were jeopardized by a dock strike that made it difficult for American Seating to import the products it needed to complete the projects. Not only did American Seating need the sides, but it also needed parts for the seat centers. In stepped Atlas, supplying an extra
15,000 castings. “T ey stepped up and fi lled that
void,” Weener said. “I’m sure they didn’t fi t that in without some pain and suff ering on their part. Even though the center standard is made overseas, Atlas supplies all of the seat arms and the pivots for all of these standards. I think their consistent responsiveness has strengthened their position with us.” When American Seating asked
Atlas to improve the grinding fi nish on the seat sides, the facility installed an automated grinding cell through Vulcan Engineering Co.
It was successful and fl exible
According to Atlas, casting sides and other components of seats at stadiums, arenas, theaters and class- rooms makes up about 10% of its annual business but can be more if other industries are slowing down. It’s a niche Atlas has been in for
over 20 years. How the metalcaster got into it is a lesson for other companies. Now-CEO Jim Gartland had a
Atlas Foundry keeps its patterns for all its parts, including the sides, in a warehouse.
enough to be used for the met- alcaster’s wide mix of work, and Atlas placed an order for the second auto- matic grinder a year after installing the fi rst. “T e automatic grinder is one of the
reasons we can do so many seat ends,” said Bill Gartland, president, Atlas.
friend who had a lead on some work for Atlas. They went to Grand Rap- ids to visit American Seating, which coincidentally needed prints tested on a Disa machine “like yesterday” Jim Gartland remembered. Jim Gartland successfully ran the molds, and about a week later he was called for more, which Atlas provided. “It just took off from there,” Jim
Gartland said. “It’s a nice relationship and the
work’s pretty consistent. It’s more con- sistent than I thought it would be.”
Sept/Oct 2016 | METAL CASTING DESIGN & PURCHASING | 25
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