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The pursuit to be the best value-added supplier

A knowledgeable staff and key investments have helped Waukesha® Metal Products grow, as well as earn The FABRICATOR’s 2015 Industry Award

Figure 1
Key members of the management team of Waukesha Metal Products include (back row, left to right) Michael Steger, vice president and COO; Bob Markowiak, tooling manager; Bill Milbrath, operations manager; (front row) Jeffrey Clark, president and CEO; and Vicki Pinnow, administration and human resources manager.

It might be easier to describe Waukesha® Metal Products by considering what it is not.

It’s no longer just a commodity stamper since realizing several years ago that it couldn’t remain in business by competing against the low-cost manufacturers across the globe. It’s not simply a metal former because the company acquired fabricating technology and expertise in 2009. It’s not just a regional provider of metal manufacturing services because it purchased a fabricating facility in Mexico last year.

Jeffrey Clark, the company’s president and CEO, sees his Sussex, Wis.-based company as a provider of “best value solutions.” Waukesha has been able to become a stronger supply chain partner with its customers by doing more than just supply parts.

“We have provided them the solutions they need in metal forming, and that’s why we went from being just a tool and die shop to a stamping provider then to a metal former to a fabricator of assemblies for our larger OEMs that require those components,” Clark said. “We are now graduating into more and more complex assemblies as we go. We’re becoming much more integrated into the supply chain for the customer.”

The approach seems to have paid off in terms of growth. Waukesha is expected to earn revenues of $33 million in 2015, which is triple the amount the company sold when Clark and his team purchased the company in 2005.

Not only has the company emerged as a leading example of how modern metal manufacturers can grow from humble origins to become a producer of parts that are destined for use around the world, it has also become a leader in boosting the image of manufacturing in southeast Wisconsin, one of the country’s vital manufacturing hubs. Management realizes that the company’s long-term prospects depend on new blood entering the manufacturing ranks and replacing the talent that is growing grayer by the year.

This ability to balance a constant commitment to its customers’ successes with an investment of time and effort to introduce younger people to the promising possibilities associated with a career in manufacturing has garnered plenty of attention from state trade associations and national manufacturing organizations. The FABRICATOR has noticed it as well and named Waukesha Metal Products the recipient of its 2015 Industry Award (see Figure 1).

The Knowledge Side of the Business

Waukesha’s origins are similar to those of other manufacturing companies. Two tool- and diemakers start a small business in 1971, and by the 1980s, they have taken on some stamping jobs at the behest of customers.

As the 2000s came around, the manufacturing business was very different from just 20 years earlier. High-volume stamping jobs weren’t measured in the tens of thousands, but instead in the thousands. Also, China had emerged and looked to be the potential home for all the world’s metal manufacturing. In 2005 Clark and his team moved in to purchase the company.

At that time Clark described Waukesha as a “very good” medium-run stamping house. The business had a solid tool- and diemaking operation and demonstrated flexibility in managing changeouts on its presses to accommodate smaller part runs.

Figure 2
Under every tool it makes, Waukesha Metal Products includes sensors to track such things as raw material movement, part ejection, and mechanical movement.

But even then the company had begun taking steps to separate itself from other area metal formers. It wasn’t going to be able to grow by being the same old company.

One area of investment was in formability analysis software. Once raw material and 3-D CAD data are entered into the program, the software calculates forming and bending stresses, which are used to simulate the actual forming process. Engineers can then identify concerns during the forming or drawing process. From there, changes can be recommended and made to the part design or to the tooling to address these concerns.

By catching these potential issues early, Waukesha is able to address any possible forming challenges early in the design phase with the customer—not after the tooling has been built and the job has hit the shop floor. This use of software and early intervention shaves days and sometimes weeks off lead times, according to Rob Bauer, Waukesha’s engineering manager.

