Pursuing Certifications To Secure Department Of Defense Contracts

Originally launched in a one-room garage, West Ohio Tool, a women-led business based in Russells Point, Ohio, has grown to become a leading U.S. manufacturer of custom carbide, PCD, and CBN tooling.

Founder Kerry Buchenroth worked at a Honda engine plant before discovering in five years’ time that he could leave the corporate world and launch his own operation, recalls his daughter and West Ohio Tool CEO Kaci King.

“We started a business,” she says. “It was on the back of the one-car garage that my mom now uses as a potting shed. It was so small; they had no room for equipment other than some small tabletop tools. My dad attended a woodworking show and saw his first tool – a cutter grinder – and said, ‘I’m going to have one of these,’ and my mom rolled her eyes.”

Despite her initial skepticism, the operation began to grow and moved from the garage to a remodeled chicken coop. The business eventually relocated to its Russells Point facility and broke into industrial automotive manufacturing, leveraging Buchenroth’s connections at Honda.

Today, West Ohio Tool continues diversifying its business, recently entering the firearms space. The company initially produced .50-caliber chamber reamers for an Ohio-based military gun manufacturer.

“Dad grew the business in automotive because that was his passion,” King says. “We still very much like that – we like connecting our team with the idea we’re not just making tooling, but we’re making a cutting tool part that makes brakes for families to go home and be safe together in the evening. Connecting that vision is important for us, but now we’re also in defense and firearms, which has really been fun for us to diversify.”

Certify and diversify

The West Ohio Tool team had a clear goal in mind when expanding to the defense space: contracting with the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD). The company’s focus is aerospace and space systems manufacturers, but the major operations wouldn’t even have a conversation with West Ohio Tool until the company received AS9100D certification for its quality management system.

“It allows us to finally go knock on the doors of these big aerospace and space systems guys that are manufacturing airplanes and space satellites,” King says of the certification. “We can now finally entertain that business.”

King describes certification as a set of standards that must be followed to assure manufacturers certain processes are followed and they’re receiving high-quality parts.

West Ohio Tool previously obtained ISO 9001 certification, which King says is a less stringent standard that acts as a baseline.

“Once you pass that, there’s a whole other realm of requirements, but we had the basic stuff done,” she says. “Then it was implementing tougher things, so now we no longer have an ISO audit. Normally, people who are ISO or AS9100, you’re required to have audits every so often to pass to make sure you’re staying up to snuff. Because the AS9100 is tougher, that audit replaces the ISO and certification automatically covers both.”

West Ohio Tool was also awarded Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) 2.0 Level 2, which aligns with DOD guidelines ensuring the company is protected from inside and outside cybersecurity risks. West Ohio Tool had video cameras and key fobs installed at every office door, for example, as part of the certification process.

“If somebody breaks in, they want to make sure that nobody’s gaining blueprints of anything they ordered,” King says. “It’s just as tough on the internal side as far as data. No one on the production floor is allowed to have a phone and none of the machines can connect to the Internet. There’s a long laundry list of things. We’re undergoing probably $30,000 of software purchases to monitor and audit our server all the time.”

West Ohio Tool was CMMC Level 1 certified and took proactive steps to secure CMMC Level 2 compliance before it becomes a DOD requirement.

“It’s going to be required by the Department of Defense soon, and we’re ensuring those foundational pieces are met to ensure we can do business and gain their respect and the opportunity to do work,” King says.

Exceeding expectations

West Ohio Tool has carved out its place in the market by providing value and exceeding expectations.

The company finds solutions to cut cost – not necessarily the upfront cost of the tool, but the cost per hole, for example.

“If someone has a tool that only lasts 10,000 holes, we can create you a different tool that lasts a million holes,” King says. “That cost divided over the number of holes should significantly reduce. That’s our current mission. We love helping people solve problems other companies haven’t been able to. We like to support our customers all the time, no matter what, whether it’s at their facility or face to face. And then we always say that we’re quicker than the industry standard for delivery.”

King hopes these differentiating factors can continue driving West Ohio Tool’s growth, which is why the business invested in the certifications and cybersecurity compliance.

“Gaining those multi-year contracts and becoming a cutting tool supplier for both subcontracts and prime contracts is a big goal,” she says.

The company plans to continue investing in equipment and automation to meet current demand and prepare for the influx of work when the DOD contracts are finalized.

West Ohio Tool uses automation, in part, to offer competitive pay for its workers.

“For 34 years, all we know is a family-owned business,” King says. “As a result, we don’t have a second or third shift, and our goal isn’t to add one. As owners, we have to continue to invest in automation so we can continue to make products and get those products out. All our major grinding machines, except for one, either has an internal loader or robot of some type that can do automation throughout the night. Yes, we love people, but we like to pay our people better than everybody else. We aren’t the standard facility that gets 100 people and pays them $10 an hour. We would rather have five guys at $30 an hour. We expect a lot from them, but that’s a result of their knowledge, their dedication.”

West Ohio Tool has spent several years investing in equipment, technology, software, and certifications to secure contracts with the government, and like her father, King is driven by passion.

“I love the moon and the stars,” she says. “Ever since I was a kid, I was that science nerd who always loved NASA and the moon, so it ties in for me no differently than my husband’s passion for firearms. We’ve had a lot of people in our family that have been in the military and involved in wars. So, being able to provide cutting tools for firearm manufacturing or big guns on ships or space satellites, it just lights us up. It makes coming to work fun. Time flies when you get to do what you enjoy.”

West Ohio Tool https://westohiotool.com