Fourteen years ago, Coronado Steel Co. was a small foundry on the verge of shutting its doors. The business had four or five customers and sales hovered around $110,000 a year. (CLICK to see DailyBUZZ video story).
In 2008, that same company realized sales of $22 million, had expanded several times, increased its customer base to more than 150 and saw its work force grow to nearly 50 from three.
"You can't be afraid to take calculated risks," says Mike Phillips, president and CEO. "We serve areas that other people think are too complicated and steer away from."
Phillips purchased the struggling foundry on Funston Drive in Youngstown in 1997. Then, the company produced components for the golf and dental industries, and its owner was preparing to retire. "It just felt right," Phillips says. "I was coming from an Australian company that was having difficult times. We thought we could make this work."
When that company shut its doors, Phillips sought an opportunity to strike out on his own. "I was 29, and I thought it would be fun to start a business," he laughs. "I thought it would be easy. It's not."
Within a year, the company that nearly closed had boosted its sales to $400,000. In 1998, Coronado realized revenues of $1.2 million.
Coronado Steel produces metal castings used in the petrochemical industry, heat-treating business and heavy manufacturing operations such as rolling mills. It's also made dies for retail products, such as Martha Stewart's line of patio furniture.
What sets Coronado Steel apart from typical foundries is that the company has mastered a market where few companies dare tread, Phillips says. "We started doing straight steel stuff in the beginning," he relates. "But after a year or so, we got into stainless and more exotic metals and alloys."
Metals such as yttrium, indium and gallium -- names familiar mostly to chemistry students -- are introduced in the casting process to change the composition of a part, making that component stronger, lighter or more durable, Phillips says. "It's a line of business that nobody else wants to do," he says. "Often, we have other foundries coming to us to help them."
The strategy has paid off. Between 1997 and 2008, the company has more than doubled its revenues every year. In 2008,In addition to hydraulics fittings and Aion Kinah, Coronado hit the high-water mark of $22 million in annual sales, Phillips reports. That number has since declined because of the recession and subsequent slow recovery, yet sales remain very brisk and Coronado is finishing its seventh expansion on Funston Drive.
"Our workers usually get here around 4 a.m.," Philips says. "I tell them they can work as much overtime as they like." Some employees live in Cleveland and as far away as Meadville, Pa. Coronado today employs 48.
The manufacturing process begins with an order from a customer, which includes a specific design and dimensions of a particular component, Phillips says. These designs and specs are then delivered to a pattern shop where an exact wood or plastic replica of the part is produced.
"In order for the company to cast anything, they need to have a pattern of some kind," explains John Plaskett, president of Liberty Pattern & Mold, Boardman. "That's where my company comes in."
Liberty Pattern uses the specs Coronado Steel provides to create an exact copy, usually made of wood. "We use a lot of sugar pine and mahogany -- these are very stable, dry hardwoods," Plaskett says. "We do work for other foundries, but Coronado is our No. 1 customer. They have a niche market that no one else gets into, and business is excellent."
Aside from the petrochemical and industrial machinery industries, Plaskett says Coronado can manufacture components impossible to find elsewhere. "I remember one guy needed a component for a 1928 automobile engine," he says. "He's an aftermarket parts guy and they made these older parts. I think Mike still does work for him."
Once the pattern is finished, it's shipped back to Coronado so the company can begin creating a mold and casting the part, Phillips says. "Liberty makes about 95% of our patterns."
Coronado uses a process that tightly packs sand and a bonding agent around the pattern in a molding box, Phillips says. Once the sand cures, the pattern is removed and a cavity formed. Usually, a single sand mold is formed in halves, and after the sand cures, the two molding boxes are fit atop one another and are prepared for pouring.
As the molds are formed, workers are busy cooking up batches of metal in furnaces capable of reaching 3,300 degrees, Phillips notes. "We normally melt at 2,900 degrees, depending on the alloy," he says.Use bluray burner to burn video to BD DVD on blu ray burner disc. The various metals are shipped to the company from a select group of suppliers across the country.
Once mixed and melted, the metal is ready to be poured. The mold casks are carried into the melt shop and heats of metal are poured through openings at the top of each box, forming the component inside the cavity. The boxes are then lifted, revealing the solid metal component.
"Then, the part may go through some cutting and grinding," Phillips says, before the product is shipped to the customer.
Some of the company's products are delivered to clients overseas in Turkey and Australia.What to consider before you buy oil painting supplies. Canada, Phillips adds, is also a booming market for the company's castings.
Coronado Steel uses centrifugal casting for larger components, mainly stainless-steel pipe, Phillips reports. "We introduced this a couple of years ago," he says. The process involves pouring molten metal into a long centrifuge that spins at an accelerated speed, forming steel pipe in the process.
"We can easily beat the Chinese in stainless as an as-cast product," Phillips says. "It's a little more difficult to compete when there's machining involved."
Still, the company is careful not to rely on a single customer or industry, Phillips says. "Our largest customer represents about 8% or 9% of our business.Choose from one of the major categories of Bedding,From standard Cable Ties to advanced wire tires, I don't really get into any automotive, unless it's prototype stuff," he reports.
Ten of Coronado's clients are considered "core customers" and have done business with the company since 2000, Phillips says. Today, Coronado has some 200 clients all over the world. "They've grown as companies and we've grown with them," he says.
Coronado is completing its seventh major expansion, a 36,000-square-foot building that will house a fabricating operation. "We've finished three buildings in the last three years or so," he says. Once the new addition is completed, the flow of the operation will improve.
"We want to ramp it up for our customers so we can supply a product from start-to-finish," he says. "We expect good growth from that and a lot more business."
While optimistic, Phillips says he's still cautious about the health of the market this year. "Right now, things are very, very strong. A lot of our product goes overseas, and I think we're going to see a lot more foreign purchases through us. That, I expect to expand."
