Ultrasonic machining channels sound waves to machine a workpiece. An abrasive slurry is introduced between the tool and the workpiece to recreate the tool’s pattern into the workpiece.

“We’re able to create lots of complex patterns. So, thousands of holes, complex slots and cavities,” Beatty says.

If a customer requires extremely precise machining with tighter tolerances, Bullen’s proprietary MicroLucent technology uses laser processing to create features or holes in transparent materials.

Different by Design

Bullen designs and builds its own machines and equipment, allowing the company greater control over the entire manufacturing process, quality and product delivery.

Despite the degree of complexity and precision needed to provide micron-level tolerancing on traditionally difficult materials for demanding industries, Bullen maintains outstanding performance, with a first-pass yield of 97%.

“I’ve worked in several places, and this place has been the most adept at cross-training employees,” says Director of Quality Bennie Caldwell. “In an industry where … things go up and things go down, being able to move people in different departments is such an advantage. We’ve been able to just seamlessly move people.”

“We’ve got operators doing design work in CAD files and things of that nature,” says Ganino. Driving change at the plant “is not necessarily hard here because we’ve got that buy-in from the operators all the way up.”

Not only can Bullen move employees as needed, but it has been able to successfully support the advancement of employees from entry-level operators or facility workers to engineers, technicians, managers, even HR roles at the company.

“We’ve invested in them to see them grow as leaders and develop, and then when opportunities came up, they were our most qualified candidates. We did not want to hire outside because we had our best candidates in-house,” says Beatty.

Many of the company’s processes are people-dependent, so everybody takes an active role in continuous improvement. The robust training makes employees more knowledgeable of the processes that take place in the facility, allowing employees ample opportunity to look for ideas to improve workflows.

Not only does Bullen look to employees for formal continuous improvement suggestions, but leadership also actively consults with the people closest to the processes for developing and implementing solutions.

For example, a Bullen operator and engineer recently collaborated to tackle abrasive buildup on a machine surface. The operations team member participated in each step of the process, including design discussions, the collection of process data, the development and testing of potential solutions and the analysis of their efficacy.

Culture Is the Key to Success

Beatty says creating an environment for employees to thrive is what wakes him up in the morning. “How do we create a place where people come and they enjoy the work that they do, enjoy the people that they’re working with and grow and develop?” is a question that’s top of mind for him.

A quality, connected workplace is built into Bullen’s foundation and processes. The company’s core values – excellence, humility, integrity and teamwork – are commitments, not platitudes.

When the pandemic was winding down and production ramping up, Bullen went through an intentional culture shift to revamp accountability, stress teamwork between departments and improve company performance, while being mindful of keeping up morale. The company added communication and company policy training for managers and introduced team and shift handoff meetings and quarterly check-ins between managers and their direct reports. Weekly HR emails introduced during that time go over company resources, activities, policies and benefits.

The intentional changes paid off in improved employee engagement, measured through a survey of employees’ attitudes toward aspects of the workplace, such as job satisfaction, career growth, leadership and company outlook. Bullen has been able to raise its employee engagement score from 83% in January 2025 to 90.5% in the first quarter of 2026.

Bullen credits its people-centric approach with much of its business success and competitiveness. The company’s revenue has grown by approximately 45% since 2023, and in turn, Bullen has been able to give back to its employees and broader community.

During the pandemic, the company gave a bonus to employees, and during 2022, all hourly employees received inflation pay, which was then baked into their permanent pay.

In addition to offering paid volunteer days off, Bullen also donates 10% of its annual profits to community partners, supporting local and international initiatives that address everything from affordable housing and homelessness to human trafficking.

“From the financial perspective, we put culture before profits. But because of what a strong culture and buy-in and ownership the employees have, it translates into a highly profitable company,” says Director of Finance Craig Mayrer. “Even though it’s not our top priority, it’s a byproduct of everyone on the same collaborative team of wanting to learn different things and bring different offerings.”

Beatty likens Bullen’s workplace culture to agriculture. He says that although there are many aspects of farming that you can’t control, one factor you can control is the soil, the foundation.

“For us at Bullen, that soil is our culture. It’s the way that we communicate with one another, it’s the quality of that communication, the way in which we care for one another, the way in which we listen to one another,” he says. “The seeds that get planted at Bullen are our employees, and we want to see them grow.”