Some of Autometrix’s earliest customers know that I grew up with the company. I remember the first prototype cutting machines being built in our living room and the excitement of Autometrix moving from the upstairs office and the living room into a real building with an address of its own. I was even involved with one of the earliest machine installations – I got “hired” to help out just because of my size, as the machine was installed in such a small space, they needed someone young to crawl under and around to get the job done!
As one of the future mechanical engineers in the family, I was always focused on the machines being designed and built. When there were extra parts left over from a prototype or an early model machine, I got to pick through the parts and bring the gears and the bearings home with me. I had no doubt I’d build a robot or some sort of machine when my time came. I know at least some of those parts ended up in a Rube Goldberg machine I did for a school project.
While I was dreaming of machines, I know there were other things going on that made Autometrix successful. My father, John Palmer, was a passionate early software developer. In fact, it might not be too far from the truth to say that the reason Autometrix started building cutting machines was so there would be machines to make better use of the software he was writing! All the math in the world coded into pattern making and nesting software is worthless if a machine controller is going to break it down into a rudimentary game of “connect the dots”.
While countless hours were being spent writing software and designing machines, there was always time to take care of customers. I remember weekend and evening calls from all over the world coming to our home phone and my dad working through the issues directly with his earliest customers.
From day one, Autometrix has put customers first, while investing tremendous efforts to develop software that met their needs.
I now have the privilege of leading Autometrix forward and growing the company as the 2nd generation owner, and I keep those memories close at hand, never wanting to lose sight of what’s brought us to this point in our history. This month I’m excited to be adding two new positions to the company – one filled with a new, yet experienced, member of the team, and another filled with a friendly face familiar to many of you.
Charlie Anderson joins Autometrix as our Director of Customer Experience. Charlie has spent his career in hands-on, customer-focused roles, handling the details of engineering project management, managing site installations of equipment, and always making sure that in the end, there was a happy customer’s story to tell. As Autometrix grows, we’re looking to the future to make sure we’re ready to take care of our growing number of customers, just like we always have. Charlie will make sure new customers are guided through the production and installation process, and that we have a quality, professional group of people ready to answer the phone when you have a question or need our help.
We’re also excited to be expanding the Sales team with a new position – our first Software Sales Specialist. As we continue to invest more each year in software development – often still with John’s input, testing, and documentation efforts – it’s time for us to get the word out to customers old and new so each of you can take advantage of the best software we have to offer and fully optimize the use of your Autometrix cutting machine.
Terri Van Wagner has been with Autometrix for over a decade, and at the end of this month she’s excited to be moving into this new sales role. She’s already brushing up her software skills and checking out the newest versions. I expect she’ll be in touch with many of you in the coming months, letting you know about software solutions for everything from loading cut files with a barcode scanner (Speedloader) to saving time processing orders into cut files (Workflow).
Please join me in welcoming both Charlie and Terri into their new roles at Autometrix. I look forward to many years to come with both contributing to the valuable relationships that Autometrix enjoys with our customers. Connect with us today!
Jonathan Palmer, CEO