Martinek Manufacturing

Martinek Manufacturing’s third building is a 40,000-sq.-ft.facility.

42650 Osgood Road
Fremont, CA 94539
510-366-2837
MARTINEK.COM

By Mark Martinek

OPENED: 1988

WHY:
We were getting tired of trying to vacuum all the metal shavings out of our carpets at home and needed room to grow, so in 1988 my father Charles and I purchased our first building and moved out of our garages to create Martinek Manufacturing.

CAPABILITIES:
Surprisingly extensive — precision sheet metal fabrication; tiny to huge CNC machining;  plastic to tantalum; tubing; forming; welding; silkscreen; design; and assembly. Unique projects are a specialty.

SHOP WORKHORSES:
For our sheet metal side, the equipment that really churns out the work is our stable of five CNC turret presses. They can transform a mountain of sheet metal into a shop full of thousands and thousands of different parts in no time at all. These presses are backed up by two CNC lasers that can handle the thick stainless and complex curves, as well as any delicate cutting we may need. On the machining side, we could not live without our production line of CNC vertical machining centers. The setup time for these machines combined with their power and precision achieve throughput unheard of a mere 10 years ago.

All-aluminum catamaran built by Martinek Manufacturing.

MOST UNUSUAL OR MEMORABLE PROJECT:
A 90-ft., 98-ton, all-aluminum catamaran. After completing it, we spent 42 days sailing her from San Francisco to St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. The vessel was built in 14 months from start to finish. It is still an adventure to this day.

GREATEST CHALLENGE:
To remain profitable while enjoying what you most desire to do.

LOOKING AHEAD:
We hope the darkest days are behind, but it seems unwise to plan that the best days will ever return. Our plan is to invest wisely today to increase capacity and abilities without overextending finances, and hopefully, the future will be manageable, whatever it brings.

ADVICE FOR WOULD-BE SHOP OWNERS:
Don’t build a 90-ft. catamaran, raise ball pythons, breed rats, or work in a wet environment with ungrounded receptacles. Other than that, go for it; either start small and grow sensibly, or go whole hog and take on a mountain of debt, if you can land some huge contracts, and hope it all holds together for a few years to get things paid down to survive if the economy goes soft. We go to a lot of auctions, and there are usually two types, the old shop with old equipment that could not keep up, and the very new shop with all new equipment that could not handle the bills.

CONTACT:
Charles and Mark Martinek
Martinek Manufacturing Inc.