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Young Entrepreneur Andy Locke

Young Entrepreneur Andy Locke

 

By Scott A. Sumner
Thunder Bay Business
    “The product is a rotary action industrial cutting tool used for the joining of hollow metal sections.  Quite simply it is a coping of pipe where metal tubing exists. Our product does the job very accurately, very quickly and very cleanly. It has been difficult and time consuming to get the accuracy our tool provides and  so we took an idea that had an existing method and improved on it,” noted Andy Locke. “ We made
something for mass production. Most of the other method removes all of the material and turns it into chips. Our approach cuts through and the remaining slugs can fall out so we  are cutting very little material.”

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    Locke is  a machinist by trade and in another business he owns manufactures custom industrial tools so was well set up to manufacture the cutting tools that way. “ I was approached by a customer about 6 years ago to do coping of pipe. I starting dong it using conventional milling tools and it took forever and  was very time consuming. I started playing around with different ideas and refined it over the years and now we have something that really works,” smiled Locke. “Across North America my estimates are for every population of  100,000 people such as the size of Thunder Bay, there will be three people who need the product.  We are just now getting into marketing in a big way advertising in industrial cutting tool magazines and with  links on web pages and mail out flyers. We are working with  a government
organization and they are helping us with different marketing strategies.”
    Roto Cope Inc.  located at 835 N. Vickers Street will do the assembly and testing of the product. The production of the steel body will be done out of town. They do hope to create jobs in Thunder Bay once the sales grow. “ It is a great honour to win the Idea Factory and a great affirmation that someone else besides myself believes in the product. There is also the cash and assistance from the NOIS,” noted Locke. “I do enjoy being an entrepreneur and have been doing it for 15 years now so I think I might find it tough to go back to being an employee. I like running my show and being in control of my own problems and solutions.Freedom. You have to try hard and keep at it. There is help available though, so  look for it and you will find it.”



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