I've always been of the belief that if I can find a good machine to do a job I was better off buying it. For decades I have been a pretty loyal Stiles user. I'm not sure if I'm just worn out but it seems like in the last year or so the service I receive form them has gone down hill quite a bit. They miss service appointments with at best last minute notification. Take forever to get to an onsite tech when service is needed. They have always been very expensive on the service but at the end of the day I figured I was getting value from them. Now the techs don't seem as knowledgeable, etc.
Anyway, enough about that. I'm in the NYC area and wonder who the alternative is to Stiles that sells a quality machine and will provide relatively quick service without having to pay a fortune. My CNC is getting a little long in the tooth after about a decade of use. Any feed back is appreciated. Thanks

Gee, what has happened in the last year and a half that could cause delays and missed service calls?

Thanks Tom, very insightful. If people from various geographic areas report similar experiences from Stiles and other machine vendors then that information will be meaningful. It may turn out to be a Stile specific issue rather than an industry wide issue. I'm not sure how to determine that other than to ask others what they are experiencing. I'll admit to having a little chip on my shoulder with the Stiles techs charge me travel time, food charge, mileage charge, high hourly rate, etc. so I may not be looking at it with clear eyes. That is another bit of feedback that I'm hoping to get.

Take a look at Biesse, techs are hard to get for everyone but at least with Biesse you have lifetime free phone support.
My shop was flooded and my Rover was down, a little coaching and I was back up in running in 2 days. They will always try to fix a machine over the phone first.
I recently had an experience with my Homag bander, the mark ups on the parts was mind boggling but they kind of have you over a barrel.

Ron,

I first want to be clear that I own Nutek Machinery. We import and service high quality European Machinery. I don't want to sound self-serving or have my reply sound like a big advertisement, but you bring up a legitimate concern and I am happy to share with you how we are handling service. It's extremely difficult to find good technicians these days and even the best machine has no value if it isn't producing.

I believe the first criteria is to look at the machine you are considering and make certain it is well built, utilizing cutting edge technology. The best service in the world is a fantastic thing but you don't want to utilize that service 4 times a year on a subpar machine that is unreliable.

If you go to the website link with my post you will see that Nutek Machinery is an importer of high-quality European machine lines but the fact, is we aren't huge like the big names in the industry you have mentioned and are aware of. That does raise the question of how we handle the service side of things. I would first say that the number of service techs is dependent on the number of machines in the field. The bigger the company, the more machines they have. They will also at some point top out on the number of technicians they employ, leaving gaps in service. It's unavoidable, unless a company wants 10 guys sitting around the shop waiting on a breakdown. Cabinet makers don't have guys sitting around waiting and neither do machinery companies.

I thought about how Nutek Machinery would handle the service dilemma. I've been a service technician since 1982 and of course understand the importance of keeping machines running. I've made a lot of contacts throughout the years and have settled on the idea that the best way to handle timely service is to work closely with highly qualified independent technicians and provide them with factory training to ensure consistency and the proper knowledge to represent themselves, Nutek Machinery, and the Companies we have partnered with in Europe. The technicians we are working with either worked for one of the large companies in the industry and gone out on their own or worked in shops like yours and saw the need for their services in other shops. This is allowing us to work with guys on a regional basis and if their schedules prevent them from providing service in a reasonable amount of time, I'll get on a plane myself and fly out to a customers to get them up and running. I think the larger companies steer away from using independent guys, even the ones that used to work for them, almost like they are punishing them for leaving. As an example, we introduced the Ott edgebanding line at AWFS in Las Vegas and had a tremendous amount of interest. Ott has been building banders since 1963 and were in the U.S. in the early 2000s but for all practical purposes Ott is new in the market regarding what we have done. We already have 3 technicians that have been trained at the factory in Austria and will send 6 more the beginning of the year. We will continue to add to that number in strategic locations to give excellent coverage to the companies that partner with us and as machine sales dictate the need. We have a dealer and installation crew on board for Modesta dust collectors and will do the same thing for all of our lines. Currently we are in talks with an Italian CNC builder and already have multiple technicians lined up to go to training and provide service as soon as there is an agreement to bring the machines into the market. Once again, the technicians we are working with have already worked for the larger companies. When talking with the CNC company we are currently negotiating one of the most important topics is service. Interestingly what we are doing is exactly how many of the European companies are now doing it. This allows for reliable localized service without a high amount of overhead that adds to the price of the machines. The key is in the training of these technicians.

Between labor issues, people not showing up for work or doing their jobs correctly, and down machines the stress you guys feel is something I wouldn't want on a daily basis. We are providing efficient machines to reduce labor and keyed in on the service to keep machines running.

I hope all of this helps. I think all the machinery dealers are all dealing with the same conditions but the solutions to overcoming these challenges vary. Our flexibility is our strength.

Good morning Ron,
I'd like to introduce myself and my team, my name is Jason Axt and I am the North East Manager for SCM Group North America. I'm local, in New Jersey, and would welcome an opportunity to discuss our machinery offerings as well as our service protocols. We offer lifetime phone support, the ability to remotely connect to our machinery, and the ability to use technology to work face to face with our expert in house staff remotely. Check this video out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECgkyRHWCoo&ab_channel=SCMWoodworkingT
echnology

In addition, we have a few extremely capable CNC technicians in the Philadelphia/New Jersey area (all within 2 hours of the NYC metro area). They aren't just general technicians, they are trained in some of our top level technology. I also have a very capable local dealer network which has the ability to support as well.

Have a look at our website and you will find we have the widest range of offerings amongst any manufacturer in the woodworking industry. Here is an introduction to SCM:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BqsxjUUtgE&list=PLaI9KsKw6XxN7KUz5Ym2
2IG2LWG3kHCu5&index=11&ab_channel=SCMWoodworkingTechnology

Here is a quick overview of our CNC offerings:

https://www.scmgroup.com/en_US/scmwood/products/machining-centres.c8
74

Please email me at jaxt@scmgroup.com, when it's convenient for you, and lets discuss how we can help.

I look forward to hearing from you.
Best,
Jason

Here's a question for you Jason.
Recently had to replace what the tech said was the card that controls raising and tilt on my Si400e slider. Now it takes 4 times as long to raise or tilt the blade. He said it was the only one that SCM has for that saw. Any thoughts on that? Card and labor was $800.
Other than that I love the saw. It has been a work horse.

I think good machine service is a thing of the past. There seem to be fewer people in that industry these days. I have found that everyone charges a fairly high hourly rate.

I am north of the Border so I can’t comment on Stiles. I have used Homag techs for my Brandt edgebander and they were exceptional. I have heard good things about Biesse, but I don’t have personal experience.

I have always been an SCM fan but my CNC repairs have been a night mare. No one can figure out the issue with my machine and no one seems to really care if they do. If I was a tech I would find it challenging to figure it out and get it working properly.
SCM Canada’s service department is a pathetic joke, I have dealt with them and pathetic is actually a kind word. I have talked to techs who work on SCM and they even say the same thing. Very sad, I wish I owned a Biesse CNC.