Earnest Machine in marking the 20th anniversary of the opening of its UK branch.

In 2000, then-CEO John Zehnder wanted to better support VMI business that had begun growing in the late 90s.  He also wanted to end his tenure as president and CEO with something memorable – expanding Ohio-based Earnest Machine.

“Earnest Machine needed a way to support its growing VMI business, but my father also wanted to introduce inch to a metric market and likewise metric to an inch market. That’s where opening a branch in the UK began,” current Earnest CEO Kirk Zehnder said.  “It also didn’t hurt that he picked England because they spoke English.”

The UK branch has grown and added team members.  Multiple staff members have been with the branch since the beginning or for more than a decade.

In 2014 and 2016, Earnest UK acquired two small engineering companies and merged them into one site.  The acquisitions helped with core products in its catalog plus hard-to-source parts as well as specials.

The UK branch is not treated differently simply because it is on a different continent, Zehnder said.  Come autumn 2020, the UK office will be audited for Earnest’s annual ISO certification.

While the UK facility in the West Midlands is 3,647 miles from the Rocky River, OH Earnest headquarters, it maintains regular communication with the US.  The success of the UK office with specials has launched a campaign in the U.S. to bring the same kind of business, which is why employees sourcing specials in Earnest’s US office report to UK manager Stuart Southall.  Twenty years of business does not come easy to any company, Zehnder noted.  Web: EarnestMachine.com