JEROME HARVEY: A CHILD OF METALCASTING
Jerome Harvey, CEO, Harvey Industries, LLC
Born in 1956 in Albion, Mich., to parents who worked in a casting operation, G. Jerome Harvey started his manufacturing career at General Motors after graduating from Eastern Michigan Univ. At GM, Harvey received what he calls his “greatest education” working in engineering and purchasing and serving as a launch team leader. Harvey left GM in 1981 to launch Harvey Indus- tries. The firm initially was focused on machining and grew to become a supplier to the major U.S. automotive OEMs. The firm’s first venture into metalcasting came with the acquisition of the automotive-focused Wabash, Ind., aluminum cast- ing facility in 2007.
“Automotive competition has even become more fierce than it was 20 years ago,” Harvey
said. “Demand is starting to outstrip supply as the supply needed to service the market is not as readily available as it has been in the past. While this will equal itself out, customers are starting to look back to North America for supply. As a result, suppliers are starting to see some fruits of their hard work in the neverend- ing process improvement demanded by customers.”
“When companies are purchased
by investment firms, profitability and political situations often can win out,” Ballinger said. “Jerome Harvey is a different leader. He wants us to run the business.” “Instead of setting out an edict
to new acquisitions on day one, we tell them that we are going to work hard for them. We are responsible to you as an employer,” Harvey said. “In response, we ask that you are respon- sible to us as an employee. It is simple, straight to the point.” While Harvey went on to point out that the firm has a strong set of metrics that are rolled out to the plant, it isn’t all in the numbers. “We have aggressively made
acquisitions, so we have always had a changing seafront,” Harvey said. “Our competition is in other parts of the globe. Tere are certain things we can’t be, but we must continue to challenge ourselves to be competitive in the mar- ketplace. You can lose your shirt today by simply taking your eye off the ball for a short period of time. You have to stay focused on the point of sale today and tomorrow.” For Ballinger and the rest of the
team at Wabash, this corporate sup- port is “invigorating.” As the first casting acquisition, Wabash has served as the big brother to the two more recent casting facility acquisitions. As Harvey Industries works to harmo- nize the various management systems across plants, the Wabash facility is a key stabilizer. “We entered the casting market
at a reasonably good time,” Harvey said. “We started on an upswing. Te economy has not been the best to met- alcasting, but this is the sort of job or career that you have to enjoy what you are doing or you are in trouble. I enjoy what I am doing.” Hopefully, his parents will understand.
ONLINE RESOURCE Visit
www.moderncasting.com to listen to an audiocast with company CEO Jerome Harvey.
28 | MODERN CASTING September 2011
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