Business Profile: EMP uses advanced equipment, technology

R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press
At Engineered Machined Products (EMP) in Escanaba, Plant Director Chad Leiter shows a pressure cooker — a product of Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry — that has come off a machining line at EMP to an interested State Representative Dave Prestin.

EDITOR NOTE: The Daily Press will be featuring a series of articles on local businesses, highlighting their history and what makes them unique. The series will run on a regular basis in the Daily Press.

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ESCANABA — A business occupying facilities in Escanaba that are large but unassuming — at least from the outside — is a manufacturing leader valued not just in the Midwest but the world. They make oil and water pumps, cooling systems, alternators, and other parts and products for dealers of heavy equipment, electric vehicles and more.

At Engineered Machined Products (EMP), skilled employees work alongside robots, using advanced equipment and technology. Engineers design parts, machines cut metal, human operators load and unload pieces and maintain machines, robots deburr pieces, and quality control staff check measurements taken by lasers with extremely precise readings.

The business has been developing since its establishment in 1981, incorporating new tech along the way. After being named “Michigan Manufacturer of the Year” in 2001, EMP started investing in robotic automation in 2002.

The business was purchased in 2021 by Concentric AB, which owns factories in the U.S., Germany, the U.K., Sweden, India and China. Concentric, in turn, was acquired by A.P. Moller Holding, a Danish company, just a few weeks ago. Though the most recent shift to the hands of A.P. Moller means that it’s now a private company — Concentric had previously been publicly traded on the Swedish stock exchange — little else is expected to change functionally. Under the parent company, EMP aims to continue growing with its existing recognized branding, Plant Director Chad Leiter said.

Today, EMP has two locations in Escanaba with different functions, plus premises in Indiana for assembly. Previously, in the ’80s and ’90s, EMP had operations on the other side of the highway in Wells at 1919 23rd Ave. North.

One site, at 3111 N. 28th St. in Esky, houses the main office and Plant 1, which does precision machining of “conventional products” — automotive parts, hydraulic components, oil and water pumps, and commercial consumer items. A highly-automated facility, the Escanaba machining plant uses computer numerical control (CNC) technology to operate lathes, mills and more.

It also has a tool shop staffed by four people: two journeymen and two apprentices. EMP worked closely with Bay College on a program that will be directly useful for work done in the Escanaba facility.

“We design and build all of our own fixtures. These tooling fixtures that we actually load the part onto, those will have been designed and built here by our guys,” said Leiter during a recent tour. “Part of the reason is — we’re in Escanaba. This isn’t Milwaukee or Chicago or Detroit. We have to be reliant on each other. …That’s why it’s very important that we have a fully staffed tool room, fully staff maintenance staff, engineering — So we’ve got all that support here.”

Upper Peninsula Michigan Works! (UPMW) recently named EMP the 2024 Veteran Business of the Year for the job opportunities it provides to local veterans, who make up about 10% of the EMP workforce. Following the issuance of the award last Thursday, Leiter led UPMW, State Representative Dave Prestin, media, and veterans from around the U.P. on a tour of Plant 1.

He put emphasis on one particular stop, “a really big deal” — the newest line in the works.

“There are two identical lines that feed into one basically wash and deburr center,” Leiter explained, speaking loudly over the moderate din. “This is for Danfoss, currently right now being built in Europe. We’re onshoring it here to the US, and no one around the world has automated it, and we are automating it. This whole thing you see here is going to be run by one operator; one guy will run both lines. … This is our next step of being able to palletize, which is where we really ultimately would like to go.”

A benefit of processes that are achieved by computers and robots is that they allow for incredibly strict specifications to be met. Coordinate measuring machines (CMM) detect the geometry of three-dimensional parts with a high degree of precision. For things like carburetor parts made at EMP, those close measurements are essential.

In addition to being able to access spaces people can’t reach and do so efficiently, the use of robots also keeps people out of harm’s way during potentially dangerous procedures.

For example, thermal deburring uses combustion of methane gas inside a pressurized chamber to remove imperfections from machined components.

“It helps us from a safety standpoint, but it also helps us from a human standpoint,” said Leiter. “You can’t rebuild wrists and shoulders. I can rebuild a robot wrist. I can’t rebuild a human wrist.”

He explained that automated cells were made possible by the efforts of local employees.

“The thing that I am most impressed with, and I’m most proud of, is — all of this was done with EMT employees. We bought the machines individually, and our maintenance guys put the cages up; our automation guys did the programming — everything all done here locally,” Leiter said.

The second EMP building, located at 2701 N. 30th St., houses Advanced Products, the division of EMP that makes parts for thermal management systems and electrification. Items made in the facility go into electric transit buses in major cities.

Products made in Escanaba are shipped to companies in the U.S. and abroad. EMP’s customers include General Motors, Ford, Volvo, John Deere, Freightliner, Caterpillar, Komatsu, Danfoss and more.

One consumer product machined at EMP is a pressure cooker that became so popular during Covid — in part because they also double as sterilization pots — that EMP added another production line to double their yield. Prestin made sure to get the name of the brand it was sold under so that he could buy one. It comes from Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry and is sold under their “All-American Products” line.

The third EMP location is Greenfield Assembly, found in Greenfield, Ind. Leiter said it assembles primarily parts made in Escanaba’s Plant 1.

In addition to efficiency, precision, and safety, EMP names sustainability amongst its values. Chips and coolant are recycled, the majority of the lights on the premises are LED, and geothermal cooling wells are used to bring down temperatures.

EMP is a strong supporter of FIRST Robotics. Mentors from EMP assist high school students with mechanical, electrical and software engineering, and help the kids test their designs before competitions. Through mentorship and monetary donations, EMP supports robotics teams in Escanaba, Gladstone, Bark River, North Central, Stevenson and Munising.