Straitline Components: Blending Business, Technology & Design into Success
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What do you do if you have a failing machine shop and a love of mountain bikes? Modern Machine Shop Online has recently posted one of the best articles on small business and manufacturing I’ve read all year, focusing on Canadian bike parts company Straitline Components, a tiny company with a relatively large output enabled by a shrewd selection of the latest CNC machinery.
The company was initially a small contract machine shop working out of a garage and comprised of Mike Paulson and his son Dennis; but after the dot-com bubble burst wiped out their largest client, they figured they’d have to come up with their own product to manufacture if they wanted to stay in business.
After striking out with a golf putter and a kitchen accessory, then seeing small success with a rope-cutting device, the Paulsons took a closer look at their hobby—mountain biking—to see if they could improve the components.
Turns out they could. The Paulsons’ experience with manufacturing, experience with bike riding in rugged conditions, and innate talent for design meant they knew how to improve brake levers, handlebar stems, pedals, and more. And their willingness to invest in CNC machines that a few people can run to produce thousands of parts turned out to be a winning strategy. “One of the Paulsons’ priorities is a belief in owning manufacturing,” writes Peter Zelinski, MMS Online’s Senior Editor. “Straitline insources whatever production it reasonably can. It does this for the sake of understanding that production more thoroughly and perhaps winning some efficiencies from it.”
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