BROWNSDALE — A shift in manufacturing demands has helped push Akkerman, Inc. to purchase a piece of equipment that will help the company adapt to that shift.

Akkerman, which builds tunneling machines for construction primarily for sewer, water and fiber optics cable, has purchased the Okuma VTR 350A. The VTR 350A will allow Akkerman to machine larger rings and equipment necessary for their tunneling equipment to meet the demand for larger pieces of equipment.

“It will get us into larger machines,” said Akkerman Operations Manager Justin Akkerman. “There’s larger jobs that always want to push the envelope.”

The VTR 350A is rare, with only two other machines aside from Akkerman’s in the United States.

The purchase is a chance to meet a larger demand.

As construction projects become bigger, the need for larger machines become more important.

“Our new product line is designed to go a longer distance because of the needs for a larger diameter and larger motor,” Akkerman said. “The machines are more powerful because they go through more challenging ground.”

Akkerman has begun to meet this need, but before this purchase the company had to look at sending the parts elsewhere to be machined.

“Within the last year, we built a machine that did require us to farm out the work,” Akkerman said.

The VTR 350A will now allow Akkerman to machine the parts it needs in-house, cutting costs while increasing efficiency, all without the need to reduce its workforce.

Akkerman purchased the machine about a year ago in order to meet those needs. They started installing in September and got it up and running this month.

Workers from Okuma were on site for six weeks to get the machine installed, which was delivered from Japan in parts requiring seven truck loads. It now sits on a 40’ by 40’ foot area.

As the machine was being built, employees from Akkerman traveled to Houston to work on smaller but similar versions of Akkermans’ machine. It gave them the opportunity to work Akkerman’s own plans to get the feel of working on their own, larger machine.

It’s also part of an effort over the last few years to update existing equipment.

“The last four or five years we’ve been updating the machines in our department,” Akkerman said. “We’re unique in the fact that the base is already installed in the floor. Ultimately we built the sump and we used all local contractors.”

While the purchase of the VTR 350A was about a year ago, the company has had an eye in that direction for a couple years now.

“I would say, it’s always been on the radar,” Akkerman said. “I would say a couple years prior we started kicking around the idea.”

Having this type of investments lends a certain piece of mind to Akkerman and the company. There aren’t those extra steps of shipping work out-of-company in order to meet a job deadline.

“Especially on the larger machines,” Akkerman affirmed. “Anything we can do to increase output is going to improve our production schedules as well. It’s reassuring that this part will be done correctly.”

The purchase of this machine will also make Akkerman more of a player in a larger circumference of work.

“It will get us into larger machines,” Akkerman said. “There’s larger jobs that always want to push the envelope. If we can reduce the cost for our machines we can become more competitive.”