In 2008, that same company realized sales of $22 million, had expanded several times, increased its customer base to more than 150 and saw its work force grow to nearly 50 from three.
"You can't be afraid to take calculated risks," says Mike Phillips, president and CEO. "We serve areas that other people think are too complicated and steer away from."
Phillips purchased the struggling foundry on Funston Drive in Youngstown in 1997. Then, the company produced components for the golf and dental industries, and its owner was preparing to retire. "It just felt right," Phillips says. "I was coming from an Australian company that was having difficult times. We thought we could make this work."
When that company shut its doors, Phillips sought an opportunity to strike out on his own. "I was 29, and I thought it would be fun to start a business," he laughs. "I thought it would be easy. It's not."
Within a year, the company that nearly closed had boosted its sales to $400,000. In 1998, Coronado realized revenues of $1.2 million.
Coronado Steel produces metal castings used in the petrochemical industry, heat-treating business and heavy manufacturing operations such as rolling mills. It's also made dies for retail products, such as Martha Stewart's line of patio furniture.
What sets Coronado Steel apart from typical foundries is that the company has mastered a market where few companies dare tread, Phillips says. "We started doing straight steel stuff in the beginning," he relates. "But after a year or so, we got into stainless and more exotic metals and alloys."
Metals such as yttrium, indium and gallium -- names familiar mostly to chemistry students -- are introduced in the casting process to change the composition of a part, making that component stronger, lighter or more durable, Phillips says. "It's a line of business that nobody else wants to do," he says. "Often, we have other foundries coming to us to help them."
The strategy has paid off. Between 1997 and 2008, the company has more than doubled its revenues every year. In 2008,In addition to hydraulics fittings and Aion Kinah, Coronado hit the high-water mark of $22 million in annual sales, Phillips reports. That number has since declined because of the recession and subsequent slow recovery, yet sales remain very brisk and Coronado is finishing its seventh expansion on Funston Drive.
"Our workers usually get here around 4 a.m.," Philips says. "I tell them they can work as much overtime as they like." Some employees live in Cleveland and as far away as Meadville, Pa. Coronado today employs 48.
The manufacturing process begins with an order from a customer, which includes a specific design and dimensions of a particular component, Phillips says. These designs and specs are then delivered to a pattern shop where an exact wood or plastic replica of the part is produced.
"In order for the company to cast anything, they need to have a pattern of some kind," explains John Plaskett, president of Liberty Pattern & Mold, Boardman. "That's where my company comes in."
Liberty Pattern uses the specs Coronado Steel provides to create an exact copy, usually made of wood. "We use a lot of sugar pine and mahogany -- these are very stable, dry hardwoods," Plaskett says. "We do work for other foundries, but Coronado is our No. 1 customer. They have a niche market that no one else gets into, and business is excellent."
Aside from the petrochemical and industrial machinery industries, Plaskett says Coronado can manufacture components impossible to find elsewhere. "I remember one guy needed a component for a 1928 automobile engine," he says. "He's an aftermarket parts guy and they made these older parts. I think Mike still does work for him."
Once the pattern is finished, it's shipped back to Coronado so the company can begin creating a mold and casting the part, Phillips says. "Liberty makes about 95% of our patterns."
Coronado uses a process that tightly packs sand and a bonding agent around the pattern in a molding box, Phillips says. Once the sand cures, the pattern is removed and a cavity formed. Usually, a single sand mold is formed in halves, and after the sand cures, the two molding boxes are fit atop one another and are prepared for pouring.
As the molds are formed, workers are busy cooking up batches of metal in furnaces capable of reaching 3,300 degrees, Phillips notes. "We normally melt at 2,900 degrees, depending on the alloy," he says.Use bluray burner to burn video to BD DVD on blu ray burner disc. The various metals are shipped to the company from a select group of suppliers across the country.
Once mixed and melted, the metal is ready to be poured. The mold casks are carried into the melt shop and heats of metal are poured through openings at the top of each box, forming the component inside the cavity. The boxes are then lifted, revealing the solid metal component.
"Then, the part may go through some cutting and grinding," Phillips says, before the product is shipped to the customer.
Some of the company's products are delivered to clients overseas in Turkey and Australia.What to consider before you buy oil painting supplies. Canada, Phillips adds, is also a booming market for the company's castings.
Coronado Steel uses centrifugal casting for larger components, mainly stainless-steel pipe, Phillips reports. "We introduced this a couple of years ago," he says. The process involves pouring molten metal into a long centrifuge that spins at an accelerated speed, forming steel pipe in the process.
"We can easily beat the Chinese in stainless as an as-cast product," Phillips says. "It's a little more difficult to compete when there's machining involved."
Still, the company is careful not to rely on a single customer or industry, Phillips says. "Our largest customer represents about 8% or 9% of our business.Choose from one of the major categories of Bedding,From standard Cable Ties to advanced wire tires, I don't really get into any automotive, unless it's prototype stuff," he reports.
Ten of Coronado's clients are considered "core customers" and have done business with the company since 2000, Phillips says. Today, Coronado has some 200 clients all over the world. "They've grown as companies and we've grown with them," he says.
Coronado is completing its seventh major expansion, a 36,000-square-foot building that will house a fabricating operation. "We've finished three buildings in the last three years or so," he says. Once the new addition is completed, the flow of the operation will improve.
"We want to ramp it up for our customers so we can supply a product from start-to-finish," he says. "We expect good growth from that and a lot more business."
While optimistic, Phillips says he's still cautious about the health of the market this year. "Right now, things are very, very strong. A lot of our product goes overseas, and I think we're going to see a lot more foreign purchases through us. That, I expect to expand."
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