TigerStop was founded in 1994 in a tiny garage with a goal of designing a machine that would make every manufacturing business fast and accurate, every time. As the global leader in stop gauge and material positioning systems and software and fully automatic saw systems, TigerStop knows what it takes for a manufacturer to reach beyond their humble beginnings and impact a worldwide industry.
Interview with Elizabeth Dick, Director of Sales at TigerStop.
Easy Engineering: A brief description of the company and its activities.
Elizabeth Dick: We built our business sustainably, with local employees and local vendors, and manufactured everything in-house at our Vancouver, WA factory and Wierden, The Netherlands. 30 years later we’re still here. We’ve sold over 70,000 TigerStops across the globe, but our mission remains exactly the same, to help other manufacturers reduce waste so they too can grow and support their local communities. While our network extends around the globe, we’ve never lost sight of the place and people who made us who we are.
E.E: What are the main areas of activity of the company?
E.D: TigerStop engineers and manufactures automated stops, push feeding systems, and fully automatic saw systems and software that serve an array of manufacturing segments across the globe.
Our customers’ work in industries including:
- Woodworking
- Furniture making
- Cabinetry
- Plastics
- Automotive
- Aerospace
- Prefabrication
- Construction
- Mechanical/electrical/plumbing contractors
- Metalworking/metal forming/ fabrication
- Fenestration/window and door/ curtainwall/storefront
- Heating and ventilation
- Pallet and crating
- Flooring and more!
E.E: What’s the news about new products/services?
E.D: We have quite a few new products:
- SawGear Touch:
- TigerSaw 1000 Compact
- TigerSaw 2000 Compact
E.E: What are the ranges of products/services?
E.D:
- Automated stop systems and measurement systems
- Fully automatic push feeding systems
- Fully Automatic Sawing Systems, cut off saws, upcut saws, saws for woodworking, plastics, and non-ferrous metals
- Software: cut list downloading, optimization, pack cutting, crown molding, yield/statistics and reporting software
E.E: What is the state of the market where you are currently active?
E.D: We are active globally. TigerStop LLC and TigerStop Europe operate in North America, South America, Asia, Europe, Africa, Oceania, and more.
Global market has a slow down- we are always careful of activities affecting the market- global wars, inflation, hiring trends, customer buying habits and interest rates. High interest rates and slow home builds can affect new housing starts. This is why we recently launched 3 very cost effective and technologically advanced products so we can help customers who have small footprints and smaller budgets so they too can compete.
E.E: What can you tell us about market trends?
E.D: We are seeing lots of advancements in touch screen technology and touch screen operated machinery with very intuitive user interfaces (like ours! 😊)
We see a lot of growth in the metalworking sectors.
Lots of reshoring going on in manufacturing so customers are looking for ways to manufacture locally.
Skilled labor gap is still quite large- TigerStop is doing it’s best to help combat that gap by making intuitive products that novices can use regardless of their technical manufacturing background- we are trying to level the playing field.
E.E: What are the most innovative products/services marketed?
- SawGear Touch
- TigerSaw 1000 Compact
- TigerSaw 2000 Compact
E.E: What estimations do you have for the beginning of 2024?
E.D:
- Lots of interest in products that are more cost effective
- TigerStop continuing to offer excellent customer service and after sale support
- Making sure we have good service to keep machines running for decades at a time
- TigerStop is very optimistic for the future!