New Way, New Benchmark: Novo Modo Machining Changes Traditional Machine Shop
Most machine shops start small and dream big. Joseph Alonso started big and dreamed bigger. In late 2022, armed with 25 years of manufacturing experience and a name pulled from Latin, he set out to prove that nearly every assumption about launching a machine shop was wrong. The name he chose was Novo Modo, meaning new way. "If I'm going to call the company New Way," Alonso said, "I'm going to find a whole new way of doing it."
Two and a half years later, Novo Modo Machining operates over 3,500 square feet of climate-controlled precision manufacturing space in Mount Vernon, Washington, serving customers across aerospace, defense, space, medical, automotive, robotics, and advanced research. It has recorded near-zero customer rejections since opening, is adding a fourth machine to its floor, and is already planning its second facility.
BUILT DIFFERENT FROM DAY ONE
Alonso came to manufacturing sideways. His mother worked in a machine shop; his father worked at Boeing. At 16, he was on his own, enrolled in a vocational machining program at the Sno-Isle TECH Skills Center almost by accident after the welding class he wanted was full. He finished the program ahead of schedule and placed third nationally in the SkillsUSA machining competition. "When I took that third-place medal, it set me on the path," he said. "From there, I just took off like a rocket."
By 19, he was running a production shift. By 21, he managed his first manufacturing floor. He resisted owning a shop for years, finding more satisfaction in building other companies. "I found joy in helping others grow their business," he said. That changed in 2022 when he realized the gap he kept seeing in manufacturing, parts that couldn't be outsourced because no one had the right equipment, was exactly the gap he was positioned to close.
“When I took that third-place medal, it set me on the path. ”From there, I just took off like a rocket." — Joseph Alonso, Founder and CEO, Novo Modo
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CNC Machinist, Kevin Ramos, inspects production on Novo Modo’s HERMLE C 250 5-axis machine. -
The Novo Modo team, located in Mount Vernon, Washington, created a new way of CNC manufacturing – leveraging universal, high quality machines from HERMLE and an atmosphere of adaptation and consistency. -
The HERMLE C 250 5-axis CNC machine at Novo Modo in Mount Vernon, Washington. -
Novo Modo machinists, Kevin Ramos (sitting) and Phil Hilt (standing), eview designs for an automotive component before importing to the HERMLE C 250 machine.
THE HERMLE BET
Rather than starting with affordable entry-level equipment and scaling up, Alonso launched with HERMLE 5-axis CNC machining centers and Wenzel 5-axis CMMs, one CMM for each CNC on the floor. "No one takes that leap of a million-dollar investment into two machines with another two CMMs," he said. "This was an exploration: can you actually do it successfully the other way?"
After months of evaluating every major machine tool builder, HERMLE was the last one standing, and not just because of the machines. As Alonso put it, brand after brand dropped out of the process the moment the questions got hard. "Every time I found something that another brand failed at, HERMLE had already solved it," he said. "But more than that, they actually showed up. No one else stood side by side with me at the launch of this company. Now that we're successful, everybody wants a relationship. But HERMLE was there from the idea."
That commitment showed up in tangible ways. The HERMLE applications team spent three months working through scenarios with Alonso, running CAD models, demonstrating machine motion, and answering every question he raised. Gunther Schnitzer, President of HERMLE USA, and Markus Puntigam, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, didn't just sell Alonso a machine; they redirected his initial selection toward a better fit for his goals. "Gunther said, 'I see what you want to do. I think this may be a better path to start,'" Alonso recalled. "That's how we ended up with the C 250 with the systems table. They didn't just want to sell me a machine. They wanted to make sure I got what I needed." It was, he said, the kind of partnership that is nearly impossible to find. "They brought their energy. They brought their information. They invested in this thing from an idea."
The C 250s run in tight integration with hyperMILL CAM software from OPEN MIND Technologies, a pairing Alonso calls transformative. "The hyperMILL-to-HERMLE marriage with HEIDENHAIN control is seamless," he said. "I press go, walk away at full feed, and feel completely confident. I've never had that before." The precision has been equally striking. "If I'm holding 50-micron tolerances on a bore and the virtual machine says it's cutting to size, it's in tolerance almost 100% of the time. In stainless steel. That is insane."
“I press go, walk away at full feed, and feel completely confident. I've never had that before.” — Joseph Alonso, Founder and CEO, Novo Modo
ZERO DEFECTS, CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT
Every part Novo Modo produces is measured on a CMM before it ships. In nearly three years of production, the company has recorded zero customer-rejected parts for any dimension its CMMs can inspect. "That is absolutely unheard of," Alonso said. The facility supports that record with 32 tons of cooling across 3,500 square feet, dehumidifiers at every machine, continuous air filtration, and a twodegree temperature variance maintained year-round.
A NEW KIND OF TEAM
Novo Modo has no departments. Everyone is cross trained across the full flow of the shop, from shipping to inspection to machining. New hires start from the door inward, learning to ship a part before they learn to make one. Two team members illustrate the range of backgrounds that thrive here.
Kevin Ramos, a machinist with experience from oil fields to aerospace, had never touched a HERMLE before joining. "Physics don't matter here," he said. "We'll have a plus-or-minus nine-micron tolerance, and we're milling to that. In my experience, that has never worked. That's the equipment to thank." Phil Hilt spent a decade managing restaurants before responding to a Novo Modo job posting with no manufacturing background whatsoever. Today, he opens the shop each morning and oversees CMM inspection. "There's always something new to figure out," he said. "You're not stuck."
Alonso sees the mix as a structural advantage. A recent new hire, noticing inspection data was being logged manually in Excel, wrote code to automate it before the workday was over. "That is the beauty of bringing in people who've never been told how things are supposed to be done," he said.
“We'll have a plus-or-minus nine-micron tolerance, and we're milling to that. In my experience, that has never worked. That's the equipment to thank.” — Kevin Ramos, Machinist, Novo Modo
THE VISION: 100 FACILITIES, ONE DOCTRINE
Novo Modo was always a proof of concept. A second facility is in planning. The goal beyond that is 10 shops in 10 years, and an eventual network of manufacturing facilities spanning milling, turning, grinding, EDM, and anodizing, built on high quality machine technology, metrology systems and specialized software - replicated across locations and extended to partner shops. "We are coming after the gigantic online platforms that do nothing but sub-out work," Alonso said. "We are going to change what that looks like."
The foundation of that ambition is access. "Everybody launches with whatever they can get," he said. “We are trying to show people that if you launch with the right technology, you are not entering the race to the bottom. You are entering the world where the most demanding customers in the industry are waiting for you.”
