At BVI Machining in Katy, Texas, just west of Houston, the Kallergis brothers– Nick, Mario, and Kostas – continue a machining legacy that reaches back decades. “We were pretty much raised in my father’s machine shop that he started in 1974,” says Mario. The shop stayed manual until 2005 when Mario became CFO and started to push automation with the first CNC machine.
In 2009 came a serendipitous introduction of ESPRIT to BVI, when a client recommended the CAM system to facilitate collaboration. It soon became apparent that ESPRIT was the right choice, not only for that client but also BVI’s growing product lines.
Like a lot of other industries on the Gulf coast, BVI has roots in oil and gas, having started out making valves and blowout preventers. More recently, the brothers have focused on 6061-T6 aluminium automotive and marine parts, machined on a Mazak Integrex E1550 VII with ESPRIT. The current product line includes billet crossbars for the C8 Corvette and a front half for Mercury 2.5L outboard motors, both of which are the only products of their kind in the world being made today. BVI also makes the X1 cylinder head for small block Ford engines, two of which currently feed major boost pressure to eight cylinders in Chris ‘Boosted GT’ Hamilton’s yellow Mustang, as seen on the Discovery Channel.
Having forged their path by land and sea over the years, BVI has begun to set their sights higher, Houston’s flourishing space exploration industry. Companies setting up shop at Houston’s new spaceport are driving increasing demand for machining services, and the Kallergis brothers are keen to be on the leading edge of the boom. “We see more space companies joining the Houston business community soon,” says Mario.
Whether the final product ends up on the road, at sea or in orbit, when it comes to handling the day-to-day challenges of running a modern machine shop, ESPRIT and BVI have a solid partnership. “Without ESPRIT, we would not be able to machine our products due to the complexity of the curvature,” says Mario. “I use and like, ESPRIT’s freeform and mould machining cycles. They help me remove material for rough machining and provide me with a variety of finish mould cycles to choose from, so my parts can have an amazing finish.”BVI was also the first shop in the Houston area to use ESPRIT’s 5-axis porting cycles. When it comes to support for these complex operations, Mario has high praise for the support he receives from Mazak, his ESPRIT reseller Shape Design Technologies, and ESPRIT. “Mazak has a facility nearby; they’ve partnered up with ESPRIT pretty well to create great, proven-out posts, so that’s a huge benefit,” he says.
Talking to Mario, it quickly becomes apparent that BVI has that sort of symphonic combination of talent and tools that one tends to find in the most successful of small shops. The Kallergis brothers have extensive know-how and are savvy machinists, programmers and designers – this is what makes BVI’s Mazak and the choreography of a world-class CAM system like ESPRIT a great set-up.
“ESPRIT provides us with amazing software technology so that we can continue our mission of applying technology-driven manufacturing in our business,” says Mario.