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Mike Burchill, president of in Minneapolis, is the winner of ’s IMTS 2014 “It’s time I had a Romi in my shop” machine giveaway.

I know. You’re thinking, “IMTS was months ago…why are you just now announcing this?”

Well, there’s a reason.

You see, the prize Romi offered was a C 420 turning center. However, Mike says that particular model is a larger, more heavy-duty machine than Marshall could effectively use in production. Learning this from him wasn’t surprising because I had visited Marshall some time ago to develop this article about its machining (and bending) capabilities geared primarily toward medical customers.

So, Marshall and Romi worked together to identify options for swapping that lathe for a smaller, higher-speed model that was better suited for the work that flows through the shop. Mike explains that in the end, Romi generously honored the shop’s request to substitute the C 420 with a GL 170G gang-tool lathe, which Marshall is currently using to machine extruded ABS core tubes for reverse osmosis water filters. Mike says the new lathe is much more reliable and productive than the 20-year-old machine it replaced.

So, congrats to Marshall for winning the contest, and kudos to Romi for providing the shop with an alternative machine.