A chat with John Miller

We caught up with John Miller, resident parts expert, to reflect on his 43 years of service at McDonough, the introduction of the fax machine and what part he just loves to see go out the door.

John, for those who may not know, how long have you worked at McDonough? 43 years, I started at age 19, geez. (editor's note: If you do the math here, don't tell John)

What do you think has been the most requested part over the years? I would have to say guide blocks.

Do you have a ‘favorite’ part that you love to see go out the door? Probably a wheel assembly - they're big and impressive.

How has the parts business changed over your tenure at McDonough? When I first started taking parts calls, everything was done over the phone. The customer would call with a part number, or try to describe the part over the phone, and while things have changed, a lot of orders are still done this way. Then came the fax machine. It was an awesome invention for me! If I didn’t know exactly what the customer was describing to me, but I had a pretty good idea, I could fax him an assembly drawing, or a drawing of the part and ask if that was the part they were looking for, plus customers could fax me drawings of the parts they needed. Sometimes they were just a rough hand drawn sketch, and that’s all I needed to identify the part. Then came email, WOW, I could email drawings and pictures (a picture is worth a thousand words right?), pretty cool, and customers could email me drawings and pictures. There has been a lot of changes to the machines over the years; there used to be a lot of chain and gear drives, now pretty much everything is driven by hydraulics. A lot of new products have been introduced over the years; when I first started it was pretty much bandsaws and linebars. Then came carriages, and edgers. What will be next?

Thanks, John, for your 43-years of dedicated service to McDonough!