Harvey Industries Wabash Operations Wabash, Indiana
Metals: 319 and 356 aluminum.
Molding Processes: Green sand and permanent mold. Value-Added: Machining and assembly. End Markets: Automotive and commercial vehicle. Casting Size: Less than 1 lb. to 30 lbs.
2010 Production: 3,818 tons. Employees: 155. Plant Size: 120,000 sq ft. (45,000 for machining)
up so he would learn never to make a career out of it. Born in Albion, Mich., Harvey
J
was an only child whose parents both worked at the now-closed Hayes Albion iron casting facility. His father was a molder, and his mother man- aged the cafeteria. Harvey was a “melt man,” working summers during college on the arc furnace deck. Te lesson backfired. “Metalcasting
gets in your blood,” Harvey said. “I worked in the foundry, and it never left me.” As CEO of Harvey Industries
LLC, Livonia, Mich., Harvey is the face of an emerging powerhouse in today’s metalcasting industry. Since 2007, his firm has acquired cast- ing facilities in Aiken, S.C., Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, and Wabash, Ind., to complement its existing machining business in Westland, Mich. According to Harvey, the goal is for the firm to become the “one-stop shop OEMs desire.” “Metalcasting gives us the opportu-
nity to control manufacturing from its [origin] all the way through the final product,” Harvey said. “We know we are more attractive to a customer if we are able to control the process from beginning to end.”
A Return to Past Glory? In the early months of 2008, the
Wabash casting facility, controlled by global automotive supplier Hayes-
Harvey Industries’ Wabash, Ind., facility is built around its green sand molding line with auto- matic dual ladle pouring of aluminum.
September 2011 MODERN CASTING | 25
erome Harvey’s parents made him work in a cast- ing operation growing
Lemmerz International Inc., North- ville, Mich., had seen better days. Wabash was an aluminum green sand facility that catered to the automotive market with a strong focus on intake manifolds and cylinder heads. Once a prominent member of the growing, technology-driven CMI Interna- tional group, this facility (which was established in 1978), was rumored to be closing as its parent company was looking to focus on its core competen- cies in the wheel business. Instead, on July 3, 2007, the
Wabash facility became the first metalcasting acquisition by Harvey Industries. “Tere was an immediate change in the employees’ attitude when the acquisition took place,” said Janet Betzner, plant controller. “Employees were enthusiastic and optimistic. Tere was a renewed energy.” “We purchased Wabash because it was the perfect target for four reasons,” Harvey said. “First, the plant pours aluminum and molds the part. Second, it has machining. Tird, it has assembly. And last, the people in the facility are second to none. Tat
combination made Wabash a winner.” Harvey said that his firm was
looking for a metalcasting opportu- nity since 2001 so it could pursue a vertically integrated position. While it had been successful as a machinist only, the firm believes metalcasting could take it to a new level. “Te one-stop shop became very
fashionable for automotive suppliers in the 2000s and it still remains a very prudent business decision for effi- ciency,” Harvey said. Initially, the Wabash plant served as
the corporate headquarters for Harvey Industries. Tis gave the employees at the plant an opportunity to learn about their new owners face-to-face. “We started to see a return to the
CMI days in the closeness of the plant to the ownership,” Betzner said. “It was more of a family atmosphere. Te politics of a large global corporation were gone.” “With Harvey Industries, we are
a smaller company with less over- head and more flexibility,” said John Ballinger, plant manager, who came to run Wabash after the acquisition by Harvey Industries. “We can work
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