The expansion of the company’s sensor and automation technology usage is another example of how Waukesha has grown as a manufacturer. The sensors help to ensure consistent part quality because they verify parts are where they need to be and the tooling is working as designed (see Figure 2). The automation side of things provides inspection of parts and verification of features. Bauer is quick to point out that the tool- and diemaker who was a key source of expertise in ramping up the use of sensors in tooling is also a guy that just recently finished up studying automation technologies, an education that Waukesha helped to pay for.

“That’s the one thing I appreciate about the company,” Bauer said. “If it adds value, they won’t balk at it. They’re willing to invest.”

Those types of investments in people and equipment are evident in everyday activities in the Waukesha facility. They are particuarly noteworthy because they not only remedy customer pain points, but also help to grow the business.

How is that? Clark refers to a project from about two years ago when Waukesha engineers had to rethink how they were going to produce a brake dust shield for a pickup truck. The original design would have worked in one of the company’s press beds, but by the time the part went through several design iterations, it outgrew the die bed. The part was going to require two presses, one for initial forming and the other for secondary processes. At least, that was the thought initially.

Clark said the technical staff thought of a way to use a linear transfer system (see Figure 3) to pull the part out of the bed of the Komatsu press, flip it, and transfer it to a small processing station where cams perform the last few punch requirements (see Figure 4). In a neat design trick, the cam system takes advantage of the press motion to power the hydraulics (see Figure 5).

“That’s the solution stuff that we talk about,” Clark said.

Boosting the Production Portfolio

Even as Waukesha matured as a highly knowledgeable and well-rounded metal former, it still lacked expertise that customers craved.

Figure 3
The linear transfer system on this 300-ton press helped to eliminate the need for another stamping press to perform secondary punching operations on brake dust shield parts. One press means the process needs only one machine technician to oversee the entire operation. This is an example of the manufacturing knowledge that Waukesha Metal Products believes it can offer customers to control production costs.

“We were missing pieces of the business,” Clark said. “We weren’t able to provide the right solution for some of our customers through prototyping and ramp-up.”

They needed fabricating capabilities. So in 2009, coming off the heels of the Great Recession (during which the company experienced only two months of nonprofitable activity thanks to quick decision-making and companywide sacrifices), Waukesha acquired Parkview Metal Products, Lake Zurich, Ill., and soon set up a 42,000-square-foot fabricating facility in Grafton, Wis. (see Figure 6). In 2011 it added fabricating capabilities and contacts with the acquisition of Metal Skills Plus, DeForest, Wis. Waukesha has laser cutting, punching, and press brake bending capabilities (see Figure 7) that it didn’t have prior to 2009.

The manufacturing footprint expanded once again earlier in 2014 with the purchase of Rev-stone Fabrication in San Luis Potosí, Mexico. Its new 110,000-sq.-ft. manufacturing facility not only got Waukesha closer to its customers, but also greatly enhanced its metal fabricating offerings. It could now provide tube fabricating and machining, along with metal cutting, punching, robotic welding, and stamping.

“We’ve come so far from being a commodity stamper,” Clark said. “It used to be we were just stamping heavy brackets and shipping them out the door. The nature of the product we produce now has changed so much over the years. The parts and end products are getting so much more detailed.”

Expertise and More Capabilities Grow the Business

The improved version of this manufacturing services provider is quite evident in the work it has done for one of its larger customers. In early 2013 Waukesha won a huge job to produce 300,000 large sheet metal shelving units and more than 1 million side rails for an automated warehouse site. The person who actually steered the job Waukesha’s way had worked for another company that had once done business with the metal former and fabricator. He remembered Waukesha’s engineering and dual stamping and fabricating capabilities and thought it could handle the sizable manufacturing job—a $3 million job to be more exact. The catch was that Waukesha needed new press capacity, and it had to fit the press into a packed 48,000-sq.-ft. facility in Sussex, Wis., that was already running almost 24 hours per day.

Clark said Waukesha removed some older presses to make room for a new 660-ton mechanical press from SEYI (see Figure 8), had a foundation poured, and raised the roof to accommodate the height of the press. By May 2013 the press was producing parts.

