Machine building is the design and manufacture of a machine for a specific job, when no standard machine can do that job well enough. The result might be a test station for a photonic chip, a line that assembles rapid diagnostic tests, or an X-ray inspection system for semiconductor packages. What these have in common is that somebody needed a machine that did not exist, and somebody had to build it.
We have been that somebody for 23 years. In that time we have shipped more than 9,000 machines from our facility in Tallinn, and the process of building one has become so familiar to us that it is almost invisible to our customers. This article makes it visible: what machine building is, who needs it, and what actually happens between the first conversation and the day a machine ships.
Post summary:
- What is machine building?
- Why the need for custom-built products
- Machine building project examples
- Comparing machine-building companies
What is machine building?
The industry uses several names for the same thing. Custom machine building, special purpose machinery, bespoke machinery, engineered equipment. All of them describe a machine engineered around one product, one process and one production volume, rather than adapted from a general-purpose platform. A CNC mill is a general-purpose machine. A station that loads a specific circuit board, tests it and sorts it by result is a special purpose machine, and nobody stocks one.
It is also not the same as a machine shop. A machine shop makes parts. A machine builder designs, sources, assembles, wires, programmes, tests and documents a complete working system, and takes responsibility for the result.
There are two ways into a machine building project. If you already have finished drawings, the work is build to print: we manufacture exactly what is on the drawings. If you have a concept, a prototype or a specification but not a production-ready design, the work is build to spec: we do the engineering as well. Most of our projects sit somewhere between the two.
Who needs a custom machine
Three kinds of companies come to us.
- The first is a manufacturer with a process that no standard equipment handles. The product is too small, too delicate, too precise or too unusual. Rather than bending the process to fit a catalogue machine, they commission one that fits the process.
- The second, and by far the largest group for us, is the equipment company itself. Companies in semiconductors, photonics, life sciences, additive manufacturing and test and measurement design and sell highly specialised machines. Many of them do not want to run a factory. They want to focus on the technology and the customer, and hand the building of the machine to a partner who does nothing else. In some cases we build every machine a customer sells.
- The third is a startup or scale-up with a working prototype and no way to make ten of it, let alone a hundred. The prototype proved the idea. It was never designed to be built again by someone else. Getting from that prototype to a machine that can be manufactured repeatably is a discipline of its own, and it is where a lot of our engineering time goes.
Why bring in a custom machine building company?
Traditionally, a manufacturer needs one of the following:
- Produce a new product.
- Increase production output.
- Decrease downtime.
- Make a safer workplace (machines to replace humans).
- Increase the machine’s accuracy.
- Make upgrades or variations to existing product lines.
If the current or nonexistent machinery doesn’t have the functionality needed or is not optimised for this new operational capacity, then a custom machine build may be necessary.
Usually, the process for acquiring a custom machine build involves the customer approaching a machine design company, explaining their requirements, and receiving a cost proposal for the finished product.
However, that traditional approach mixes several critical steps in a machine design-build project that tend to cost the client time and money unnecessarily.
For custom machine design and build projects, Tech Group’s approach for project implementation provides continued open dialogue between ourselves and our clients.
Our consultations include not only advice on making your vision happen, but the most cost-effective and productive way of implementation.
Examples of custom machine building projects
A few scenarios from Tech Group’s clientele where custom manufacturing machines were needed:
- An electronic parts manufacturer is struggling to keep pace with the constant change in building newer components. Tech Group can engineer a new design with the latest technology and other state-of-the-art equipment to match the competition and increase output.
- A producer of medical devices needs to design state-of-the-art equipment. Tech Group can assist the client in engineering and designing custom machines to manufacture high-precision parts adhering to stringent quality standards required in the medical sector.
- A manufacturer of aeroplane components wishes to acquire a large tender to produce aircraft components. But, the bid requires following unique specifications to produce that part that is beyond the manufacturer’s current operational capabilities. Tech Group can work with them to develop the machines capable of serving this contract and produce a working prototype, that can be used as part of the government tender and land the bid.
- A food-packaging company that wishes to raise the standard in food packaging decides they need a custom built machine to meet stringent food and health safety measures. Tech Group can design a customised machine not only to handle this health and safety requirements but ensure that high-output is achieved.
- A gas and oil energy company is looking to expand operations into the renewable energy sector. Tech Group designs innovative custom manufacturing machines that help the company enter this emerging market and gain a significant competitive edge.
How a machine gets built:
Every project is different, but the shape of the work is the same.
1. It starts with a brief, not a drawing
Even a build to print project begins with a conversation about what the machine has to do: cycle time, tolerances, the environment it will run in, the standards it must meet, how it will be operated and maintained. This becomes the requirements specification, and every later decision is measured against it. A vague brief is the most expensive thing a customer can bring us, because everything built on it inherits the vagueness.
