Our story
For over 25 years, Altera has been the name engineers trust when a polymer part has to be right — no excuses, no shortcuts. Digital file to finished part, with strategic tooling partnerships and domestic production all working together.
Altera started in a 2,000-square-foot shop with one CNC mill and a conviction: that precision polymer machining deserved the same rigor as aerospace metalwork. Most shops treat plastics as an afterthought. We built our entire process around them — and we've spent 25 years getting it right.
Today we operate from a purpose-built facility in Portland, Oregon, with 5-axis machining centers, injection molding cells, and a metrology lab that rivals operations ten times our size. But we've stayed deliberately small — because when you're small, every part has your name on it.
We handle the full pipeline: digital file intake (STEP, IGES, STL, OBJ — mechanical and organic geometries alike), material selection, tooling, production, and QC. Our dual-country model means molds are tooled by our partners in China — drawing on decades of precision mold-making infrastructure — then air-shipped as components to Portland for domestic production and final inspection. You get globally competitive tooling economics with US-based quality assurance.
What we believe
We don't ship "close enough." Every dimension is verified, every material cert is matched to the lot. If it doesn't meet spec, it doesn't leave the building.
If a material won't work in your application, we'll tell you before you order. We'd rather lose a PO than ship a part that fails in service. Product assessment is standard — we evaluate your design for cost and quality improvement opportunities before we quote.
We stock the grades engineers actually specify. Our 48-hour turnaround on stock shapes isn't a rush service — it's standard. First articles in 48 hours with full DFM feedback.
Core production and QC under our roof in Portland. Tooling partnerships in China where it benefits your cost. No outsourcing — just intentional dual-country capability designed for resilience.
We're not a production line. Every job gets an engineer's attention from quote to QC. Your part is someone's full focus, not a ticket number. Common tool base systems mean your mold investment is protected across product generations.
New materials, better tooling, tighter processes — we invest in capability every year. Because we serve aerospace, medical, semiconductor, and energy sectors simultaneously, we regularly transfer lessons learned from one industry to solve problems in another.
Cross-industry solutions to modern product design is a complex road to navigate. Altera has experience across several industries and this knowledge benefits every client we serve.
Because we simultaneously serve aerospace, medical device, semiconductor, energy, and defense sectors, we regularly apply lessons from one industry to solve challenges in another. A surface finish technique developed for a semiconductor wafer handler might solve a contamination issue in a medical diagnostic device. A high-temperature material proven in an aerospace engine might be the answer for a downhole energy application. This isn't theoretical — it happens on our shop floor every week.
Your project benefits from knowledge accumulated across six demanding industries — not just the one you happen to be in. We bring solutions you may not have considered.
Products that endure can sometimes be re-engineered to improve their production cost and outgoing quality targets. Altera evaluates current designs and production methods before tooling begins — identifying alternative approaches that may reduce cost, improve repeatability, or shorten lead times. We'll tell you if a different material, a revised geometry, or an alternative mold strategy would serve you better. No charge for the assessment. No obligation to proceed.
We're a compact crew of applications engineers, CNC machinists, and quality specialists. No account managers. No sales engineers. When you call Altera, you reach someone who understands polymer behavior at the molecular level — and can tell you exactly how your part will be made. From digital file classification (mechanical vs. organic geometry) to final inspection, the same team shepherds your project.
Because we work across aerospace, medical, semiconductor, energy, and defense simultaneously, our team brings cross-industry insight to every project. That PEEK manifold you're developing? We've probably machined something like it for a different sector — and we know what works.
Work with us
We respond to every inquiry within one business day with honest, engineering-led feedback — including a product assessment if you're looking to improve an existing design.