What Bird Precision does

Bird Precision is a privately held US precision manufacturer founded in 1913 and headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts. The company manufactures micro-miniature precision orifices, jewel bearings, and associated fittings, and describes itself as the only precision glass jewel manufacturing plant in the United States. Its core technology combines laser drilling with a proprietary wire lapping method using fine diamond slurry to produce True Sharp Edge Orifices with controlled Coefficient of Discharge values of approximately 0.60, surface finishes of 2 micro-inches, and tolerances of 0.0002 inches. Components are made primarily from synthetic ruby and sapphire (9 Mohs hardness, zero porosity, chemically inert) and are used in medical devices (pacemakers, anesthesia orifices, medical gas metering), analytical instrumentation (gas chromatographs, gene splicing tools), and hydraulics/pneumatics applications. The company stocks more than 140 unique orifice sizes and offers custom retrofit services to integrate its orifices and filters into third-party fittings from Swagelok, Parker, SMC, Cajon, and Value Plastic.

The firm operates a direct B2B sales motion through a website Request for Quote system, online catalog (catalog.birdprecision.com), and an inside sales team reachable via toll-free phone and email. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed, consistent with custom-engineered and configured-to-order component sales. Bird Precision generates revenue through one-time sales of standard catalog orifices and filters, custom-engineered components, jewel bearings, and retrofit assemblies. The customer base spans multiple industrial end-markets rather than concentrating in any single named OEM. Leadership includes President Carl J. Cunningham (40+ year veteran) and Vice President of Sales and Marketing Paul Baillio (35+ year veteran), and the company has no disclosed institutional investors, parent company, or funding rounds.

Bird Precision participates in industry trade shows such as MD&M East and publishes extensive technical documentation (data sheets, orifice design guides, hydraulics publications), positioning itself as a technical authority in precision flow control. Historically, the company won the Army-Navy 'E' award during the 1940s for avionic instrumentation components and has supplied parts used in moon-landing equipment, fiber optics, and fluidics, establishing a long defense and aerospace pedigree. Its market position rests on proprietary process know-how, niche specialization in glass jewel manufacturing, and embedded design-in relationships with engineering customers requiring tight Cd value control in miniaturized fluid and gas systems.

Name

Bird Precision

Legal name

Bird Precision

Website

https://birdprecision.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1913

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Bird Precision is a privately held Waltham, Massachusetts manufacturer founded in 1913 that produces laser-drilled and wire-lapped precision sapphire and ruby orifices, jewel bearings, and fittings for medical, analytical instrumentation, and hydraulics applications as the only US precision glass jewel manufacturer.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Precision Flow Control Components

NAICS

Turned Product and Screw, Nut, and Bolt Manufacturing (33272), Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing (33451), Totalizing Fluid Meter and Counting Device Manufacturing (334514)

SIC

Optical Instruments & Lenses (3827), Laboratory Analytical Instruments (3826)

akta.pro primary industry

Metrology, Inspection & Machine Tool Accessories (CMMs, Probing, Gauging) (IMAHADAK)

Keywords

• Precision orifice manufacturing
• Sapphire ruby components
• Jewel bearings production
• Micro-drilled fittings
• Flow control components

Headquarters

HQ city

Waltham

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Precision Component Sales: Bird Precision generates revenue through the manufacture and sale of precision micro-orifices, fittings, connectors, and filtered inserts made from synthetic ruby and sapphire. Products are sold as standard catalog items and custom-engineered components. Orifice sizes range from .0004 inches through .081 inches with various mounting options.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Bird Precision manufactures micro-miniature precision components — primarily synthetic sapphire and ruby orifices, jewel bearings, ruby filtered inserts, and stainless, plastic, and brass connector fittings — engineered for repeatable flow control of liquids and gases in medical, analytical, hydraulic, and pneumatic applications. Components are produced via a proprietary three-step laser drilling and diamond-slurry wire lapping process that delivers 0.0002-inch tolerances, 2 micro-inch surface finish, and consistent Cd discharge coefficients, and are offered both as standard catalog items and as custom retrofit solutions integrated into third-party fittings.

Product overview

Bird Precision is a precision manufacturing company offering a portfolio of micro-miniature precision components, primarily sapphire and ruby orifices, jewel bearings, and associated fittings. The core product line centers on True Sharp Edge Orifices and Sapphire Ruby Orifices, which are laser drilled and wire lapped for consistent flow control of liquids and gases. These are complemented by Ruby Filtered Inserts (threaded, press-in, and barbed configurations) that integrate filtration with precision orifices. The product family extends to an extensive range of connector fittings—stainless steel tube connectors, plastic tube connectors, and brass fittings—that accommodate these precision orifices. Jewel Bearings represent a separate but related product line serving low-friction, high-precision motion applications. Custom retrofit services allow customers to specify precision orifices in their choice of fittings. The company maintains over 140 unique orifice sizes and has introduced stainless compression fittings as recent additions to the portfolio.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• True Sharp Edge Orifices: Proprietary product line of precision orifices with consistent Cd values, produced using a three-step laser drilling and wire lapping process.
• BDS Sharp Edge Orifices
• Golden Orifice Series
• Conical Sapphire Series
• Micron Series

