Re: Citizens vs Star Service and Support in Michigan and other concerns
I am a Citizen shop <not in Michigan> that has never run Star machine.
Citizen nationally is supported extremely well with many of their distributors having people that have been in place for decades.
As well, I believe that Citizen's spare/replacement parts inventory is many times larger than Star's - though I would ask that question yourself as I may be operating on dated information.
Down-time because of a part being out of stock is VERY costly.
In my case and most all others that I've talked to at national trade shows - the local support is very, very good.
I would ask the question about tenure - how long have people worked at the distributor's firms. That says a lot about the company.
Too, they should not hesitate to let you speak to a select number of local users that can provide some real-world, real-time feedback on how well the support is provided.
As far as the "restart" feature is concerned, I've never understood this one.
A swiss process involves the Guide Busing - how can you...
- Turn a part
- Stop the process
- Measure the part
- Make an offset
- Re-turn the part - now, without the guidebushing!
Those are my thoughts - hope they were helpful.
Good luck with your decision.
Control the process, not the product!
Machining is more science than art, master the science and the artistry will be evident.