NES May Employee Spotlight
May Employee Spotlight
Dan Moore
It’s his go-to line each time a facility tour group passes through his workstation.
“I get to make something out of nothing,” Dan Moore has said to gaggles of student groups, business leaders and community members. And he’s done just that, and exceptionally so, at Napoleon Engineering Services for the last (nearly) 17 years.
Moore, a lead machinist, operates the soft turn portion of NES’ complete bearing manufacturing channel, which marks the official start of the production process. In simplest terms, his day-to-day centers around turning raw bar stock into the initial shape of a rolling-element bearing ring.
Of course, there’s more to the job than just churning out rings. There’s also software programming, material preparation, the disposal of metal chips and calibrating and maintaining all the measuring equipment that’s needed to start a job.
But for the Hinsdale native, it all comes back to that one idea: transformation.
Whereas the rest of the CBM channel focuses on grinding, honing and shaving literal thousandths of inches off existing rings – all equally critical facets when making aerospace-grade bearings – Moore is literally bringing those parts to life.
“So, if you’re in the grind channel, everything is essentially (already) established; this is what it looks like,” Moore noted. “I essentially get to create a bearing and oversee the only place in the shop where you can physically see that change. You don’t see that change (elsewhere), which is what keeps me personally interested.”
He added: “And I’ve said this for many years – that transformation, it’s not boring. There’s something a little more to it when it comes to ‘I took this and made that.’ That’s kind of how I operate as a person, because I like to make stuff.”
PRIOR TO 2023, Moore had basically mastered one soft turn machine.
That year, however, NES completed a 24,000-square-foot addition to its facility, and with that came a second machine for Moore. He’s been running two machines, non-stop, ever since, putting NES into a more favorable place of “essentially (receiving) double the soft turn production off one guy,” Moore said.
And that’s a situation Moore cultivated for himself.
“I was reaching a fork in the road,” said Moore, who graduated from Alfred State in 2009 with a concentration in machine tool technology. “There wasn’t a lot and I said I need more. (Part of that) was financially driven. I consider myself a smart person; I need to do more to make more, so what can we do? Then we expanded.
“Whether they were thinking about approaching me with the same idea, (I’m not sure). But I know it’s what I wanted for myself, because that’s how I am.”
Simultaneously, Moore also took it upon himself to better organize the volumes of raw material that were entering the building, to where he now keeps that bar stock “nice and neat” in his workspace.
Chris Truman gave him the green light to figure that out, Moore said, and he did.
“I’m somebody going on (15 years at the time),” he said. “I was trying to lay claim to that area, make it my own. I’m here every day, six days a week.” And it’s those enduring intangibles, in addition to his ability, dedication and experience as a soft-turn machinist that netted him this month’s employee spotlight honor.
CURRENTLY, MOORE is producing SpaceX parts on one machine and roller bearings for ACD on another. Yes, there’s a bit of repetitive nature to his process, he acknowledged, “but as far as the customer it’s for (particularly in the former case) and what it is – going in an engine that’s going to Mars hopefully – that’s the cool part of it.”
For him, it’s fulfilling to be at the origins of that process.
“As a machinist in general, it’s rewarding to create things,” he said. “From the programming aspect, you take numbers, put them into a machine, put metal into a machine and stuff of value comes out. That’s pretty cool. … Outside of work, I build things all the time; that’s just who I am.”
He added with a laugh: “Creating things is what I value – whether it’s my four children or bearings at work.”
Moore enjoys spending time with his kids and four-wheeling at the family’s camp at Majestic Trails in Rew, Pa. He’s also “big” into building his own computers. And 17 years later, he continues to be invaluable asset at NES.
“When the workload increases or a deadline is at risk, Dan understands what’s needed in the moment and steps up without hesitation, said Truman, NES’ vice president of business operations. “His willingness to put in the extra hours and do whatever it takes makes him a valuable member of the team.
“Dan is a testament to the character, work ethic and dedication that allows our company to be successful.”