Taking a Big Swing at a Grand Vision

When someone opening their first machine shop says that they’re going to open 10 manufacturing facilities within 10 years, you might question if they’re being realistic. When they follow that up by saying they’re going to open 100 facilities within 20 years, you might question their sanity. That’s a perfectly reasonable response according to Joseph Alonso, owner of Novo Modo.

“I always knew if I was going to start a business, I wanted to go big,” says Alonso. “So when I put together the plan for Novo Modo, I decided I needed a big, audacious goal that I believed I could accomplish, but that a stranger would hear and call me freaking nuts.”

Latin for the phrase, “In a new way,” Novo Modo was founded in 2023 in Mount Vernon, Washington. While people unfamiliar with the company might find its goals to be freaking nuts, those who have watched the success it’s achieved in under two years have to admit that Alonso’s novel approach to starting a machine shop is bearing fruit. Heavy on advanced technology, engineering expertise and an empowered team of employees, his unconventional model has resulted in extremely rapid growth.

The Accidental Machinist

In high school, Alonso initially intended to pursue a career as a chiropractor. When his parents divorced at age 16, he opted to become an emancipated minor, creating a monumental shift in priorities. With college seemingly out of reach, he decided to participate in a Washington Skills Center vocational program that would provide him with a certification as a welder and allow him to earn a living wage while earning his diploma. Upon arriving to sign up for the welding program, he discovered that it was already at full enrollment. Across the hall, a machining program caught his eye.

“I thought, well, my mom worked in a machine shop and I’m kind of familiar with it, so I guess I’ll check it out,” says Alonso.

Tom Clemens, the instructor of the machinist program, administered an entrance exam to Alonso, who proceeded to achieve one of the highest scores Clemens had seen. Alonso enrolled. Clemens became a mentor and he and his wife even provided his young student a place to stay as he got his feet on the ground.

Alonso took to machining quickly and, despite being relatively new to it, Clemens convinced him to participate in a national competition for high school and trade school students. He came in first for the state of Washington and ranked in the low 20’s nationally. The following year, he achieved the same results in his home state, but ranked third nationally. Flying home from the national competition in St. Louis, Alonso decided that machining was more than just a temporary means to make ends meet, but a career that he wanted to pursue wholeheartedly.

An Intentional Career

For many people, building a career is about establishing stability. For Alonso, financial stability was important, but he also very much wanted to get a broad base of experience. This is reflected in his work experience.

Alonso’s resume includes stints as a machinist, programmer and supervisor at a range of companies serving a diverse group of industries. He took positions with medical and aerospace companies to build up his knowledge of those sectors. He also worked for nearly a decade as a prototype machinist at Microsoft, as well as taught manufacturing courses at Lake Washington Technical College and Everett Community College for seven years. While that may sound like a full career, Alonso crammed it all into less than two decades.

“Through my twenties and thirties, I always worked two jobs,” he explains. “I came from a family that was very not-well-off, and was determined to be financially stable before I would consider starting my own family. It also gave me the chance to really pick up a lot more expertise than I could’ve just working one job at one company at a time.”

The years were not without challenges. At 19, Alonso was diagnosed with advanced keratoconus in both eyes. The progressive eye disease resulted in him being declared legally blind by his mid 20’s. A breakthrough in treatment via Scleral contact lenses allowed him to regain a large portion of his sight and significantly slowed the deterioration. Throughout it all, he continued working and investing much of his income into real estate, a choice that would pay off when he decided to start his own machine shop.

The Path to a New Model

In 2022, Alonso was down to a single job as a prototype machinist at Microsoft. He’d gotten engaged that year and was enjoying having more free time for his personal life. Then he got a call from Mike Dunlop, founder of Net Inspect.

“I had never met Mike, but he had heard about me through mutual acquaintances,” recalls Alonso. “He had a vision for a fully automated machine shop and was looking for people to help him bring it to life.”

The two collaborated on Dunlop’s launch of Autonomous Machining in Kirkland, Washington. Shortly thereafter, Dunlop suggested that Alonso start his own shop to complement what they had worked on together. It was just the push he needed.

