Automated Machine Tending: Easier Than You Think

Justin Kueker is the senior product manager for services at Mitsubishi Electric Automation. He has 17 years of experience in the automation industry and oversees the management of service and solution products.

Tom Majewski is a graduate of Northern Illinois University with a Bachelor’s degree from their College of Business. He works to help reduce the economic impact of the labor shortage in the US manufacturing and automation fields by growing Mitsubishi Electric’s Workforce Development program.

Courtney Ortner is Director of Marketing for Absolute Machine Tools’ A+ Automation Department. She joined Absolute Machine Tools in 1992 after a successful career in sales at Procter & Gamble, working with her husband Steve to grow the company from three employees to more than 75 and six technical centers across the United States. In 2019, Mrs. Ortner recognized the need to grow Absolute Machine Tools’ business beyond exclusively selling CNC machine tools and accessories to creating simple cost-effective automation solutions for manufacturers struggling to implement automation into their manufacturing processes. Her focus was not on complex integration but rather teaching and providing small- to-medium manufacturers basic automation solutions that were easy to design, implement and use to help fill their employment gaps. When the COVID 19 pandemic brought new challenges to manufacturers, making it increasingly hard for manufacturers to find people, let alone skilled labor, Mrs. Ortner turned her focus to fulfilling those needs, earning Absolute Machine Tools a reputation for working with job shops on affordable solutions to keep them relevant and competitive even during the toughest times and, ultimately, helping maintain robust manufacturing in the United States.

2018, the Ortners sold the company to their employees making Absolute Machine Tools an employee-owned company (ESOP). In addition to spending time with their two adult sons, the Ortners enjoy competitive tractor and truck pulling as members of the Ohio State Tractor Pullers Association (OSTPA) and National Tractor Pullers Association (NTPA). They also own and operate a 2,000-acre grain farm named Ortner Farms in Northern Ohio, close to the shores of Lake Erie and a private airport called Ortner Airport (I-64).