Petersen Precision Engineering
One-Stop Shop for Precision Metal Parts

Numerous players populate the world of precision machining. Yet, finding an all-in-one manufacturer serving top-quality precision parts from prototype to production is a rarity. This leaves companies to engage the services of different design, manufacturing, and production shops to handle the various steps in the precision part development process, giving rise to inaccuracies and inefficiency. What if a manufacturer mitigated this time-consuming, and usually costly endeavor, addressing companies’ design, manufacturing, and market needs all at once in a single facility?

Enter Petersen Precision Engineering, a leading turnkey manufacturer of high-quality, complex precision metal parts. Equipped with cutting-edge technologies like fine blank stamping, precision grinding, lapping, CNC milling, and EDM machining, this Redwood City, CA-based company brings 55 years of experience in high-precision manufacturing and extensive knowledge of production processes to support the needs of its clients. “We’re a one-stop shop having multiple technologies under one roof, so that we can take the parts from start to finish,” says Fred Petersen, general manager, Petersen Precision Engineering.

As a machining and production shop, Petersen Precision is capable of delivering intricate machine parts that require flatness in the range of 20-50 million with an extremely tight tolerance margin for error. “Combining fine blanking with lapping and grinding to make high precision parts with flatness in the millions is a challenge that most shops can’t meet and we specialize in,” Petersen states. The Petersen Precision team is focused on reducing manufacturing time and costs while maintaining top-quality levels.

Operating mainly in the aerospace, defense, electronic machining, scientific instruments and medical devices manufacturing sectors, Petersen Precision serves high-end OEMs and specialty industries from the first prototype to high volume production in one large production facility. Petersen Precision also has the capability to take on some of the most challenging precision machine parts of its clients, optimize the design for manufacturability, and develop a process sequence to produce the parts.

To accommodate diverse product development processes of customers, Petersen Precision gets into the project development phase early on. Post reviewing the solid model of the proposed part designed by its R&D engineers, the final design is decided upon through the exchange of models and conference calls with the customers. A series of prototypes based on the design is then developed, with the customers approving the final prototype, which goes straight to production. This A-to-Z approach to designing and producing precision parts relieves companies from going through multiple firms. “Our customers get most of the parts ready in time to go to market, with us working as their volume production supplier,” Petersen remarks.

Armed with six full-time toolmakers and a dedicated tool room, Petersen Precision’s tool designing and fabrication is done completely in-house. Having several technology experts on board, Petersen Precision has implemented a modern, fully integrated ERP system, CAD/CAM technology for CNC programming, and solid works modeling for precision engineering and tool design. Petersen mentions a medical device manufacturer for whom a combination of fine blanking, grinding, and machining was used to produce all but one of the metal parts in a handheld surgical device that continues to be a market success for three consecutive years.

Having experienced organic growth for decades, Petersen Precision is looking forward to expanding its operations in Roseville, CA, where a new facility will add eight machines and 10-20 thousand square feet of space to its existing fleet of machinery and 50 thousand square feet floor area. With a quality management system that’s ISO9001 certified and AS9100D compliant, Petersen Precision aims to receive AS9100 product certification this year. On the manufacturing side, Petersen Precision is contemplating on deploying additive manufacturing as a complementary feature for prototyping purposes. With a vision to innovate precision manufacturing technologies, Petersen Precision will continue to invest in state-of-the-art equipment to serve today’s and tomorrow’s production lines.