In the recession of the early ‘80s I remember hearing how a major manufacturer of railcars in Chicago, due to a lack of demand for their product, had begun seeking work as a contract manufacturer or job shop. They had all the fabricating equipment to make railcars—steel bending equipment, punch presses, welders, jigs, fixtures, etc.–as well as a trained workforce in the plant and in the engineering departments—all of which allowed them to pursue other work with steel.
Yes, it was outside of their niche, but they were able to utilize their plant and equipment while retaining at least part of their skilled workforce. Being in the contract manufacturing business myself, I was not happy to see the emergence of another competitor, but I admired their willingness to make the changes necessary in a changing environment.
Recently, I visited a very large structural steel fabricator that builds very large structures (think stadiums) where I was told that while they had always done some non-structural work, in this recession they are happy to be somewhat busy with manufacturing component parts for machinery and equipment.
In addition to doing work outside their specialty, during this recession companies are taking on more work that is increasingly challenging—sometimes with success, sometimes not. And taking on work in markets not familiar to them, again perhaps causing difficulties.
The companies that can move most nimbly into new markets with new services may be those specialized companies who have always worked in numerous and varied markets.
For example, Chicago Metal Rolled Products specializes in curving structural steel and rolling steel plate and sheet. We have produced curved component parts for machinery and equipment manufacturers for such OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) as Trane, Trinity Industries, Boeing, Caterpillar, Case, John Deere, and McDonald Douglas, to name just a few. We have also curved steel for the construction industry providing hundreds of thousands of tons of curved beams, tubes, steel tees, and angles for canopies, roofs, arches, and other structural elements of buildings. Examples include the curved roofs on the major airports in New York (JFK), Detroit, Jacksonville, San Jose, Fresno/Yosemite, and Miami.
Every year we serve thousands of customers in hundreds of markets during both boom and bust times. So it may be easier for us to adapt.
Have you seen changes in the ways steel fabricators and manufacturers are doing business these days because of the recession?
