Springfield Manufacturer Retools Factory Floor for Next-Gen Machining

Priscilla Vantwerp still remembers the day in 2018 when she took over her late uncle's machine shop on Springfield's north side and found ledgers still kept by hand, machines running on decades-old tooling, and a client list that had shrunk by half over the previous ten years. Today, that same shop, renamed Ozark Precision Works, runs computer-numerical-control machining centers around the clock and supplies precision components to manufacturers across the Midwest.

"I inherited a shop that was proud of doing things the way they'd always been done," Vantwerp said, standing near a row of machining centers that replaced manual lathes her uncle had operated for thirty years. "Pride in craftsmanship is good. Pride in outdated equipment isn't."

A Painful, Necessary Overhaul

The transition wasn't smooth. Vantwerp spent the first two years of ownership fielding resistance from longtime employees skeptical of computer-guided machinery, several of whom left rather than retrain. She responded by partnering with Ozarks Technical Community College to build a customized training program for machinists transitioning from manual to automated equipment, a partnership that has since become a recruiting pipeline for the company.

"We lost good people during that stretch, and that still bothers me," Vantwerp said. "But the alternative was losing the whole shop within a few years, because customers were already moving toward suppliers who could hold tighter tolerances at lower cost."

The investment has paid off in measurable terms. Ozark Precision Works now produces components with tolerances of a few thousandths of an inch, a precision level that opened contracts with manufacturers in the automotive and industrial equipment sectors that previously wouldn't consider the shop. Annual revenue has more than tripled since 2019.

Competing Against Overseas Pricing

Advanced manufacturers across southwest Missouri have faced steady pressure from lower-cost overseas suppliers, and Vantwerp said Ozark Precision Works survives by competing on speed and reliability rather than price alone. The shop guarantees rapid turnaround on prototype and short-run orders, a niche larger overseas manufacturers typically can't serve profitably.

"We're never going to be the cheapest option for a hundred thousand identical parts," Vantwerp said. "But if a customer needs fifty parts by Friday and they need them right, we're the shop that picks up the phone."

Investing in the Next Generation of Machinists

Ozark Precision Works now employs 74 people, roughly double its headcount from six years ago, and Vantwerp has made workforce development central to the company's identity. The shop hosts quarterly open houses for high school students considering technical careers, part of a broader effort in the Springfield manufacturing community to counter a persistent shortage of skilled machinists.

Vantwerp is currently evaluating a second facility expansion that would add capacity for larger-format machining work, a move she says would let the company compete for aerospace-adjacent contracts it has so far been too small to pursue. "My uncle built this shop to last one generation," she said. "I'm trying to build one that lasts three."