2. The concept
Before detailed design, we work through how the machine could be built and settle on how it will be built. Which motions need a servo axis and which can use a pneumatic cylinder. Whether machine vision is needed or a simple sensor will do. Where the operator stands. Most of the final cost is locked in at this stage, long before any metal is cut, which is why we review the concept for manufacturability and assembly before moving on. Changing a concept costs a meeting. Changing a detailed design costs weeks.
3. Detailed design
Mechanical engineers model every part in SolidWorks. Electrical engineers design the control cabinet, the safety circuits and the wiring in Eplan. Software engineers write the PLC logic and the operator interface. These three teams work in parallel and talk constantly, because a bracket moved in the mechanical model changes a cable route in the electrical drawings and a sensor position in the software. The unglamorous work lives here too: cable routing, cabinet layout, guarding, labelling, and the first pages of the documentation pack.
4. Procurement
A machine can contain hundreds or thousands of parts, and the timeline is usually set by the slowest of them. Precision stages, servo drives, specialised optics and custom castings can take months to arrive. We order long-lead items as soon as the design freezes, and build frames, machine parts and finish surfaces while we wait for them.
5. Assembly
The frame is welded and stress-relieved. Machined parts arrive from our own shop and from suppliers. The control cabinet is built and the cable harnesses are made. Mechanical assembly first, then electrical, then the first power-up. That first power-up is the moment every builder remembers, because it is the first time the drawings and the machine meet, and the machine usually has opinions the drawings did not.
6. Testing
A dry run finds the mechanical and electrical faults. Debugging finds the software ones. Then comes the Factory Acceptance Test, or FAT, where the customer comes to our facility and we run the machine against the requirements specification together. Nothing ships until it passes. After installation at the customer’s site, a Site Acceptance Test repeats the exercise in the real environment.
7. The paperwork ships with the machine
Every machine placed on the European market carries a CE marking, which shows it meets the health and safety requirements in force and can be traded freely across the internal market. The rules behind that marking are changing. The Machinery Directive that has applied since 2006 is being replaced by Regulation (EU) 2023/1230, which applies in full from 20 January 2027 and pays more attention to autonomous machines, connected equipment and safety functions that rely on software. Operator manuals, maintenance documentation, electrical drawings and spare parts lists all form part of the delivery. A machine without documentation is not finished.
8. And then it keeps going
Machines outlive their designs. Components go obsolete, software needs updating, products change. The engineers who built the machine are the right people to support it, which is why lifecycle support is part of every project rather than a separate service.
What do machine-building companies provide?
Customers need expertise in engineering their final products – both engineering design and manufacturing.
Machine building companies like Tech Group are the designers behind the blueprint for machines. Having the competencies to add extra value in both engineering and manufacturing.
Furthermore, companies like Tech Group will sign Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs). Intellectual property always remains solely of the customer.
No matter the size of a project, machine builder companies should be able to handle the following:
- Industrial hardware and software design
- Creating and welding frames and bases.
- Machining of components.
- Procurement and component outsourcing.
- Plating and anodising.
- Painting and speciality finishing.
- Complete electromechanical assembly.
- Electrical control cabinet manufacturing & assembly.
- Industrial robot programming.
- Integration of hydraulic or pneumatic systems.
- Cable harness manufacturing & assembly
- PLC knowledge of larger component partners: Siemens, Beckhoff, Omron, Allen-Bradley and Mitsubishi.
- Testing and quality assurance.
- Final palleting/skidding, crating, shipping, installation and assembly.
Manufacturing businesses often need custom machinery unique to their processes.
Machine building companies have machine designers and industrial engineers who learn about a company’s individual goals, so they build genuinely custom products.
The finished result is a highly durable machine that can handle new or existing product lines with lower operational costs yet higher quality output that amplifies a company’s operational capacity and performance.
Custom machine builders pull together all the required skills, knowledge and experience. Plus, they should have access to a developed supply network where they can source both components and expertise for high mix, low volume target personas.
How does Tech Group differ from other machine-building companies?
You won’t find another custom machine shop that has the same combination of experience, knowledge and dedication to its customers whilst protecting their intellectual property like Tech Group.
Unlike other machine-building companies, Tech Group offers lifecycle services. This unique offering extends our relationship with our customers after we have created, assembled and installed machines.
Through our 16-plus years of service, we’ve worked on custom machine building projects and deliver stellar custom machine building design, manufacturing and lifecycle services.
Tech Group’s aim has always remained the same: to provide exceptional client value from the following sectors:
- electronics
- telecommunications
- photonics
- industrial
- medical & life sciences
- energy
- automotive suppliers
- food & beverages
Tech Group has the technology to deliver custom or niche machines. Whether a prototype, individual components or full factory installation.
We collaborate with businesses near our headquarters in Tallinn, Estonia, but also with leading enterprises worldwide.
Our custom machine building is located at our facility. This caters for our expert engineers, machine designers and assembly machinists who know how to take your vision and make it a happen.
Speak to our machine-building specialists if you want to learn more about how we customise machines for our customers.
