4— AM Supplement
F E A T U R E
By Peter Zelinski
4— AM Supplement
For this shop, additive manufacturing is
part of a larger formula for success.
B
aklund R&D;, a tool and die and CNC ma-
chining job shop in Hutchinson, Minnesota,
has an unusual philosophy for how to
cultivate, encourage and develop manufacturing
employees. Additive manufacturing fts into this
philosophy.
The shop has an equally unusual approach to
fnding customers and winning their business. Ad-
ditive manufacturing fts into this philosophy as well.
Over a year ago, I wrote about this shop's early
experiences with additive manufacturing after owner
Jon Baklund decided to add a production-oriented
Fortus 3D printer. That machine now operates on
this company's shop foor, just a few paces away
from horizontal and vertical machining centers. (See
short.mmsonline.com/brd.)
But I wanted to revisit this shop because there
is also a larger story to tell here—one that involves
additive manufacturing, but also touches on other
ways that manufacturing is changing. Mr. Baklund
is trying to build a manufacturing business on a
set of assumptions and practices that are different
from those of other shops.
Manufacturing is something he has always
known. He learned it from his father, Dale Baklund,
a 50-year career toolmaker and engineer who now
plays a vital role of both trainer and senior tool-
maker within his son's 14-employee shop. For Jon,
however, various pursuits outside of manufactur-
ing—including motocross racing and 25 years as
a martial arts instructor—have taught additional
lessons that he sees as also being relevant to a
manufacturing business. If there is one combina-
tion of values that now defnes how Mr. Baklund
Where 3D Printing
Fits In