The Columbus Blue Jackets are excited to partner with First Merchants Bank to recognize small businesses in our community. Each month throughout the season, one company will be featured as the Small Business of the Month presented by First Merchants Bank. This month's Small Business of the Month is Anchor Pattern Machine; to enter your small business, click here.
Orby Kelley and Chris Zych went to Dublin Coffman High School together, but as the two Shamrocks looked into their futures, they likely couldn’t have imagined what would happen down the road.
The 2009 graduates of Coffman have ended up as business partners, having purchased Anchor Pattern Machine about a year ago from its longtime owner.
“Fifteen years ago we were sitting at the lunch table doing math homework,” Kelley said. "It’s amazing how the world works."
The 55-year-old Columbus company puts the small in small business, boasting just a handful of employees, but it has a big impact engineering products for automotive, pharmaceutical and consumer packaged goods. Founded with the aim of providing excellent fixture services to machine owners, Anchor Pattern Machine offers 3D design and precisely machined fixtures while offering full-service design engineering.
Or, as Zych puts it, it’s working with “real-life, custom Legos on a grand scale.” Sounds fun, right?
“We build totally custom machines for whatever the manufacturing facility wants,” Kelley said. “So we help automate peoples’ processes and solve their problems. If we build something, it comes out right. That’s the most important thing, and we really stand behind our work.”
And if you drive a Honda vehicle, you’re familiar with the company, even if you don’t know it. Every headlight and taillight in a Honda is held in place by components produced by Anchor Pattern Machine.
“The better work we do, the less problems you have with your headlights,” Kelley said. “What we put in the front end means less problems for the general population on the back end of things. If you’re dealing with issues with your vehicle, or if it’s something medical related, then it’s a really big problem.”
Much of the company’s work over the years has focused on the automotive industry, but it’s moving more into pharmaceutical manufacturing. Because of the quality of the company’s work and its reputation over decades of production, as well as the continued rise of automation, Anchor Pattern Machine believes it is positioned to grow.
The company was hosted by First Merchants Bank for the Blue Jackets’ game Dec. 16 against New Jersey, and employees had the chance to see behind the scenes as they took part in the locker room lineup during the first intermission.
“The experience has been top-notch,” Zych said. “It’s been super fun. I grew up in town and been to a bunch of Blue Jackets games, but we’ve never done what we’ve done here. We’re very grateful to First Merchants. It’s a fun experience to remember and get our name out a little bit. It’s cool to see it on the boards and everything.”