The next challenge came in late September 2013 when the customer changed the shelving design, moving away from metal. The side rails, however, were still metal but specified with heavier-gauge steel and a more complex design. Bauer said the engineering staff stepped up and devised a way to handle a challenging in-die hardware insertion operation (see “Riveting Insertion Story” sidebar).

“This was again solution providing,” Clark said, “coupled with entrepreneurship and risk taking. We looked at the business model and made it work.”

Although the company is not as large a customer as it was in 2013, it is still a customer. Just as it has intended, Waukesha has managed to become more than just a parts supplier, which keeps customers coming back.

Keeping the Culture Alive

As any manufacturing company can attest, the can-do spirit that makes some small companies profitable and candidates to grow at a faster rate than others is hard to maintain as a company grows. New employees who weren’t around for the early days join the group, and sometimes new locations dilute any influence a centralized leadership structure may offer.

Figure 4
The two punch stations outside of the Komatsu press put the finishing touches on the brake dust shield.

Clark said he is cognizant of that challenge. That’s why he leans on a core group of about 50 employees, who have a deep understanding of what has made Waukesha successful, to share the vision and the lessons learned over the past decade. They are the leaders and voice of experience driving the

culture and process of value-added activity to the rest of the 75 employees at the three facilities.

“Our management structure is flat,” Bauer said. “The minimal levels of management and our smaller size allow us to get answers quickly and, if needed, change direction and adapt to our customers’ needs and requirements.”

Waukesha does maintain a formal meeting structure to ensure that everyone stays on the same page. These weekly and monthly meetings with representatives from across the organization take a critical look at all operational areas. Key metrics, such as on-time delivery, accounts receivable, accounts payable, inventory levels, sales, and cost of quality, are reviewed. All processes in the front office and on the shop floor are under constant critique.

Clark added that the implementation of a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system in 2008 was a huge improvement in terms of delivering much-needed information to the people that need it. Before the installation of the software from Plex, the company used spreadsheets and simple printouts to analyze business activities.

The software now provides the organization with planning and reporting modules for every aspect of the business. Accounting, shop floor, quality, human resources, inventory, and customer service are just some of the departments that rely on the ERP system every day. The recent addition of an accounting manager with experience in using the software has allowed Waukesha to tailor reports for the needs of certain departments.

“Everything is accessible over the Internet with our software, so you’re not having to say, ‘Where’s the file cabinet?’” Clark said. “It makes a big difference from a communication standpoint.”

Looking at the Long Term

Communicating with a workforce spread over three facilities can be a challenge. Communicating to young people about the career benefits that can be found in manufacturing can be looked upon as an almost insurmountable task. That hasn’t stopped Clark and the Waukesha team from trying.

As Clark explained, the company really has no choice. “We’re getting older, and we’re younger than half the shop,” he said, referring to his management team.

Waukesha is actively involved on several fronts in Wisconsin; it supports robotics and engineering training at nearby high schools and regional community colleges, provides speakers to just about any organization that wants an expert on the subject of manufacturing, and opens the company doors to the public on MFG Day each October. The metal manufacturer’s work with the GPS Education Partners is indicative of the effort the company has made to attract new talent for the local manufacturing base.

GPS, formerly known as Second Chance Partners, was formed in 2000 to offer an alternative path of learning for high school students. Targeting juniors and seniors, the program offers the students the chance to learn job-related skills in an off-campus environment and then receive class instruction covering math, science, social studies, communications, and financial literacy. For instance, Waukesha provides hands-on training to each GPS student. When the students have finished the program, they have their high school diplomas and valuable on-the-job experience that can make landing a job much easier when compared to those who lack real-world working experience. In June 2014, GPS graduated 74—its largest class ever.

Figure 5
The vertical motion of the press provides the energy that controls the cam operation.

Waukesha has been involved with the program since its beginning. For those efforts, the organization honored Clark with a Recognition of Innovation Award in September 2014.

