Precision Machining?
Jeff Maki: Initially, we were doing internal machining for another company we owned. As we expanded, we saw the potential to scale our operations, so we vertically integrated and moved into commercial CNC machining. The idea was to extract and expand the machining processes to serve a broader market, rather than just focusing on internal needs.
Q: What drove you to choose machining? What do you enjoy about it?
Jeff Maki: We love manufacturing—simply put, we love making things! There's a lot of satisfaction in solving challenges for industries like aerospace, firearms, and medical devices. It’s fun and fulfilling.
Q: What are the pain points in this business? What are the biggest challenges you face?
Jeff Maki: The most significant challenge is CNC programming. It's difficult to find qualified, efficient programmers, and it consumes a lot of time. Time is money, and in machining, it’s critical to move quickly from concept to production. We found that we were losing too much time on programming, which prompted us to look for a solution.
Q: Why did you begin looking for AI-driven solutions like CAM Assist?
Jeff Maki: We were discussing the bottlenecks in our processes—specifically, programming—and the potential of AI came up. At that point, AI was all over the news, and we thought it might offer a solution to our programming issues. We began searching online and stumbled upon [CAM Assist], which seemed like a perfect fit for our needs.
Q: Now that you’ve adopted CAM Assist, how has it impacted your operations?
Jeff Maki: The difference is incredible. It’s like moving from caveman to spaceman. What used to take hours can now be done in minutes. While the system isn’t flawless, it’s significantly improved the process from the initial design stage to actual CNC programming. The time savings have been remarkable.
Q: How has this transformation impacted your team and business efficiency?
Jeff Maki: CAM Assist has taken a lot of pressure off our team. We’re always under the gun to deliver, and there are customers always pressuring - it’s a time thing. So CAM Assist gives our team that extra tool in our toolbox to give them solutions faster.
Q: What has been the broader impact of AI on your business and the industry as a whole?
Jeff Maki: For us, it’s reduced human labor in programming from hours to minutes, which in turn helps us compete. AI technology like CAM Assist can help businesses like ours scale efficiently and stay competitive. I believe it will have a tremendous impact on US manufacturing overall.
Q: What would you say to other machine shops considering AI-powered solutions like CAM Assist?
Jeff Maki: Get involved, and do it quickly, because it’s going to solve and remedy things that hurt and cause you pain, and it’s a solution to your pain. It’s better than a band aid.
Our customers buy from us because we keep our promises, and CAM Assist helps you keep your promises to your customers—on time, on cost, and on delivery. So it works for us, and it works for our customers.
I’m a firm believer. I’m all in!
Q: What’s your vision for the future of Maki Precision Engineering?
Jeff Maki: We want to grow sustainably while staying true to our core values—keeping promises, making great products, and doing it profitably. With CAM Assist, we can bring in young, excited talent and train them to succeed.
Q: How would you describe the benefits CAM Assist has brought to your business?
Jeff Maki: It’s all about speed. CAM Assist has turned hours into minutes, made us more efficient, and allowed us to grow without the same constraints on human labor. It’s given us the ability to keep our promises to our customers and helped us maintain a competitive edge in a challenging market.
Q: Austin, how did you get into machining, and what are the challenges you face today?
Austin Whitmer (Maki Precision Machining): I got into machining as a family trade—my dad worked in it, and I followed in his footsteps. I’ve been in the field for about 14 years now. The biggest challenge today is finding people who are passionate about the work, especially in programming. It’s hard to find skilled CNC programmers, which slows down production.
Q: How has CAM Assist helped address those challenges?
Austin: CAM Assist has made a huge difference by helping us get parts from customer quotes to production faster. The AI gets us to 70–80% of a finished program right out of the gate, which takes a lot of pressure off our programmers. It saves us time and allows us to be more efficient. It’s still learning alongside us, but it’s already taking a lot of the headache out of programming.
Q: Do you trust the AI’s output from CAM Assist right away, or do you still check it?
Austin: I had questions at the beginning, but now I trust it 100%. Sometimes you might need to tweak the program it generates, but overall, it’s highly reliable. The only way to trust something like this is to try it, and we’ve found that it works well.
Q: What future features would you like to see from CloudNC?
Austin: I’d love to see CAM Assist handle turning operations. It’s great with 3-axis and 3+2-axis machining, but getting it to work with turning would open up more possibilities for us.
Q: Do you plan to use CAM Assist for training junior employees?
Austin: Absolutely. It’s a fantastic tool for training new talent. It makes programming more accessible, which helps junior employees learn faster and feel more confident. It’s going to be a big part of how we build the future of this company.
Q: What does winning mean for you and the company?
Austin: Winning means bringing back manufacturing to the US, plain and simple. CAM Assist is going to help us achieve that by increasing productivity across the nation.
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*these interviews have been condensed from a series of discussions, and edited for ease of reading
