Jordan Machine Co.

Our past...our future:

Jordan Machine Company, Inc. has taken the long and storied history of working with metals in Birmingham to new heights. With the use of computers and skilled craftsman, Jordan has positioned itself at the forefront of the manufacturing industry, attaining greater levels of quality and customer satisfaction.

Jordan’s use of precision computer-numerically-controlled (CNC) machining technology has earned the company quite a reputation among industry leaders. Other machine shops regularly send Jordan Machine Company especially difficult jobs that require an unparalleled level of accuracy.

However, Jordan Machine Company is not like most machine shops. Jordan uses the latest in computer technology to produce precisely machined pieces for industrial customers.

Repeat business is something Jordan Machine Company is accustomed to. Since opening in 1948, Jordan has been recognized as one of the top machine shops in a city whose lifeblood has been steel and metalworking. Today, however, after nearly 20 years of progress and advances in computer technology, Jordan is becoming known around the Southeast. Its five computer-controlled lathes, four computer-controlled mills, and its Wire EDM machine make Jordan unique among machine shops.

While the equipment is found routinely in mass production shops, Jordan takes a different approach, choosing to use the skill and accuracy afforded by its craftsman and equipment to create small-run, unique precision tooled pieces. On any given day, Jordan may have an industrial bread mixer ready to be delivered or a tumbler for bullets in line for completion, along with many other industrial, mill, and machine parts.

Jordan Machine Company understands that to be successful a business must optimize its talent. When producing a precision piece of work, a machinist must stop and measure constantly. But with computer-numerically-controlled machines, human measurement is minimized. After the craftsman enters the specifications and makes allowances for the equipment, the machine works steadily toward its goal of a quality machined part. Jerry Edwards, Jordan Machine Company CEO, says his craftsman are technical people who don’t mind getting their hands dirty. That philosophy apparently comes from the top.

Jerry’s first job was sweeping metal shavings in the old Jordan Machine Company in the 1950’s. He then spent 26 years with the American Cast Iron Pipe Company, where he began to work with computer-numerically-controlled machines in 1965. When he bought Jordan Machine in 1979, Jerry wasted no time in moving that already successful company to a new plateau.

Today, as Jerry completes his career at Jordan Machine Company, significant measures are being taken that promise the company a successful future. Jordan Machine has installed an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), wherein each of its employees now owns a part of the company. This plan gives the employees a vested interest in the company, thereby ensuring an even higher level of pride and quality in the workplace every day.

Atop the plateau with Jerry is a staff of workers who understand that enthusiasm, dedication, training, and experience are the keys to success. It’s as if the Jordan Machine Company workers, strengthened by their view from the top, have the vision to see where their company and their market are headed. With such foresight, it’s small wonder customers keep coming back.