Company Profile
360 roll works

360 Roll Works burst onto the milling industry scene in 2020 when its parent company, Abbott Machine Co., expanded into providing corrugating and grinding-related products and services to the flour milling, feed, and oilseed processing industries.

Abbott Machine began serving the metalworking industry in the 1950s. Located in Alton, IL, near St. Louis, MO on the Mississippi River, the company produced and retrofitted boring mills and cylindrical roll grinders for numerous industries. As it grew, Owner Bob Abbott sought and attracted engineers and machinists who could design, build, refurbish, and service a wide range of products. Growth has continued for more than six decades, and in 2020, Abbott Machine expanded by adding a separate company – 360 Roll Works.

“With our knowledge and expertise in grinding, we felt there was opportunity to expand into the food and feed industry,” says Mike St. Peters, president and CEO of Abbott Machine Co. and 360 Roll Works.

When 360 Roll Works started, it acquired a 20,000-square-foot facility in Wood River, IL. In early 2021, it began expanding with a 10,000-square-foot addition, which St. Peters says facilitates the increase of its grinding, corrugating, and machine shop operations and provides additional storage capacity for new rolls, journals, bearings, and mill parts.

St. Peters purchased Abbott Machine from Bob Abbott, his father-in-law, in 2019. The next generation of family members also joined the company. St. Peters’ daughter, Taylor Bohart, is in customer service. Two sons also are involved. Tyler works in sales, and Tanner runs the corrugation department. There are 12 total employees. Luke Bohart, son-in-law, is general manager at Abbott Machine Company.

“All things grinding” is Abbott Machine and 360 Roll Works’ motto, which conveys a commitment to furthering its customer operations in the oilseed processing industry.

“Food and feed safety and quality are imperative to our customers,” says St. Peters. “We expect the most from our 360 Roll Works team, and our customers expect the most from the products and services we provide them.”

Rowland Peddie, general manager, was long-time head miller. “His understanding of customer demand for delivery of safe and quality rollers and grinders is a chief asset,” explains St. Peters. “The 360 team’s employee pledge to quality helps provide customers with a complete roll-grinding package.

“As growth of our young company continues, we’re mindful of our obligation to maintain on-time delivery of products and services to meet our customer demand,” he adds, noting the company has an open-door policy for customers and would-be customers.

“More expansion is in the works, but in fairness to our current clients, we’re gauging customer growth to assure our promise to deliver what current customers need on time. We want to walk before we run.”

When 360 Roll Works began operations in 2020, it had six CNC corrugators and four grinders. Since then, says St. Peters, it added two new CNC lathes and a CNC mill and plans to add Cincinnati grinders, CNC corrugators, a large Okuma heavy-duty CNC lathe, and a Giddings and Lewis horizontal boring mill.

360 Roll Works maintains a full CNC department for boring out and making new steel journals. It can single-point, multi-point, and sandblast rolls for finishes. It also stocks a large number of new rolls.

Corrugation service also is available to handle rolls up to 24 inches in diameter and 84 inches long. According to St. Peters, grinding operations can handle rolls up to 60 inches in diameter and 240 inches long. “360 Roll Works is equipped to sandblast rolls up to 32 inches in diameter and 240 inches long.”

Along with new rolls, the company provides roll pack disassembly and re-assembly, bearings, spherical roller bearings, and journal repairs. “We’re an OEM supplier for FAG bearings,” he says. “When we corrugate or grind rolls, we return them to customers along with made-in-America bearings. We maintain the repair parts they need.”

360 Roll Works also has the capability to perform hardness tests, crack detection, surface finish measurements, and laser fluting measuring. “We’re grinding our rolls to a much tighter tolerance,” he adds, noting that the company provides detailed printouts of roll shapes and corrugation. “Rolls are measured to be true and consistent. Laser corrugating guarantees the corrugation customers are asking for.”

Larry Stalcup, contributing writer

From Fourth Quarter Milling Journal Issue