Building the Future: Premier Tooling Systems and FIRST Robotics Team 2337

At Premier Tooling Systems, precision engineering is about more than the tools we manufacture. It is also about helping develop the engineers, machinists, programmers and problem-solvers who will shape manufacturing in the years ahead.

That is why Premier Tooling Systems has supported FIRST Robotics Competition Team 2337, The EngiNERDs, since the team’s rookie season in 2008.

Based at Grand Blanc High School in Grand Blanc, Michigan, Team 2337 began competing in FIRST Robotics Competition in 2008. Premier Tooling Systems was listed among the team’s sponsors during that first season and remains a sponsor today.

For us, this partnership has always been about much more than placing a logo on a robot.

Supporting Team 2337 Since the Beginning

The EngiNERDs and Premier Tooling Systems share something important: a belief that the best way to understand engineering is to experience it.

Premier has provided Team 2337 with a home since 2008. The team has documented how Premier opened its facility during evenings and weekends, providing students access to build space and more than 17,000 square feet of precision machinery and manufacturing resources.

That gives students an opportunity to work in an environment where engineering is not simply something discussed in a classroom.

It is designed.

Machined.

Assembled.

Tested.

Improved.

And sometimes redesigned completely when the first idea does not work.

That cycle of problem-solving is familiar to anyone working in modern manufacturing.

What FIRST Robotics Competition Teaches

FIRST Robotics Competition gives high school students the challenge of designing, programming and building industrial-sized robots for a new competition each season.

Students do far more than build the robot. Teams also manage projects, develop strategy, raise funds, communicate with sponsors and work with adult mentors from technical and non-technical backgrounds. FIRST describes the programme as a 360-degree learning experience that combines engineering with teamwork, communication and community involvement.

Those are many of the same skills required in manufacturing.

A successful production environment depends on people being able to:

• Analyse a problem
• Develop a practical solution
• Work within time and resource constraints
• Communicate across different technical disciplines
• Test ideas objectively
• Learn from failures
• Continuously improve a process

Robotics gives students an opportunity to practise those skills before they enter the workforce.

From CAD Models to Real Components

One of the most valuable parts of robotics is the moment when an idea has to leave the computer screen and become a physical component.

A design may look perfect in CAD.

Manufacturing it introduces a different set of questions.

Can the component actually be machined?

What material should be used?

How should it be held?

Which tooling will produce the required geometry?

Are the tolerances realistic?

Can the part be manufactured within the available time?

Those questions are part of everyday life at Premier Tooling Systems, where our engineering and manufacturing teams develop precision tooling around specific machining applications.

Giving students exposure to a real manufacturing environment helps connect theoretical engineering decisions with their practical consequences.

More Than a Robotics Team

The EngiNERDs describe their mission as promoting innovative ideas through collaboration between students, mentors and sponsors while developing technical and business skills that can be applied in real-life situations.

The team is structured into multiple specialist sections, allowing students to explore different areas and eventually develop deeper expertise in the parts of the programme that interest them most.

That multidisciplinary approach closely reflects industry.

A successful manufacturing project might involve design engineers, manufacturing engineers, machinists, programmers, quality personnel, purchasing teams and project managers.

None of those functions operates effectively in isolation.

Robotics teaches that lesson early.

Mentorship Matters

Equipment and financial support are important, but access to experienced people can be equally valuable.

FIRST identifies adult mentorship as a fundamental part of its programmes, with mentors helping students develop technical knowledge, confidence, leadership skills and problem-solving abilities.

That mentor-student relationship is one of the reasons programmes such as FIRST can be so valuable to industries facing an ongoing need for technically skilled employees.

Students do not only see what an engineer or manufacturing professional does.

They get an opportunity to work alongside them.

A Partnership Rooted in Grand Blanc

The connection between Premier Tooling Systems and Team 2337 is particularly meaningful because both are rooted in the Grand Blanc community.

Premier Tooling Systems has operated in Grand Blanc since its founding in 1992 and today provides custom precision tooling and engineering solutions to manufacturers across industries including automotive, aerospace, hydraulics, heavy equipment, medical manufacturing and general manufacturing.

Team 2337 represents Grand Blanc High School and has grown from its 2008 rookie season into an established FIRST in Michigan programme.

Over the years, the Premier facility has also served as more than a robot build location. Historical Team 2337 materials document workshops, team events, community activities and partner showcases hosted at Premier Tooling Systems.

That is what makes this relationship different from a conventional sponsorship.

It has become part of the team's infrastructure.

From Rookie Team to Championship Competitor

Team 2337 made an immediate impact during its 2008 rookie season, earning both the Highest Rookie Seed and Rookie All-Star Award at the Detroit Regional.

Nearly two decades later, the EngiNERDs continue competing at a high level.

During the 2026 season, Team 2337 earned multiple honours, including district event victories, a FIRST Impact Award, a Michigan State Championship division victory and a FIRST Championship division victory. Premier Tooling Systems remained listed among the team's official sponsors throughout that season.

Those achievements belong to generations of students, mentors, families and partners who have helped build the programme year after year.

Why Supporting STEM Matters to Manufacturing

Manufacturing technology continues to advance.

Modern machine shops increasingly combine traditional machining knowledge with CAD/CAM, automation, robotics, data analysis, advanced cutting tools and increasingly sophisticated CNC equipment.

The next generation entering the industry will need to be comfortable moving between those disciplines.

FIRST provides students with an early opportunity to do exactly that.

According to FIRST, its programmes are designed to build collaborative problem-solving skills, introduce students to STEM professionals and help young people explore careers in engineering, coding and innovation.

That mission aligns naturally with an engineering company.

At Premier, we manufacture precision tooling.

Supporting robotics helps ensure there will continue to be talented people ready to use, improve and reinvent that technology in the future.

Engineering Is Learned by Doing

There is a point in every engineering project where theory meets reality.

A robot has to move.

A mechanism has to survive competition.

A machined component has to fit.

A programme has to run correctly.

A design has to perform under conditions that cannot always be predicted perfectly.

That experience teaches something difficult to reproduce in a textbook: engineering is an iterative process.

Students learn to measure, adjust, diagnose and improve.

That mindset is central to both competitive robotics and precision manufacturing.

It is also one of the reasons Premier Tooling Systems continues to support Team 2337.

Proud to Support the EngiNERDs

Since 2008, hundreds of hours of designing, machining, programming, testing, competing and mentoring have taken place through Team 2337.

The robots change every year.

The students eventually graduate.

But the purpose remains the same: give young people the opportunity to discover what they are capable of when they are given challenging problems, proper resources and people willing to help them learn.

Premier Tooling Systems is proud to continue supporting FIRST Robotics Team 2337 – The EngiNERDs and the students, mentors, families and partners who make the programme possible.

Follow Team 2337 – The EngiNERDs on Facebook for team updates, competitions, robot builds and community activities.

You can also learn more about The EngiNERDs and Team 2337 or explore FIRST Robotics Competition to see how students around the world are gaining hands-on experience in engineering, robotics and technology.

For more about our own work in manufacturing, explore Premier Tooling Systems engineering services or learn more about Premier Tooling Systems.