Rocky Mountain innovation

Faustson Tool Corp. Vice President Heidi Hostetter is proud of her company’s status as an innovator. An adopter of 5-axis machining more than a decade ago, the Arvada, Colo., machine shop’s latest endeavor is bringing 3D metal printing to the forefront of Colorado’s manufacturing scene. Among Faustson’s awards, Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo., named it Platinum Supplier for 2014 and the shop was selected as a 2014 Colorado “Companies to Watch” finalist. Even with Faustson President Alicia Svaldi sitting on the boards of the Colorado Advanced Manufacturing Alliance (CAMA) and the Manufacturer’s Edge, and with Hostetter being a member of the Advanced Industries Accelerator Programs’ board for the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, the company isn’t content to rest on its laurels.

CTE: Why did Ball Aerospace name Faustson platinum supplier of the year?

Hostetter: Ball Aerospace did a national and international ranking, and we impressed them enough to top both. I personally have been working with them for 20 years, and Alicia (Svaldi) has for 30 years. Ball does quarterly reviews, and we had the highest review of any of their suppliers for a rolling year. They also had a classified government project called Aquila where we solved a major optical issue. They had a shim issue with an optic system, which created a lot of concern with Lockheed Martin and the end customer. We worked with Ball directly on that and not only solved the technical issue, but helped resolve a working relationship issue between Lockheed Martin and Ball.

CTE: What do Faustson’s connections to Manufacturer’s Edge and CAMA bring to the table?

Hostetter: Manufacturer’s Edge was formerly known as the Colorado Association for Manufacturing Technology, and they are the federal MEP (Manufacturing Extension Partnership) here, so Alicia being appointed to that board is awesome because she gets to give them insight on small, medium and large manufacturing. This is valuable to them because that’s who they are supposed to represent, and she can also give us insight into where they’re looking to spend their money and other things that factor into our business decisions. CAMA is the state-level representative, and she was asked to sit on their board as well, not only to provide the state and federal governments with the same data, but also to bring both organizations together and help them work together more fluidly.

All images courtesy Faustson Tool

Alicia Svaldi (left), president of Faustson Tool, and Heidi Hostetter, vice president, with the company’s Platinum Supplier for 2014 award from Ball Aerospace.

An aerospace part produced by Faustson Tool.