Biotechnology Pioneer Partners with Compass Precision Shop
Strom Manufacturing is proud of its relationships with all its customers. The Compass operating company, though, has grown particularly close to another growing Oregon company.
Araceli Biosciences, located in Tigard, provides pharmaceutical researchers, and other scientific personnel, with high performance analytical tools used for drug discovery and development. At the core of this suite of products is the company’s Endeavorâ High Content Imaging System. This flagship platform uses high intensity light waves from light emitting diodes (LEDs) to facilitate the screening and analysis of cell-based materials.
The sophisticated nature of the Endeavor System requires an array of precision machined parts, all carefully crafted to Araceli’s proprietary designs. The manufacturer of these precision parts, since the inception of Araceli, is Compass Precision’s Strom Manufacturing, located in nearby North Plains, OR.
“We first got to know the Araceli people when they were part of a larger company,” explained Paul Sonderen, Strom’s Sales & Estimating Manager (shown above on right, with Ron Peters, Araceli’s Senior Mechanical Engineer). “When Araceli was spun out in 2023, they took us along.”
“Their technology is very advanced, as are Strom’s CNC machining capabilities. I think we are a good match.”
“We’ve always relied on Strom for their precision, experience, and consistent quality,” stated Matt Beaudet, Araceli’s CEO. “It’s great to have a partner right here in Oregon who takes as much pride in their craft as we do in ours.”
“Having that kind of local expertise behind our products has been a real advantage as we’ve grown.”
The Endeavor Imaging System is designed for extremely high throughput of cell imaging analysis, delivering results up to 40x faster than traditional systems across a broad array of cellular assays. The end result is streamlined research, reduced experimental errors, and dramatically accelerated drug discovery timelines.
“We had the opportunity to visit Araceli a few weeks ago,” said Jim Miller, Compass’s VP of Sales. “Even as a layperson like myself, it is easy to see why their products are revolutionary. We are thrilled to have them as a customer and will do everything we can to support them and help Araceli become highly successful.”
Compass Precision, through its integrated network of high-end CNC machine shops, has carved out a niche supplying complicated metal components for demanding applications in aerospace & defense, space, medical, semiconductor, and oceanographic research markets. Although best known for making parts that fly in the air, are launched into outer space, employed under the ocean, or used for military applications, Compass also supplies leading companies in other growth industries including life science.
“We strive to partner with innovative companies having leading edge products and technologies,” stated Compass CEO Gary Holcomb. “The development of high power LEDs has spawned innovation across numerous industries.”
“Araceli is successfully applying this technology to drug development via cell-based screening and analysis. We applaud their efforts and are honored to supply them with precision parts”
Compass Precision was founded in 2019 with the purchase of three precision CNC machining companies in the Charlotte, NC area – Advanced Machining & Tooling, Quality Products & Machine, and Tri-Tec Industries. Compass bought Gray Manufacturing Technologies in Denver, NC as its first add-on acquisition in August 2020.
Over the next three years, Compass acquired Douglas Machining Services in Winona, MN; R&D Machine in Oldsmar, FL; Strom Manufacturing in North Plains, OR; and Bergeron Machine in Westford, MA.
In July, Compass Precision added a second operating company in Massachusetts with the purchase of Pocasset Machine on Cape Cod, bringing its number of operating companies to nine. That number became ten when Compass acquired Trutron in Troy, MI last month.
For more information about Strom Manufacturing and Compass Precision, please contact Jim Miller, Compass VP of Sales at jim.miller@compassprecision.com.