In May of 1954 Jim Jamison and Bill Bowers started machining parts with a Logan lathe and drill press in 1/3 of a garage in Ontario, CA. They named their company Millipart because they planned on making small-machined parts. They started off by making small camera parts for the aerospace industry. Myron Nelson, fresh out of the Army, was their first employee.  As Millipart grew, they relocated into a 1000 sq ft shop in San Dimas in 1955. Millipart saw steady growth over the next few years and moved to 3 more locations in Glendora, CA over the next 10 years.

Jim Jamison bought out Bill Bowers in 1961. At this time Millipart had several Levin Jeweler’s lathes, a few small Schaublin lathes, one Mill-rite and two Benchmaster mills. As production needs increased, 3 Traub A25 Automatics, and 3 Hardinge DSMs were added. Close inspection was performed with a hand-made optical comparator. A crew of about 20 employees machined potentiometer shafts, lids and bodies that were used in aerospace and military industries. Ford Aerospace was a major military customer, and Duncan Electronics made the pots.

Jim was joined by sons Scot in 1969 and Hunter in 1970. In 1971 Millipart relocated once more to a 4200 sq ft building on 412 West Carter Drive in Glendora.

In 1984 the eldest son Terry was coaxed from his engineering job at Garrett to join Millipart. He brought his experience and computer knowledge, which brought a new era of machining for Millipart.

In 1986 Jim Jamison retired, leaving the company to his three sons. Scot worked in the office quoting parts and writing travelers as well as customer service, while Terry became the QC manager, engineer, planner, and in charge of the Mill section. Hunter, who worked on machines nearly his entire life managed all the lathes and perfected tool life management at Millipart.

In 1989 Millipart moved all the CNC lathes down the street into 430 West Carter Drive leaving the office, the conventional and CNC Mills and lathes and other equipment at the 412 address. Millipart’s first 6-axis mill-turn center, a Tsugami FA45 was purchased that year which allowed Millipart to take its “milli-parts” up a notch in size and complexity.

In the following 7 years, two more mill/turn centers were purchased along with some heavy-duty mills and a high-speed pallet-changing mill. All of the CNC mills are now equipped with sub-plates permitting quick change of all work-holding fixtures. The total square footage of buildings on Carter Drive utilized by Millipart is currently over 10,000 sf.

The building at 430 now houses 4 CNC screw machines with bar feeders and 2.00” diameter capacity as well as two other CNC Chuckers. All machines have second operation equipment as part of cell manufacturing.

In 2000 Millipart purchased Henning software, a management system that helped with Millipart’s dedication to continuous improvement, vastly improving its’ abilities to quote and track jobs, maintain accurate inventories, improve documentation in every aspect of the business, and control costs. This software makes control of long-term agreements and Kan-ban management simple.

Over the years Millipart has hired, trained and maintained dedicated and talented employees who have helped in the success of the company. This well-trained crew has assimilated some of the responsibilities of the owners so they can focus on future plans and growth.

Today, Millipart is recognized for precision machining in the aerospace industries. With over 55 years of experience and a staff committed to quality, on time delivery, excellent customer service and continuous improvement, Millipart will help you get the precision parts you need.