Corporate History

Arc-Drilling & Dynamic Balancing, Inc. (ADDB) was founded by Cal McKee in 1961. In 1968 Stan and Jeanne Trem were able to realize a life-long dream by purchasing the company from the retiring Mr. McKee. Since that time the company has enjoyed steady growth in both customer base and technical capabilities, and is flourishing in its second generation as a family owned and operated business.

From its humble beginning in a 1700 square ft facility in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, Arc Drilling has offered EDM capability. Initially this capability was focused on serving the automotive industry. Service to the aerospace industry, and dynamic balancing work, were additional. Machining capabilities and a strong background in the tool and die industry allowed in-house production of electrodes.

By 1980, demands for our products allowed the company to grow into a 5000 square ft facility in nearby Garfield Heights. The customer base was also expanding, with cold heading dies and trim dies for the fastener industry becoming high volume ADDB products.

In 1981 ADDB welcomed the opportunity to explore a new type of EDM technology: the wire cut. The addition of our first wire machine, a 4-axis Mitsubishi DW 80, was an immediate success. Wire-cut capability, with the accuracy that only CNC can provide, enabled further growth in the aerospace industry. Within two years, demand led to a tripling of the wire cutting capacity.s

Meanwhile, CNC controls were also introduced in our conventional EDM operations. The addition of a CNC vertical milling machine in 1982 provided the capability to efficiently produce highly accurate electrodes in-house.

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By 1991 the accuracy, repeatability and efficiency of our operations were such a natural fit with the aerospace industry that this became a primary focus. The relationship built with our aerospace customers led us into another industry those customers serve: ground power generation.

Continually growing aerospace demands led to the 1993 addition of sinker EDM and fast hole EDM technologies, as well as a gradual conversion of all conventional EDM to CNC operation.

In 1997 our Board of Directors decided to devote all of our corporate resources to EDM, and after more than thirty years of supplying dynamic balancing, that side of our business was sold. The newly-named Arc Drilling was ready to expand its EDM capability to meet the needs of any customer.

Arc Drilling experienced such growth in the late nineties that an additional 5000 square ft was leased in 2000, to house production-capable CNC machines. A second, and even more significant expansion came in 2001: the opening of a satellite facility in Saint Stephen, South Carolina – forty minutes outside of Charleston. This facility has enabled a lean-manufacturing relationship with customers in the south. Capabilities in this shop include 4-axis CNC sinker EDM, 4-axis CNC fast hole EDM, and conventional EDM. Wire cut capability will be added in late 2003.

Continual improvement in accuracy of parts has required parallel improvements in inspection technology. Two major milestones for Arc Drilling were the addition of an Optical CMM in 1997, and verification of ISO 9002 and AS 9000 compliance in 2001. Our quality management system has received approval for self-release by a number of discerning customers.

Our mission statement best summarizes the approach that has guided Arc Drilling through its years of customer satisfaction and resulting growth:

Arc Drilling Inc. will strive to continuously improve its products and production processes to better satisfy the needs and expectation of its customers, and will deliver to them, on time and every time, defect-free products and services.

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