A Legacy of Consultation, Not Commoditization
Founded more than 70 years ago, Park Industries serves the stoneworking industry, particularly countertop fabrication, with advanced CNC saws, splitters, routers, and waterjet systems. But the company does not define itself simply as an equipment manufacturer.
Park positions itself as a consultative partner, focused on long term relationships and customized automation solutions tailored to each customer’s operation.
Service responsiveness, deep technical knowledge
“We view ourselves as consultants and subject matter experts first. The equipment is the means to the solution, but it is not the only solution,” said Douglas Voight, Senior CNC Programmer at Park Industries.
Approximately 75 to 85 percent of Park Industries sales come from repeat customers, a testament to its long term, relationship driven approach. Service responsiveness, deep technical knowledge, and a willingness to go to extraordinary lengths to support customers have built a culture where partnership comes before transactions.
Park’s commitment to customization does not stop at what it sells. It also defines how the company manufactures its own machines.
Huge Risk - When a manufacturing error becomes a financial disaster
Park manufactures structural components for its stone cutting systems, including large machine bases, bridges, and weldments that can measure up to 22 feet long. These parts are machined on multimillion dollar portal milling systems that span as much as 70 feet of travel.
“When you are dealing with machines of this scale, an oops is not a bad day, it is a bad quarter,” Voight explained.
The portal mills Park operates are capital machine tools in the truest sense. Complex nutating heads with compound A axis kinematics, large tool magazines with hundreds of tools, and multi zone work envelopes introduce risk that goes far beyond typical vertical machining centers.
Before fully leveraging simulation, Park faced excessive time validating approach and clearance moves at the machine, soft limit issues due to large parts consuming the full travel range, no visibility into the true machine path while programming in CAM, limited ability to validate complex probing routines offline, and, on machines with parallel axes, reduced rigidity from conservative quill extensions meant to avoid collision.
Re Engineering Automation from the Inside Out
Two years ago, during the acquisition of a new traveling column portal mill, Park initiated a complete overhaul of its G-code structure and machine automation strategy.
Voight developed a structured programming architecture that includes unified probing language across all Fanuc-controlled portal mills, automated restart logic that recalls work offsets and macro variables, tool life monitoring with automatic spare tool retrieval, internal subprogram structures that travel as a single file, and station level detection probing that skips empty fixtures. This program format dovetails with on-machine functions to support dynamic workloads with multiple parts. Each part program can behave as a stand-alone program or as a pass-through for continuous operation. The system is called A.C.E., or Adaptive Cutting Environment.
“We wanted the machine to process one part until finish or an error, then move to the next available part instead of stopping or erroring out,” Voight explained. “We also wanted to make setup and restarts simpler, which is why the A.C.E. system has so much visibility into the machine environment.”
Zero Collision Surprises with Eureka
By rebuilding accurate digital twins of its large, expensive, and highly customized machine tools inside Eureka Simulation, the G-Code Simulation Package from Roboris, Park Industries transformed its validation process.
“We have zero approach or collision surprises at the machine tool when running a new program. These get caught in Eureka Simulation,” Voight said.
Measured benefits include zero approach or collision surprises on new programs, elimination of one to two days of physical machine validation per complex job, confident validation of advanced probing and arithmetic routines, verified working envelope fit before long machining cycles begin, and improved rigidity through optimized quill length validated in simulation.
“I would not have dared attempt some of this logic without Eureka. The iteration time in the physical world would have tied the machine up for one to two days just to build the offsetting logic. We are holding several feature groups and tolerances across large weldments, which can be unforgiving to your tools if you don’t balance all factors.”
The Power of G Code simulation
Voight emphasizes that the power of G-code simulation is not limited to large OEMs running multimillion-dollar portal mills.
“Whether you’re programming a massive traveling column machine or a three-axis mill in a small job shop, G-code is what actually drives the machine. If you are not validating that code at the machine level, you are leaving risk on the table. For advanced programmers working with Macro B logic, custom variables, probing cycles, arithmetic routines, and PLC-style automation behavior, simulation provides a safe environment to test restart logic, work offset manipulation, and complex conditional structures before a spindle ever turns”.
At the same time, he believes the impact may be even greater for trade schools and entry-level machinists. “For someone just learning, seeing exactly what the machine will do before pressing cycle start builds confidence faster than anything else.”
Opportunities like the 3X Free version of Eureka make that access possible, allowing students, educators, and smaller shops to experience the benefits of true G-code simulation without cost and understand machine behavior for themselves. “If I were starting out today, having a tool that lets you truly understand G-code and automation logic in a safe environment would be an incredible advantage,” Voight added.
Hawk Ridge Systems and the Power of Partnership
Park Industries’ decades long relationship with Hawk Ridge Systems which supplies SOLIDWORKS and CAMWorks, their CAD and CAM solutions, played a critical role in this transformation.
Hawk Ridge provided technically challenging advanced portal milling post development, custom G-code formatting aligned to Park’s structured automation architecture, CAM integration to support interrupt logic and adaptive workflows, and ongoing support as Park pushed deeper into Macro based programming.
“One of the biggest advantages I experienced when working with the Hawk Ridge technical team was their open communication and willingness to explore new production methodologies and logic structures, without time wasting and frustrating requests for justification at every step, is worth more than any single edit or feature,” Voight emphasized.
Automation Without Standardization
Many manufacturers equate automation with rigid standardization. Park Industries demonstrates that true automation requires flexibility.
“The drive for standardization goes out the window when your average part is bigger than the average machine tool,” Voight said. “If we were forced to treat everything like it lived in a vise, we would years behind the curve.”
Through consultative engineering, customized CAD CAM implementation, and machine accurate G code simulation, Park Industries operates complex capital equipment with lean staffing, high confidence, and minimal disruption.
Conclusion
The collaboration between Park Industries, Eureka Simulation and Hawk Ridge Systems illustrates that customization is the foundation of performance.
By embracing advanced automation technology, validating machine behavior before production begins, and prioritizing partnership over rigid standardization, these companies demonstrate what modern manufacturing leadership looks like.
They do not sell off the shelf solutions. They engineer custom automation systems that serve their customers, protect their equipment, and deliver long term competitive advantage.