“I know that I’m not going to obtain all of those kids once they graduate. They won’t all work for Waukesha,” Clark said. “But if I keep manufacturing solid and growing in southeast Wisconsin, then we can be the economic leader in manufacturing. That’s what I’m looking at long term.

“If I can maintain my area, my region, my state, and my country, ultimately, as an economic leader in manufacturing, I’m going to contribute to wealth creation for all of us,” he added.

To ensure its own pipeline of next-generation manufacturing talent is filled, Waukesha has begun to formalize its apprenticeship program. In 2011 it hired a tool- and die-maker apprentice as part of a five-year training program. The apprentice works in the Waukesha toolroom and attends classes at Waukesha County Technical

College. Upon completion of the program, the student earns a journeyman’s card.

The initial program has worked out well for Waukesha. It hired another tool- and diemaker apprentice in 2012 and a maintenance mechanic apprentice in 2013.

Buoyed by the initial success with the apprenticeship route, the company has taken steps to create another means to cultivate more talent for the local manufacturing scene. Company management has created an Advanced Manufacturing Certificate Program, which targets high school juniors and encourages them to take courses that reflect the needs of local manufacturing companies. Upon completion of the program, students receive a mechatronic certificate, which notifies employers that they have the knowledge and skills to contribute in a manufacturing environment. If the student so chooses, his or her newfound credentials can be used as transferrable credits to nearby community colleges, where the student can pursue an associate’s degree en route to becoming an advanced manufacturing technician.

Waukesha is finalizing its certificate program as of early 2015, but the hope is that student candidates will soon be applying to be a part of the two-year commitment.

“This is a necessary part of the business now,” Bauer said. “It never used to be that way, but now you’ve got to promote it so much and get people interested in it.”

“We have to just keep getting on that soapbox and talking about why manufacturing is a good place to be for these kids,” Clark added.

That type of proselytizing is not a main mission for many manufacturing companies, but Waukesha has proven itself to be different.

Figure 6
Waukesha Metal Products consolidated its metal fabricating activities in a facility in Grafton, Wis., in 2008.

What makes an Industry Award winner?

The winner of The FABRICATOR’s 2015 Industry Award was judged in three categories: operational improvements, business success, and contributions to the community. Entrants were asked to detail how their metal fabricating operations have excelled in each of those areas in recent years.

The FABRICATOR staff scored the companies in the three areas, with a maximum of 40 points for operational improvement, 40 points for business success, and 20 points for community involvement. The company scoring the most points was declared the winner.

As part of winning the 2015 Industry Award, Waukesha Metal Products won complimentary registration, travel, and hotel accommodations for two company representatives to The FABRICATOR’s Leadership Summit 2015, Feb. 25-27, at Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center, in Kissimmee, Fla.

If your company is interested in competing for the 2016 Industry Award, send a note to Editor-in-Chief Dan Davis at dand@thefabricator.com.

Riveting Insertion Story

In-die insertion doesn’t have to be a challenge, but sometimes a customer has a different idea. Waukesha Metal Products knows this firsthand.

When a major customer redesigned its side rails for a shelving application in an automated warehouse, it called for the placement of rivets with a head diameter that was almost the same as the overall rivet length—0.4375 in. This stubby rivet was not going to feed smoothly.

Rob Bauer, Waukesha’s engineering manager, said the rivets would tumble down standard round feed tubes. Off-the-shelf hardware insertion equipment wasn’t going to work in this instance.

Company engineers designed and built a customized hardware insertion and stake system. Two bowl feeders smoothly deliver two rivets to the front of the die and two rivets to the rear through four separate tubes. Placement is accurate, and the press is able to proceed with blank processing.

About the Author
The Fabricator

Dan Davis

Editor-in-Chief

2135 Point Blvd.

Elgin, IL 60123

815-227-8281

Dan Davis is editor-in-chief of The Fabricator, the industry's most widely circulated metal fabricating magazine, and its sister publications, The Tube & Pipe Journal and The Welder. He has been with the publications since April 2002.