Products and services

• Sapphire and Ruby Orifices Micro-drilled sapphire and ruby orifices engineered for repeatable flow control of both liquids and gases. Laser drilled and wire lapped, featuring zero porosity, high temperature tolerance, wear resistance, and chemical inertness, used by OEMs in medical, analytical, hydraulic, and pneumatic applications.
• BDS Sharp Edge Orifices True Sharp Edge Orifices produced via a three-step process combining laser drilling, wire lapping, and surface lapping. Feature Cd values of 0.60 for consistent, predictable flow control in precision applications.
• Ruby Filtered Inserts Micro-drilled ruby inserts for direct insertion into manifolds, valve bodies, or instrument fittings. Available in threaded, press-in, seal barb, and tapered plug configurations with optional integrated filtration.
• Jewel Bearings Precision glass jewel bearings offering low friction and high precision for oscillating movement, slow arcing motion, and sliding applications. Bird Precision is the only precision glass jewel manufacturing plant in the United States.
• Stainless Steel Tube Connectors with Integrated Orifices/Filters 316 stainless compression tube fittings available with integrated precision orifices and/or filters. Includes unions, male connectors, port connectors, tees, elbows, face seal, and gland fittings.
• Plastic Tube Connectors Plastic fittings and connectors for commercial plastic configurations including luer, in-line, threaded to barb, Y-connectors, T-connectors, and elbows. Compatible with most plastic tubing barb sizes.
• Brass Fittings and Connectors Brass fittings and connectors for brass tubing or threaded tube connectors including NPT male to male, male to female, elbows, Y-connectors, T-connectors, and unions.
• Precision Orifice Kits Pre-packaged sets of precision orifices in various sizes for convenient selection and testing in laboratory and production environments.
• Orifice Connectors and Fittings Comprehensive range of fitting types including port connectors, male connectors, unions, male compression tees, gland/gasket connectors, quick connect fittings, and luer style connectors for various tube and thread configurations.
• Micron Orifice Series Ultra-precise orifices in sizes ranging from 0.0004 inches through 0.0025 inches designed for extremely low flow control applications below 0.5 SCCM dry air.
• Custom Retrofit Services Custom retrofit services enabling customers to specify their preferred connectors (Swagelok, Cajon, Parker, SMC, and other major brands) with precision orifices or filtration installed at the optimal location for their design.

Quantifiable outcome

• Orifice sizes from .0004 inches through .081 inches with tolerance of 0.0002 inches
• +5 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Imetra Inc. Imetra produces precision jewel bearings and synthetic sapphire/ruby components for instrumentation, making it one of the closest direct peers to Bird Precision in the precision glass jewel category.
• Servoflo Corporation: Servoflo manufactures precision flow control components including orifices, filters, and regulators for medical and analytical instruments — directly comparable to Bird's filtered orifice inserts and flow control assemblies.
• Lenox Laser: Lenox Laser manufactures precision laser-drilled orifices and micro-components for fluid control and instrumentation, directly competing with Bird Precision in sapphire and stainless micro-orifices for similar flow-control and analytical applications.
• O'Keefe Controls Co. O'Keefe Controls produces precision orifices, flow restrictors, and metering devices for fluid control applications — overlapping directly with Bird Precision's micro-orifice product line in hydraulics, pneumatics, and instrumentation.
• Swiss Jewel Company: Swiss Jewel manufactures precision synthetic sapphire and ruby jewel bearings and components for instruments, watches, and measurement devices — a directly comparable specialty competitor in precision glass jewels.

Broad incumbents

• MKS Instruments: MKS Instruments manufactures precision flow measurement, control, and analytical instrumentation components for semiconductor and process industries — a broader incumbent serving the same precision flow control end markets as Bird Precision.
• Swagelok Company: Swagelok is a broad fittings and fluid system components incumbent. While it doesn't specialize in sapphire orifices, it is one of the platforms Bird retrofits into and competes with at the integrated fitting-with-orifice level.
• Moog Inc. Moog is a broad motion control and fluid control incumbent serving aerospace, defense, and industrial markets. While not a niche sapphire orifice maker, Moog competes in adjacent precision fluid control and serves overlapping OEM customers.

Regional players

• Bird Precision GmbH (German specialty competitors e.g., DIOPTICA): European precision glass and sapphire component manufacturers (e.g., DIOPTICA) compete in adjacent precision optics and sapphire micro-component categories for European instrumentation customers, providing indirect regional competition to Bird's precision sapphire expertise.
• Ideal Vacuum Products: Ideal Vacuum supplies precision orifices, leak detectors, and vacuum components primarily to North American research and industrial customers — comparable precision orifice and flow control products serving overlapping analytical and laboratory markets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube-nocookie.com/embed/OKJ7h1Uta9E

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Bird Precision