When Bill Cox Junior talks about his business, the conversation turns to the Cox Manufacturing Co’s watchword — ‘Cox delivers confidence’.

Situated in San Antonio, Texas, the company was started in 1956 by Bill Cox Senior, who bought a Swiss-type screw machine at an auction with the aim of starting ‘some sort of manufacturing company’.

It initially made bobbins for early computer-memory systems; it now specialises in “screw machine products, CNC turning and CNC machining”, supplying high-volume components for customers in the aerospace, automotive, trucking, defence and medical sectors.

Bill Cox Junior’s commitment to the family business began at the age of 12, after his father’s sudden death (in 1968).

He quickly learned to read financial statements and joined his mother in meetings with bankers, lawyers, accountants and contractors.

“I realised early on that our customer base was limited, as 80% of our business was with the electronics industry. By the time I was 20, I was working full-time in the family business; and looking to the future, I began buying up used Tornos Deco machines.

"Today, we own more than 30 of them — along with Swiss Nano machines.” These are also from the Swiss manufacturer Tornos (www.tornos.com).

Bill Cox Junior says: “The beauty of the Nano is its ergonomics and the access it offers, which makes it easy to use when manufacturing small parts.

“A good example is a precision brass medical part with ±10µm tolerance. The stability of the machine and its ease of use make it a lot more efficient than other options. It is compact and is certainly an investment that will serve the business well for years to come.”