In 2007, our co-founder and former GM Engineer, Tim Owens, built the first CNC machine in his garage which immediately sold on eBay. Using his intuitive engineering skills, Tim was hoping to support his growing family by building and selling a few more CNC machines while planning his next career move. Co-founder Melissa Owens, has a background in marketing research, quality training, and retail management. The complementary pairing of skills was imperative to the foundation of Next Wave Automation.

Every CNC machine Tim & Melissa built, they sold. Little did the Owens realize their life-long career path was being charted for them. Their quality CNC machines, which Melissa named the CNC Shark®, were being heralded by professionals and hobbyists alike as the best CNC machine being built in this burgeoning industry. Woodworkers loved the CNC Shark®.

As the demand increased, Tim and Melissa formed Next Wave Automation. They secured manufacturing and warehouse and warehouse space, hired production workers and other staff to begin producing the SHARK to try to meet the demand. Next Wave Automation continued to grow and expand, introducing additional shark models that were also well received, and included placement of the SHARK in major woodworking retailers and international sales. The SHARK was a success. Managing and running a growing Next Wave Automation proved challenging for the Owens family as they began experiencing all the entrepreneurial challenges every successful company must navigate. Quality control, supply chain management, critical team member acquisition, marketing sales and aggressive company growth.

Next Wave Automation continues to evolve and grow, fueled by our founding principle of building the world’s best CNCs – SHARK along with powerful accessories. All made in Perrysburg, Ohio the heartland of the USA. CNC SHARK machines continue to be recognized worldwide as one of the best CNCs available and to which all others are compared. The next evolutionary step was to bring all our operations and products into one dynamic new home for our company which will now be known as NEXT WAVE CNC.

NEXT WAVE CNC will continue to grow through designing and building new and more advanced CNC machines, providing the best customer support, innovative software, game changing accessories and strengthening our network of quality retailers across the country.

NEXT WAVE CNC’s iconic SHARK brand is designed and built for the future.