P.L. Schmitt Carbide Tooling

P.L. Schmitt Carbide Tooling Family owned and operated business, manufacturing carbide endmills and engravers.

05/05/2026

Hey folks our internet is currently down. Please bear with us as we work through the issue. Thanks!

If you purchase carbide cutting tools and have not been paying attention to this, you may be in for a rude awakening. Ra...
01/08/2026

If you purchase carbide cutting tools and have not been paying attention to this, you may be in for a rude awakening. Raw material prices have surged in the last year. We have spent the first 8 days of 2026 almost exclusively working with our customers on how we are going to take on this challenge together. I’ve always said you don’t build strong relationships for when things are easy, you build them for when things get hard. This is certainly going to be a headwind but with proactive conversations and planning we will figure it out together! If you’re looking for a small company experience and flexibility but need the production capacity and quality of the “big dogs” give us a call. You won’t be disappointed - [email protected]

01/02/2026

240,014

In January of 2025, we held a leadership meeting with one question on our minds:
If everything goes our way, how many tools do we actually think we can make this year?

After a lot of debate and deciding how hard we really could stretch, we landed on 240,000.

For context:
In 2023 we made 147,127 tools.
In 2024 we made 178,451 tools.

This goal would have been impossible two years ago and, quite honestly, still felt improbable 365 days ago when we decided this would be our North Star.

And no, everything did not go our way this year. It had highs and lows like every business cycle. At one point, we were even pacing for 280,000 tools! Then Q4 slowed to a crawl. But that slowdown gave us something valuable: time to reflect, rebuild systems that were stretched thin during that breakneck pace, and position ourselves to execute even better when the next big push comes. I was nervous though that we put ourselves out there and we were coming up on the end and after all the hard work it was looking like we may come up short. I was already preparing myself and how I would approach my team about how sometimes you really do give everything and it just doesn’t work. That’s the hardest and also the most valuable lesson when you can get back to the grind after something like that happens.

As I sit here today staring at the number 240,014, I’m in tears.

This company and this team are measured by far greater things than the number of tools we produce. But this number represents a group of people who decided to go after something big together and fight for it all the way through.

On the final production day of the year, in the middle of our slowest stretch in months, we did it.

If we can set an improbable goal and fight through the challenges to achieve it, you can too.

It’s the same crew and equipment from 2024, but we have a completely different team as we round out 2025. This team has never been more prepared to take on the challenges we’ve set for ourselves next.

Thank you all for being part of this journey. I still can’t wait to see where it takes us. Thank you 2025. You showed us what’s possible.. 2026 let’s see how far we can really go

My best to all,

Ryan

07/09/2025

We are currently experiencing an internet outage. Please bear with us as we work to get back online! Thanks!

06/30/2025

I’ve been pretty quiet on this page. That’s because we’ve been grinding. Literally. This team. Our commitment. Our goals. This company. This year. Something special is happening. 18 months ago we came together and said we want more. More challenges. More communication. More team work. More clarity. More balance. More freedom. More customers. More tools. More work.

Together, with the assistance of the book “Traction” and a 6 month class with the Eleap academy, we put a step by step system in place that helped us inch our way towards these goals and truly embody the vision we created for PLSCT.

“Create a place that people want to be. Develop leaders who have a strong desire to learn and grow and foster that environment for the entire team. Then use these skills to provide the most value possible first and foremost to each other, then our customers and our vendors.”

I don’t typically publicly share this information but damn it my team worked their asses off and they deserve to be celebrated!

In 2024 we manufactured 177,000 cutting tools. To date in 2025 we are at 135,000 on pace for 270,000. With 234,000 being manufactured in the last rolling 4 quarters!!

Same team. Same equipment. Completely different process and mindset. We seek out the challenges. We embrace the fails and push ourselves harder and further every week.

Q2 metric milestones
Most tools manufactured in a quarter
Most revenue generated (and best month June)
Most tools per month avg
Most production hours
Most time efficient (79%)
Least scrap ratio

Before you call me a dictator…

Not a single team member is averaging over 40 hours a week. Every team member has taken at least one vacation so far this year with several more planned for the remaining quarters. We are redefining what it means to be a team. What it means to have balance along with tremendous success. 

We are living the vision I had for how I wanted to run a manufacturing business. Not some concrete prison where everyone dreads to arrive and can’t wait to leave. A place that represents an opportunity to set a high bar and be surrounded by people who will do everything they can to help you achieve it.

The most exciting part, is this fire, it’s just starting to rage. What was just a small ember of an idea, is turning into an inferno and keeps gaining more and more intensity. We are ready for it. We are built for it.

The imposter in me says “don’t post this. What if the second half of 2025 you fall on your face and look like a fool!”

With this team, and our faith, if we do fall on our face. We will just wipe the blood off and go again because that’s how you win and that’s exactly how we got here today.

I’m proud of this team. I’m proud of myself. We deserve it, because we earned it and it feels damn good.

Thank you all for your love and support. You know who you are. We are forever thankful and grateful for you!

No bad days

-Ryan

03/21/2025

We currently do not have phone or internet. Please bear with us as we work through this issue! Thanks!

08/16/2024

I need to take a moment and applaud the team here at PLSCT. We have not been very active on social media but we certainly have been active in the shop. Every single team member has stepped up in different ways over the last several weeks and I couldn’t be more proud or grateful. To see everyone working together like a well oiled machine, taking pride and ownership in their respective areas and absolutely dominating, puts me on the verge of tears. Through their hard work and effort we have been fortunate enough to add 3 new members to our team over the last couple weeks. Running a business is hard, but seeing a group of people work together and excel like this, makes it all worth it. Let’s Go!!!!

PLSCT would like to wish you a safe and happy 4th of July! Just a reminder we are closed this entire week in Celebratio...
07/04/2024

PLSCT would like to wish you a safe and happy 4th of July!

Just a reminder we are closed this entire week in Celebration of Independence Day, as well as our annual maintenance on our machinery. PLSCT will open regular business hours Monday July 8th

Are you machining aluminum? You gotta try this tool! In stock and ready to go! Multiple coating options available! ...
02/08/2024

Are you machining aluminum? You gotta try this tool! In stock and ready to go! Multiple coating options available!





12/22/2023

Merry Christmas to all our wonderful employees, customers, vendors and friends! May you have a blessed Christmas!!!!!




Address

133 Drake Street
Grass Lake, MI
49240

Opening Hours

Monday 8:30am - 4:30pm
Tuesday 8:30am - 4:30pm
Wednesday 8:30am - 4:30pm
Thursday 8:30am - 4:30pm
Friday 8:30am - 4:30pm

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