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Manufacturing A Better Quality of Life for Scott Tornos
Have a dental implant or knee replacement? You can thank Scott Kowalski who oversees the company that made the manufacture of those parts possible. Scott, a Naperville resident, is president of Tornos US, an international company involved in medical device manufacturing.
"People will come to us with a design and ask if we can make a machine to make the parts," explains Kowalski. "The technology that we see is unbelievable-replacement parts for hands, knees. We can make machines that can split a human hair 18 ways if needed. The process from design to finish can take 10 to 12 months. These machines are precise and expensive. One batch of machines we recently finished cost $38 million."
"It is so exciting to be a part of this. We made the parts for the DaVinci automated surgery system," continues Kowalski. "Now a surgeon who is in Boston can be performing a procedure on someone in Tuscaloosa."
Tornos has been a leading company in small part manufacturing since its founding in 1880 in Switzerland. Tornos made the first precision parts for Swiss watches and has grown to other industries

Many of the parts and equipment used in the medical field can only be used once. "There is a risk of cross contamination so many times, parts need to be discarded," says Kowalski. "When a doctor does a knee replacement, he is provided with a pack of 30 different screws. He may only use two of the screws but the rest have to be thrown away."
Kowalski began his professional career as a police officer but always had an interest in manufacturing. He left law enforcement when he was 24 to work in manufacturing. He got his masters degree in the field and by the age of 35, he was named the president of Tornos, US. He and his wife, Lisa, have twin boys who are five and a daughter who is nine.
Tornos US does close to $110 million in sales every year and has about 92 employees. Kowalski travels to Switzerland about ten time a year and claims to love his job. He sees the results of his work in many places from his father's knee replacement to his visit to the dentist. "I told my dentist that next time I would bring the parts and just have to pay labor," he jokes but then adds, ""To be part of something that improves the quality of life is rewarding. At the end of the day, it's work but work that I enjoy." -Judy Buchenot

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