Nye Machine & Design, Inc. as it is known today is owned by Bryan Nye. It has only a 29-year history but actually the business is over 67 years old. It was started in 1945 by Bryan Nye's grandfather, Herman Nye, under the name of Nye's General Repair Shop. In the rural outskirts of Hummelstown, PA, repairs of farm machinery and heavy equipment were common. Herman Nye was known at an early age as being mechanically inclined. While in the eighth grade, he was asked by a nearby farmer to be excused from class so he could fix the farmer's threshing machine. Many neighbors and farmers took advantage of Herman's skills when he started his full time shop. Customers continued to come to his shop in Hummelstown to get repairs done until his death in 1976.
His grandsons, Barry and Bryan, helped in the shop while growing up. They continued welding and fabricating at the same location after their grandfather's death. By now, the farms of the area were long gone. After purchasing new welding and milling machines, their customer base began to grow into new areas.
In 1987, Bryan Nye saw an opportunity to expand the small repair shop to a more specific customer base. Bryan became the sole proprietor and changed the name to Nye Machine & Design, Inc. to reflect the direction of services. That same year, he purchased the first CNC lathe. Previously, welding and fabricating was the main focus. Now production milling and turning brought Nye Machine into the arena of custom machining, building and designing of specialized machinery.
Bryan worked along side his grandfather for many years, learning the skills needed to produce top quality parts. But he also was taught how to fulfill the needs of the customer while doing it in a cost effective and timely manner. While Herman's work was well known around the area, it was the honest treatment of customers that kept the clientele coming back. It is these values that Bryan grew up with and that he continues today.
Today at Nye Machine & Design, Inc., fabrication is still the main focus for the Hummelstown location but CNC machining is the focus of our Elizabethtown location. Instead of machines driven by flat belts, CNC machining centers fill the shop floor. The hand-sketched drawings of the past have been replaced by solid model designing using solidworks software. Now the lessons and skills Bryan learned at an early age, while growing up and watching his grandfather work, are put to use producing state-of-the-art machine parts and systems.
