Cedarburg-based PartsBadger adding jobs after landing $13.8 million contract with Yeti Cycles

By Ashley Smart

May 16, 2022 2:58 pm

Yeti Cycles — A Yeti Cycles bike.

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Cedarburg-based PartsBadger, a CNC machining company, is continuing its rapid growth by entering a five-year, up to $13.8-million contract with Golden, Colorado-based Yeti Cycles. The contract will create the need for 12 new full-time positions in Cedarburg. According to a press release from the company, an estimated $3.7 million will go to local distributors for

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Cedarburg-based PartsBadger, a CNC machining company, is continuing its rapid growth by entering a five-year, up to $13.8-million contract with Golden, Colorado-based Yeti Cycles. The contract will create the need for 12 new full-time positions in Cedarburg. According to a press release from the company, an estimated $3.7 million will go to local distributors for needed material, tooling and plating services. Roy Dietsch, CEO of PartsBadger, said Yeti Cycles leadership initially reached out to him in search of a part-making process that is more reliable and responsive to their needs. From their end, the contract allows PartsBadger more opportunities to invest to grow the company. “It allows us the confidence to invest because we know long term production is secured. We can invest in the equipment, the people, the training, because we know this is going to be locked in long term,” Dietsch said. [caption id="attachment_548890" align="alignleft" width="169"]

Roy Dietsch[/caption] The hardware PartsBadger will make for Yeti Cycles includes items like bolts and axels. While PartsBadger has made bike parts in the past, this is the first time they’ve entered a contract to integrate their production process with a client's process. “Their team can basically direct the activity on our shop floor and then all the information from the shop floor is sent back to their engineering team,” Dietsch said. “Normally, our customers just send us a drawing and say they need a certain amount of parts and a quote. This is definitely unique.” Everything is coordinated through PartsBadger’s cloud-based platform. Its core technology involves a quoting tool that analyzes 3D parts and PDF files to instantly quote parts for CNC machining, which normally takes three to five days. As part of the newly announced contract, PartsBadger will also purchase four new Swiss screw machines. They’re designed to make complex hardware like screws and axels quickly. The company has purchased a dozen different machines since 2020. They include turning centers, mills and automated “co-bots” -- collaborative robots that work alongside a human staff member. The 12 full-time positions being created through the Yeti Cycles partnership are in addition to the 26 employees PartsBadger announced they planned to hire back in July 2021. At that time, the company had hopes of building a 5,000-square-foot addition to its Cedarburg facility. However, PartsBadger has already outgrown the need for that space and Dietsch is examining options to buy a new building in the Washington/Ozaukee County area in the range of 50,000 to 70,000 square feet. “To be frank, we kind of already outgrew the plan,” Dietsch said. “We’re probably just going to get a much larger building because the economics (of the original expansion) just don’t make sense.” They’ve also added new services that require more space, such as sheet metal. Since first opening in 2017, PartsBadger has grown to nearly $20 million in annual sales with no outside funding. The company currently employs 50 people. It was named to Inc. 5000’s list of fastest growing companies in America in 2021. Dietsch said he doesn't expect his company's growth to slow down, but rather notch up to another level. “It’s a really big market and I think the technology that we’ve been able to deploy is very disruptive for the market,” Dietsch said. “It’s a $60 billion industry. We expect to be one of the major players in the industry and continue this growth rate.”