"For want of a nail, the shoe was lost;
For want of a shoe, the horse was lost;
For want of a horse, the rider was lost...
For want of a rider, the battle was lost."
This
Quotation epitomizes the importance of Maroney Ultra Precision Machining; this company, owned and operated by a prominent Westlake
Village family, makes the small but essential parts that can spell
success of failure for multi-million dollar missions. In some cases,
this can be a life or death proposition.
For example,
Maroney contributed vital hardware to the LEM decent engine that was
such a riveting factor in captivating the world's imagination during
the Apollo 13 mission. This type of adventure continues: Maroney will
be making a major contribution to the Pathfinder Project scheduled to
land on Mars next year.
And yet- lest we get
too serious- Maroney also manufactures the working parts for those
expressive hands and wagging heads at the popular Disneyland
attraction, Pirates of the Caribbean.
"Machinist to the
Stars," indeed!
Founder John Maroney
has steered his company through seas that would boggle the mind of a
lesser man. A high school drop-out, John borrowed $100 to start a
lathe shop when his talent as a machinist was discovered. This was in
1955 when space exploration was a dream just beginning to come true.
His special gifts, his personality, his dedication built a
company which one national publication was called "a better
mouse-trap", an operation which attracts clients from all over
the world who seek the "perfect part."
"What
in the world is a perfect part ?" you may ask, envisioning
assembly lines turning out hundreds of parts for your Porsche (or
whatever machine has broken down most recently "chez vous"
as we say in Detroit)
Well, there
is a world of difference between mass production and the specialized
arena of the machinist. What, exactly, constitutes a machinist?
"Compare it
to Paverotti," says a client. "The true artist sees notes on
paper and transforms them into great music. So a great machinist can
take an engineer's two-dimensional drawings and visualize then in 3-D.
He discovers the method. An engineer may have invented the wheel; a
machinist made it round."
Just as
Michelangelo took up his chisel, so John Maroney turns to his
computer, takes a solid block of metal and carves it into exactly the
intricate shape that will perform its desired function to perfection.
Perfection is demanded, whether it be a life-saving set of valves that
eject a fighter pilot from his F-16 or the Panavision camera that
focuses soundlessly when an intrusive noise could ruin a movie take
and cost millions of dollars (plus a costlier Kevin Costner tantrum)
The Maroney plant in Northridge is filled with gleaming machines-many
of them Swiss-that are designed to create parts requiring an accuracy
of--imagine it--1/50th to 1/100th the diameter of a human hair. The
designs are cut by an electrical method called EDM (Electrical
Discharge Machining) that turns out small, unexpectedly lovely
sculptures rather like Paloma Picasso jewels, in metals with exotic
names like beryllium copper, titanium, tungsten, waspalloy or nickel
incomel. And, yes, dahling, they do sometimes cut with diamonds.
For all of his achievement, John Maroney is a modest man. When you ask
him what in his life makes him the proudest, he replies, "My
family."
He has, in fact, a family which justifies pride--and which is a major
part of the Maroney Precision Machining. His wife Francine--a soignee
brunette who looks younger than her sons--has been involved in the
office from the beginning. A painter of note, she is the owner of the
popular Westlake boutique "Francine Etc." which stocks the
individual fashions for which she is known.
Second son Michael has just graduated from law school; his wife
Kimberly is an interior designer. They have a two year old son, Miles.
However a major participant and the "voice" of the Maroney
Company is their eldest son, John Cameron. Vice President and general
manager, he is as articulate and outgoing as his father is reticent.
His obvious affection and admiration for "Big John", as he
likes to call him, is heartwarming in this era of alienated children.
"He's a neat guy to be around." says "Little John"
(he appears to enjoy this nick-name--perhaps because he shares the
athleticism, the broad shoulders and the "dare-to-hit-me"
jaw of Robin Hood's legendary pal). "Dad talks about retiring,
but when he goes, the fun, the inspiration and the genius of his
business will be gone."
The bonds between father and son were forged through a childhood spent
with motorcycles and race cars. "Big John" was a four time
winner of the national Moto-Cross championship for the International
Team at the age of 17. "Little John" became a professional
competitor in that heart-stopping sport in Europe. Today, although
occupied fulltime in the business, he works out in a gym every
morning, and enjoys karate--a sport in which his wife Donna and her
son Jimmy hold black belts. Together, they have a son Johnny.
And all the Maroney men ride Harleys. In fact, if you try to track
down John, Sr., you're apt to find him in the "junk shop".
Located behind the main building and in direct contrast to his
sterile, surgical ambiance and its immaculate precision machines, this
is a warehouse jammed full of antique cars in various stages of
undress, plus an electric mix of miscellaneous furniture, Indian
artifacts and- well, junk.
It is here that John Maroney indulges his life's passion for machines,
with old cars as glamorous and graceful as the '58 Porsche Speedster
(his true love--he has three, more or less) and as clumsy as a
Hudson. Here he enjoys what may be the ultimate privilege and pleasure
of a brilliant machinist; if he needs a part that is obsolete, John
Maroney can run into the shop and make it.
And at his feet, in this refuge, are the successors to his "first
employees"-two beloved Golden Retrievers-appropriately, a father
and son. "Back in 1955," says John Maroney, "My first
employee was my Doberman, "Reject." I can't work without
these guys. "The dogs follow him everywhere, and they symbolize
the family values that make Maroney unique. This is one company that
has excelled in high-tech milieu without losing its human qualities.