Community shows up to celebrate Scotchman’s 50th anniversary

Figure 1. Brian Heltzel of Scotchman Industries Inc. ends a tour by showing visitors how an ironworker’s angle shear works.

When a company hosts an open house in a town of about 750 people, you can expect a crowd. It’s sort of a big deal. When that company is Scotchman Industries Inc. in Philip, S.D., it’s a really big deal (see Figure 1).

The company, which has emerged as an exporter of hydraulic ironworkers, invited the community to tour its facility Sept. 26 and to celebrate the company’s 50th anniversary. This was no typical open house event as the community presence was very strong. During the tour, visitors reached out numerous times to shake the hands of Scotchman employees, who they knew either as family or friends. One visitor even showed up to see just what had become of the town’s old bowling alley, which is the building that now houses Scotchman’s administrative offices. (Scotchman loves its hometown and bowling. In 2015 the company helped with financing as a new owner took over the town’s bowling alley, Rock ’N Roll Lanes.)

Today Scotchman has about 80 employees and manufactures 14 different models of ironworkers and a complete line of circular cold saws. That wasn’t the case 50 years ago when Art Kroetch, father of Scotchman’s current president, Jerry Kroetch, introduced a 35-ton hydraulic-powered ironworker (see Figure 2). Back then he had only six employees.

Art Kroetch, who died in 2007, is still an important presence at the company (see Figure 3).

“He may not still be here, but we know that he’s still around,” said Gerry Rislov, Scotchman’s vice president of operations, in a film chronicling the company's history.

The way Scotchman has built its ironworkers over the years has changed pretty dramatically. The shop nowadays is filled with state-of-the-art equipment that delivers precise execution of manufacturing instructions and at a volume that even the very skilled craftsman of the past could not keep up with. For example, two Mazak machining centers are tended by an automated material removal and delivery mechanism. It rides up and down a rail system, removing pallets with fixtures and accompanying parts and replacing those with new pallets. In all, 28 pallets are used to keep the high-volume machining centers fed during work shifts and after hours, according to Brian Heltzel, plant superintendent.

That type of technology is found elsewhere in the facility as well. In fact, two new saw blade sharpening machines sat in the aisle, waiting to be installed near the ironworker tooling and saw blade fulfillment area.

“Our company was founded on the principle of providing well-built machinery to help our customers find efficient solutions for their shop needs,” said Jerry Kroetch. “Nothing has changed. We take pride in manufacturing quality, USA-made metal fabricating machines that can be passed down from generation to generation.”

As visitors completed their tour of the Scotchman facility, they were greeted with a collection of news clippings from past articles about the company and its founding family; company calendars from past decades; and treats, including two cakes with edible lettering that looked like metal letters punched from 10-gauge sheet metal.

Brooke Formanek, Scotchman’s marketing director, shared a look at the possible graphics for the 2018 company calendar with some visitors before they left. On it, a picture of Art Kroetch from his early days in the business is found near a callout for keeping metal fabricators happy.

In small towns like Philip, 50 years isn’t as distant as it might be in other places. Memories, supported by familiar faces and a laid-back environment, keep people connected and humble. It’s probably the reason that a company like Scotchman shares its success with everyone, not just with a few shareholders and select customers.

Slide Show | 3 Images