Werner Schneider Sr. grew up in Pfronten, Germany. He lived and played in the shadow of the factory of what is now the headquarters of DMGMORI. At a young age, he took a job at the factory and for the next 12 years learned all he could about machining until he proactively reached out to a US client who ended up sponsoring him to work at Courtesy in Elk Grove, Illinois.

For 17 years, he continued his machining apprenticeship, while marrying and having 2 children. In 1980, he decided to put his extensive knowledge of machining to work for himself and founded Contour Machining, Inc.

Werner Schneider Jr. at a young age (sound familiar?), would come and help in the 10,000 sq. ft. shop, first by sweeping chips, then stamping numbers on parts and eventually programing and running machines, all the while absorbing Sr.’s work ethic and passion for the business and in parallel, graduating from Oakton College in Tool & Die. Today, close to the same age his father was when he started the company, Jr. runs the day to day operations.