“My expertise was in 5-axis milling and I had this persistent idea for how to build a high-mix, low-volume 5-axis shop that would specialize in the absolute toughest parts we could find,” says Alonso. “I wasn’t interested in the normal path of starting with mid-tier, used equipment. The whole concept depended on investing in high-end technology right out of the gate.”

Alonso prepared his pitch and began meeting with companies he thought would be interested in and capable of supporting his idea. Three key players stood out: Hermle, WENZEL and HWR Workholding. All three provided the level of technology he was looking to implement and bought into his vision. While most people would immediately recognize the importance of selecting the right machine tools and CMMs, the Novo Modo model relies just as much on pairing those technologies with the right workholding.

Achieving Results

There’s no question that Alonso’s approach has proven successful. The new company started with a Hermle C250 5-axis machining center, paired with a Wenzel LH 87 CMM and supported by HWR’s SOLIDLine of modular zero-point workholding. Within months, the company was clearing $100,000 per month and invested in a second work cell, again built on Hermle, Wenzel and HWR. In 2024, revenues grew to $1.9 million and another cell was added. This year, the company projects sales to be near $4 million, has already invested in its fourth cell and is currently working on establishing a second location.

“There’s a part we’re not allowed to photograph that really shows off what we’re doing here,” says Alonso. “It’s a satellite gimbal that’s almost 11 inches long and a little less than 8 inches across at its widest. It kind of looks like if you took a pair of pilot headphones, stretched them out and twisted one of the speakers to be at a 90-degree angle to the other.”

The part described features interior walls as thin as 1 mm, with tolerances ranging from 25 to 50 microns. In addition to its odd geometry, the part features dozens of extremely small holes that must be drilled and tapped within 25 microns. Because of the its odd shape, Novo Modo starts with a 45-lb block of aluminum that is then machined down to a finished part weighing just 2.5 lbs.

“It’s crazy when you see the setup,” says Alonso. “We’ve got this 11-inch long block of metal held with a single vise, sticking up 8 inches high. And it’s rock solid. The Hermle machines have excellent vibration damping and precision, and the zero-point workholding from HWR allows us to realize the true capability of the machines.”

Specifically, Novo Modo uses HWR’s SOLIDStamp system, in conjunction with SOLIDGrip vises. With SOLIDStamp, a tooth contour matching the vise jaws is stamped onto the workpiece, using as little as 3 mm of clamping depth. This provides incredibly strong and accurate holding force, while eliminating the need to machine dovetails or create highly complicated setups.

“It saves us an enormous amount of time and makes us more agile, as we no longer have to machine out workpiece features that are only there for holding them,” says Alonso. “But even more important is the accuracy of the setup. I can easily take the clamped workpiece out of the machine, check it in the CMM and put it back into the machine with positioning accuracy that allows us to keep within those 25-to-50-micron tolerances.”

Novo Modo also takes advantage of SOLIDLine’s range of supporting products, such as risers and pyramids. The modular nature of the system allows operators to quickly build secure setups specific to the workpiece in front of them. The company describes its current part mix as ranging from the size of a pinhead to a shoebox and requiring complex 5-axis machining. Orders typically come in for lot sizes of 100 or fewer parts, with up to several thousand parts delivered over the life of a project. Customers expect fast turnaround times, and agile workholding is a key element to keeping throughput high.

The Next Step

Two years in, Novo Modo is currently in the process of planning and opening its second facility, which will be very similar to its flagship shop. Future expansions will be driven by the needs of its customers and are expected to include facilities designed for higher production runs and possibly supporting processes, such as assembly or anodizing. At the current rate of growth, the company is optimistic it will achieve the first step of its founder’s goal.

“My grand vision is 100 facilities, dotting the Pacific Northwest and beyond, that all complement each other to meet the demands of a diverse customer base,” says Alonso. “Ideally, as these get established, my dream is that the majority ownership of each of them eventually gets turned over to employees. My retirement goal is to be able to step away and just have small income streams coming from each of the shops we’ve built. That’s where I want to be in 20 years.”

With the initial success of Novo Modo’s uncompromising approach to investing in the technology best suited to its objectives, it’s a goal that seems much less crazy than it initially sounds.