The reasons for the popularity are pretty easy to understand: CNC machines are incredibly useful to all manner of industries, and as technology increases, they become more affordable to businesses. In fact, our small and medium business customers finance CNC machines regularly. 

For those who don’t know, the “CNC” stands for computer numerical control. Basically, a CNC machine handles tasks via CAD software that used to be done manually. Cutting, drilling, pressing, shaping… these tasks can now be handled by CNC machines with astonishing speed and precision. So companies can now invest in CNC lathes, drills, cutting tools, routers, and more. I’ve even seen small consumer CNC routers that are perfect for a home garage or amateur/hobby woodshop. Neat.

With the rise in 3D printing, I’ve seen some publications call 3D printers CNC machines. But then I also see videos like this one showing the differences (note – this is also a great video for a basic primer on CNC machines). The stated difference is CNC machines subtract material, while 3D printers add it. That said, the market will eventually bear this out – maybe someday everyone will consider 3D Printers CNC machines (and Crest Capital will still finance it all!) 

On that note, we’re very proud that we’ve been financing CNC machines since our beginning in 1989. We recognized right away how much businesses needed these, and saw the potential for small business CNC machine financing, especially as the technology increased and the CNC machines got more compact in size and the price became more affordable. 

Along the way, we’ve also become experts on these machines, and our reps are well-schooled in how they work, and what type of CNC machine leasing or financing makes the most sense. So whether our customers are buying their first CNC machine (which is always an exciting step) or buying their 10^th, we are honored to help make it happen.

True story:

Once, at a trade show, I was talking to the owner of a regional retail/service chain (12 stores in all, plus a small warehouse) about soft cost financing. We got to talking about “training”, because that’s one of the soft costs that a good equipment financing company will finance.

He told me he bought a fairly robust point of sale system, complete with shipping and inventory features. But the bank wouldn’t finance training (they didn’t even finance the entire price, but that’s another story), so he instead went with the included bare bones one-day seminar, and not the week long, hands-on training option.

The result was while the system was easy enough to pick up at basic level, key advanced features were glossed over. One such feature was real-time inventory (as opposed to the daily/weekly/monthly reports they ended up using for the first year.) He estimated that simply using this advanced feature from the beginning would have resulted in more efficient ordering and inventory turnover. In short, learning about this would have paid for itself. If only the bank would have agreed to add training to the financing…

If it’s available, financing training with any equipment purchase can be a very smart move. Obviously, not everything you purchase will require training, but for computer systems, point of sale systems, some more advanced machines (like CNC Machines), financing training can be a very cost-effective move. Especially since the cost of the training is stretched out over years – for most deals, adding training to monthly payments amounts to a few extra dollars, which makes it a no-brainer.

An addendum – we helped my trade show contact with financing other products, and the “deal closer” was the fact that we financed soft costs. It makes those extras and add-ons very attractive, and easy to buy. So whether it’s maintenance agreements, training, or other soft costs like delivery and setup, a good equipment financing company will happily include it in any deal.