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Big Rocks Engineering

Name: Big Rocks Engineering
Address: St. Louis, MO, 63128, US
Telephone: +13146490610

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Big Rocks Engineering

We help bring product concepts and ideas to market.

Big Rocks Engineering is a full-service product development and design engineering services company bringing over two decades of experience developing products in the sporting goods, industrial equipment, medical device, power electronics and aerospace industries to our customers. Our goal is to go above and beyond expectations to make sure that all of our partners are successful with the fastest delivery to market and highest quality work.

05/29/2026

Great engineering removes friction. It anticipates problems, eliminates them upfront and delivers something so seamless that the end user never notices how much work went into it.

That’s when engineering stops being visible—and starts being trusted.

05/28/2026

"𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐈 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞."

That's what a customer told me after we'd been working together for a while.

They're a small manufacturer — maybe 20 to 40 people — building boat trailers for some of the biggest boat brands in North America. They'd tried hiring a full-time engineer and couldn't make it work. The cost didn't justify the output at their volume.

So instead, they called us when they needed us. We'd update the 3D models so they could program their lasers and plasma cutters. Fix a dimension that was off before they ran the parts. Help them try a design change before committing to tooling.

No salary. No benefits. No overhead. Just the engineering hours they actually needed, when they needed them.

If your shop could use engineering support but can't justify a full-time hire, that's exactly the gap we're built to fill.

Contact us today: https://bigrocksengineering.com/contact-us

05/27/2026

𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐪𝐮𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐟𝐟 — 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡, 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰, 𝐨𝐫 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 — 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬.

Here are three documentation issues that quietly kill the RFQ process:

1. No 3D model. Suppliers have to build their own assumptions about geometry. Two suppliers quoting the same part can come back with completely different interpretations — and you won't know why until something doesn't fit.
2. Incomplete tolerances. When drawings don't specify tolerances, suppliers default to their own standard. That standard might be tighter than you need (you pay for it) or looser than you need (you find out at inspection).
3. Missing material or finish specs. "Steel" isn't a spec. Neither is "painted." Vague material callouts lead to substitutions you didn't approve and quality problems you didn't expect.

The fix for all three is the same: a complete technical package before the RFQ goes out.

We build those. If your quoting process feels like a guessing game, that's usually where we start. 𝐡𝐭𝐭𝐩𝐬://𝐛𝐢𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠.𝐜𝐨𝐦/𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭-𝐮𝐬/

05/26/2026

If your offshore manufacturer keeps missing the mark, the easy assumption is that they're the problem.

Sometimes that's true. But more often, the real issue is what you handed them.

A sketch isn't a specification. A sample part isn't a drawing package. An email description isn't a work instruction.

We worked with a consumer products company selling through major retailers. Every time they handed a new concept to their manufacturer overseas, something got lost. The product came back close — but not right.

The fix wasn't a new supplier. It was documentation.

We created the full technical package: 3D models, engineering drawings,and assembly instructions. Same supplier. Better results. Because the communication was finally clear.

Before you switch vendors, ask whether the problem is the supplier — or the brief you handed them. https://bigrocksengineering.com/contact-us

05/22/2026

Good ideas usually come from combining existing pieces in new ways, not from nothing.

Think of it like building something:
👉 If you only have 2 parts → limited outcomes
👉 If you have 50 parts → way more possible combinations → better ideas

Creativity isn’t about isolation—it’s about exposure, collection, and combination.

05/21/2026

Early in my career I worked on a new product development project for a power electronics company.

We were designing a battery lifecycle tester for electric vehicles — full scope, ahead of schedule, under budget. Nine months from the finish line, the client decided to bring it in-house.

They took 36 months to finish what we had nine months left to do.

I share that not to take a shot at them. I share it because I've seen it happen more than once — companies pull engineering work back in-house to save money or protect IP, then spend far more in time, overhead, and missed market windows than the outside engagement would have cost.

Outside engineering isn't always the right call. But the decision should be made honestly.
If you're weighing that right now, I'm happy to think through it with you.

— Mike Hill, www.bigrocksengineering.com

05/20/2026

Most of our customers don't realize they can get it all done in one place.

They come to us for engineering. Then they find out we also have metal fabrication, precision machining, tool and die, and powder coating — all under the same roof of companies, all in central Missouri.

That matters more than it sounds.

When your engineer is connected to your fabricator, and your fabricator is connected to your finisher, things don't fall through the cracks. Tolerances get caught earlier. Lead times get compressed. You're not managing four vendor relationships — you're making one call.

Here's what the Big Rocks Manufacturing family covers:

✔ Big Rocks Engineering — reverse engineering, CAD, technical documentation
✔ Mack Hils Metal Fabrication — laser cutting, forming, welding, stamping
✔ CED Precision Machining — CNC milling, turning, waterjet, 25+ years in precision work
✔ Roberts Tool & Die Company — tool and die, metal stamping, CNC machining since 1984
✔ Total Powder Coat & Finish, LLC. — batch and automated powder coating, warehousing, logistics

If you've been piecing together a supply chain from five different vendors, there might be a simpler way.

👉 Mike Hill | Big Rocks Engineering | (314) 649-0610

05/19/2026

A lot of manufacturers think they own their product.

They make it. They sell it. They've been running it for years.

But if I asked you to hand me the 3D model, the tolerance drawing and the quality inspection document for your top-selling part right now — could you?

If the answer is no, you don't fully own it. Your supplier does.

That matters the moment you want to get a second quote, bring production in-house, change suppliers because quality slipped, or show a customer you have documented quality standards.

Owning your specs means having portable documentation that doesn't live inside someone else's system. It means you can pick up your work and take it anywhere.

That's what reverse engineering is actually for. Not just copying a part — restoring ownership.
https://bigrocksengineering.com/contact-us

05/15/2026

Great engineers are not valued because they have every answer memorized — they are valued because they know how to solve problems.

A good engineer understands:
👍 how to research,
👍 how to ask the right questions,
👍 how to test ideas,
👍 and how to learn quickly when facing something unfamiliar.

Technology, tools and systems constantly change. No one can know everything. What separates a strong engineer from an average one is the ability to:
☑ think critically,
☑ adapt,
☑ and find reliable solutions efficiently.

It also highlights humility. Skilled engineers are comfortable saying: “I don’t know yet — but I know how to figure it out.”

In real-world engineering, problem-solving matters more than memorization.

05/14/2026

🥃⚙️ It’s Happening Today! ⚙️🥃

Manufacturing on the Rocks starts at 4PM today, May 14!

Join us for a day of great conversations, industry connections and manufacturing insights with fellow professionals and innovators.

Connect. Collaborate. Build.

Hosted by Big Rocks Engineering!

Address

St. Louis, MO
63128

Opening Hours

Monday	8am - 5pm
Tuesday	8am - 5pm
Wednesday	8am - 5pm
Thursday	8am - 5pm
Friday	8am - 5pm

Telephone

+13146490610

Website

http://www.bigrocksengineering.com/

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