Peterborough manufacturer celebrates delivery of 100th machine tool

Quickmill, a machine tool designer and manufacturer on Rye Street in Peterborough, has celebrated the delivery of its 100th “Intimidator.”

The massive machine is the latest in a long line of tools for drilling, milling and shaping metal for use by the aerospace, energy and transportation industries.  Computer controlled, they are more efficient, and more precise than doing the work by hand.

“Manufacturers of heat exchangers, heat transfer systems, drill millions of holes in steel plates every year. And these products replaced manual drilling of these tube sheets and baffle plates,” Quickmill’s CEO, Jeff Driscoll said.

In business since 1984, the company has fewer than 100 employees in manufacturing, sales and service.  Driscoll says competition is fierce in the machine tool business with many offshore manufacturers but says Quickmill sells to many countries around the world.  He says the secret is service. especially for domestic customers.

“If you have a machine that’s purchased and built offshore and you bring it into North America, you don’t have the ability to have the original equipment manufacturer look after that equipment for its lifespan. That’s what we do here and that’s one of our defining differences,” Driscoll said.