# PMPA and the precision turned parts industry: shops, standards and ERP realities > Source: https://netray.co/manufacturing/pmpa-precision-machined-products-screw-machine > Publisher: Netray (netray.co), AI and integration engineering for ERP and manufacturing systems. > Section: Manufacturing Hubs ## Short answer The Precision Machined Products Association (PMPA) is a US trade association for manufacturers of precision turned and machined parts, historically the screw machine industry. Members run multi-spindle automatics, Swiss-type lathes and CNC turning centers making high-volume, small-diameter components. This page covers that ecosystem and the quoting, ERP and data issues typical of such shops. ## Kind association ## Country United States ## Area Precision turned products and screw machine shops ## Intro The Precision Machined Products Association (PMPA) is a US trade association for manufacturers of precision turned and machined parts, historically the screw machine industry. Members run multi-spindle automatics, Swiss-type lathes and CNC turning centers making high-volume, small-diameter components. This page covers that ecosystem and the quoting, ERP and data issues typical of such shops. ## Industries ### Automotive and heavy truck components **Detail:** Pins, fittings, valve parts, sensor housings and fasteners made in large volumes on multi-spindle and CNC turning equipment, under IATF 16949 customer requirements. ### Medical and dental components **Detail:** Bone screws, implant parts and instrument components made on Swiss-type lathes in stainless steel, titanium and other biocompatible materials, with lot traceability. ### Fluid power, hydraulics and valves **Detail:** Fittings, spools, poppets and manifold parts with demanding surface finish and concentricity requirements. ### Electronics, connectors and aerospace fasteners **Detail:** Small precision contacts, pins and fasteners made in brass, copper alloys, stainless and specialty metals for connector, instrument and aerospace customers. ## Ecosystem ### Precision Machined Products Association **Type:** association **Note:** A trade association based in Ohio serving precision machined products manufacturers with events, benchmarking and peer networking. ### PMPA annual meeting and technical conferences **Type:** conference **Note:** Member events where shop owners and managers exchange operating practices and hear from industry suppliers. ### NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership **Type:** MEP center **Note:** A national network of centers that advises small manufacturers on quality, lean and technology adoption. ### IMTS **Type:** trade show **Note:** The International Manufacturing Technology Show in Chicago, where Swiss-type and multi-spindle machine builders and tooling suppliers exhibit. ### Machine tool builders for turned parts **Type:** equipment suppliers **Note:** Builders of Swiss-type, multi-spindle and CNC turning machines such as Citizen, Star, Tsugami and Tornos equip many member shops. ## Requirements - IATF 16949 and PPAP for automotive customers - ISO 9001 as a general baseline - ISO 13485 and lot traceability for medical components - AS9100 for aerospace customers - RoHS and REACH material declarations for electronics and export customers - Statistical process control and capability evidence such as Cpk on critical dimensions ## Sections ### What turned-parts shops make and for whom **Body:** Screw machine and Swiss shops make small round parts in volume. A single bar-fed machine can run unattended for long stretches, so the business is about tooling life, setup efficiency and keeping spindles cutting. Customers send annual forecasts and blanket purchase orders, with releases and scheduled shipments. Margins depend on piece price against cycle time, scrap and tooling cost, so small errors in the estimate repeat on every part shipped. ### Quoting and costing realities **Body:** Quotes for repeat volume work depend on cycle time, bar stock yield, tool changes, secondary operations such as grinding, plating or heat treat, and packaging. Material price swings in brass, stainless and aluminum bar stock often need to be passed through under agreed terms. The risk is quoting from a theoretical cycle time and then running a slower actual one. Comparing quoted cycle time to actual machine data across past jobs shows which part families are underpriced. **Bullets:** - Quoted versus actual cycle time per part number - Scrap and setup scrap by machine and material - Material surcharge and bar stock price tracking ### ERP and quality systems **Body:** Shops in this segment commonly use job-shop and manufacturing ERP such as E2 Shop System, JobBOSS, Global Shop Solutions, Epicor and Infor SyteLine, with machine monitoring layered on for spindle utilization. Automotive customers add PPAP, control plans and SPC data to the picture. A recurring issue is scheduling against customer releases while handling lot-based traceability for medical or automotive parts. Releases, inventory, secondary operations and inspection results need to connect to a single lot record or the audit trail breaks. ### Compliance and data handling **Body:** Medical, automotive and aerospace customers audit lot records, calibration and corrective actions. Customer drawings and specifications are usually confidential and sometimes export controlled, so shops are cautious about where they are stored and processed. A model hosted on the shop's own hardware, reading read-only from ERP and a quality document store, keeps this data in the shop's environment. Compliance obligations still sit with the shop, not with the software. ### Where private AI helps and where it does not **Body:** Good fits include answering questions such as which customers' releases are at risk, which part numbers have the worst scrap history, and where a given specification or corrective action is documented. It also helps summarize customer quality requirements and audit findings. It is not a substitute for machine monitoring or SPC software, and it cannot improve data that is never captured. A shop with clean ERP data and simple dashboards may not need it. ## Faq ### What is the PMPA? **Answer:** The Precision Machined Products Association is a US trade association for companies that make precision turned and machined parts, an industry long known as screw machine products. It runs member events and benchmarking and connects shops with suppliers and peers. ### What kind of parts do PMPA member shops make? **Answer:** Mostly small, round, high-volume components such as pins, fittings, valve parts, fasteners and medical screws, made on multi-spindle automatics, Swiss-type lathes and CNC turning centers for automotive, medical, fluid power and electronics customers. ### Which standards matter to precision turned parts suppliers? **Answer:** It depends on the customer. Automotive work typically requires IATF 16949 and PPAP, medical work ISO 13485 and lot traceability, aerospace work AS9100. ISO 9001 is a common baseline, and SPC capability evidence is requested across sectors. ### Can ERP data be used to find underpriced part numbers? **Answer:** Yes, if actual cycle times, scrap and material costs are recorded against each job. Comparing quoted and actual figures across past jobs shows which part families lose money. The analysis can be done in a report or with a read-only AI query over the ERP. ## Search terms precision machined products association, pmpa, precision machined products association pmpa, screw machine shop ERP, swiss turning job shop software, precision turned parts quoting, precision machined parts manufacturer --- Talk to an engineer: https://netray.co/contact?intent=erp_ai | Machine catalog: https://netray.co/agent/catalog.json