Many people had a choice to make in March of 2020 when the world shut down — give up or get to work.
The men and women at Pinnacle Precision picked up the pieces and answered the call from one of its oldest clients, a local medical equipment manufacturer, who were building ventilators for hospitals and clinics around the United States.
“It was an honor to be part of helping people through those hard times,” says Pinnacle Precision Plant Manager Steve Jacques. “Our team took great pride in pulling together during the pandemic and saving lives.”
Pre-pandemic, Pinnacle’s team delivered around 30 ventilators a quarter. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pinnacle produced more than 500 units per quarter. Since the beginning of 2020, over 3,000 units have been made and shipped.
“We moved as fast as possible to support a very aggressive timeline and delivery schedule,” reports Jon Weir, Pinnacle’s Customer Service Manager. “From the initial purchase order to first delivery was three weeks.”
Kicking production into high gear took an all-hands-on-deck mentality. The fact that Pinnacle works as an integrated whole on every project made that process run more smoothly.
Pinnacle’s Customer Service team partners with customers’ engineers to set up each project for success. The Technical team ensures that Pinnacle’s CNC designs and manual tooling requirements are exact for producing precise parts. The Production crew sets to fabricate and finish accurate parts and components.
Considering every piece was heading into a medical facility, the Finishing team meticulously applied powder coating and silk screening.
“We have decades of experience on our production floor, and we know how to work together,” Jacques says. “We meet every morning to talk through the day and see where people need help. Those meetings were crucial during this work because we knew how important each day was and how many people we were helping.”
Pinnacle delivered value-add services via its Assembly team, adding hardware, components, and seals to help speed up the company’s production lines.
“We didn’t shut down once during the entire pandemic,” Weir points out. “We knew how important every day was, and we worked as hard as we could as a team to deliver. I’m so proud of us all.”
