 Rick Grimes has always had a passion for racing. At age 16, Grimes went to work on sprint cars as a hobby. That interest for mechanics pushed him to graduate from Penn State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1980. For 24 years, Grimes has worked in some facet of manufacturing, while still tinkering on cars.
In 2002, his passion for racing, his job and educational experience lead Grimes' career path to the Manufacturing Manager position at Richard Childress Racing in the Okuma Technology Center.
The Okuma Technology Center is an 8,000 square foot building located on
the Richard Childress Racing campus. Okuma and RCR brought technology in Computer Numerical Controls (CNC) machine tools to the next level by developing and manufacturing precise race car parts for RCR. More than 60% of the parts Okuma machines produce are for the RCR engine department.
Okuma America, a Charlotte, NC, based corporation, is a world leader in CNC machining tools. In 2001, the first parts for RCR developed by Okuma, were not only for the engine department, but for RCR research and development department.
What is the Okuma Technology Center (OTC)?
"This is a manufacturing organization that supports RCR from the standpoint of race car components. We design and manufacture parts for eight different organizations within RCR. The Okuma CNC Machining Centers permit us (RCR) to control our own destiny. If we were to go to an outside shop to have products made, we would lose the turnaround time we have. Our turnaround time is in hours or a couple days, where as an outside supplier maybe several days or weeks. Competitive edge is a large part of our business. A portion of what we do is gain an edge on the racetrack. If we went to the outside, we could also lose confidentiality; no matter what kind of piece a paper you sign, you still risk that."
How many machines do we have?
"We have nine machining centers, including milling, turning and grinding. We have seven people on staff at OTC."
|
