to make up for the 40% drop-off in existing customer sales. Still, it kept the company in a good position to come out of the recession quickly and regain lost ground. By 2011, Olson had survived his first indus- try crisis as sole owner, and Olson Aluminum was earning a significant sales volume annually—more
than pre-recession levels. “Te only reason we’ve been able
to [improve the performance of the company] is that we stand on the shoulders of giants,” Olson said. “I attribute much of our success to our previous generations.” Additionally, Stahl points out Olson Aluminum’s lead time and
metal quality have been critical in expanding and maintaining its customer base. The company has been providing four-week lead times for existing jobs since 1990, he said, regardless of the business cycle. “Lead time is four weeks now, and
it was four weeks when we were close to capacity,” Stahl said. “Te 90s was a decade of speed, and we had to step up to be a competitive player.” Te company’s reputation for metal quality stems earlier, from Olson’s conservative patternmak- ing philosophy. Since the company’s start as a pattern shop in 1945, it has performed its own gating and riser design, pattern and layout work. “Our mold riser layouts continue to be designed conservatively,” Stahl said. “Don and Ray always said the business doesn’t have to be risky. After machining is when you really see the quality of the castings.” To ensure the quality of the metal
running through the gating, Olson Aluminum degasses the melt. Every heat is tested to monitor for variations in the metal, and the facility pours primarily 356 and 319 aluminum and keeps the melts simple and consistent. “We don’t want to paint our
customers in a corner. Our goal is to design casting programs that will work the first time,” Stahl said. “We, along with our customers, have much invested in the design process. We consider issues such as machining, datum targets, finish stock require- ments and final grinding.” Now Olson Aluminum is pushing
to further tighten lead times to match customer inventory requirements and increase its production flexibility. According to Olson, the new nobake line offers its customers addi- tional diversification and opportuni- ties in product design.
ONLINE RESOURCE
Visit
www.moderncasting.com to see additional multimedia of Olson Aluminum’s new nobake line.
24 | MODERN CASTING August 2012
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