expand our facility here in Washing- ton,” said McGowan. “We were just starting to look ahead to the next 10 years, and within two months we were thrown into full reverse.”
Doubling Down on a Good Plan “Because of the variety of sizes
and more underground construction every year, such as utilities, there’s a greater demand for larger castings,” said McGowan. “So, for us to meet the entire demand for the market- place, we needed to increase our capacity to make large castings. We saw this need in the early 2000s and started making plans to make this addition to our facility.” The new, multimillion-dollar
metalcasting facility would stand onsite as a separate operation pour- ing castings larger than those made in the original plant. The existing D&L facility is an all green sand operation, and ultimately the deci- sion was made to replicate it in the new plant. “One, we wanted that capac-
ity when we were ready,” said McGowan. “Secondly, we wanted the duplicity of similar induction melt shops, so when we worked with our supplier, we were very specific that we wanted things to be identi- cal both operationally and mechani- cally. Our teams knew what to expect, so it tuned down the training portion of it.” “We committed to purchasing a building and went through the engineering,” said McGowan, “all in time for the economy to come to a screeching halt.” With the permits for the new plant
in place but construction on hold, D&L’s single, private owner passed away in 2009. His heirs chose not to continue to operate the foundry as it was, so they marketed it in 2011 and came to a purchase agreement with a former competitor that May. “They needed our manufactur- ing and we needed their marketing, and it’s been love ever since,” said McGowan. After the sale was completed in
2011, the permits on the new D&L facility were going to expire if the
New furnaces power the modern, integrated melting operation.
project didn’t move forward. Having sold the idea once to the previous owner, McGowan found he was well prepared to present it again to the new ownership. “We reevaluated the timing,
the permits and the leg work we’d already done on the new construc- tion,” said McGowan. “It was nice to be able to look at it again. There wasn’t any significant change, but we developed it and made sure it was what we wanted it to do.” The new ownership chose to move forward and keep it all going through the downturn, so McGowan and his team dug in and started construc- tion. “When it was time to go again, it hit the ground running,” he said.
Making the Most of Existing Resources
“We’re in the middle of nowhere,
so we’ve become pretty resource- ful,” said McGowan, who has been with D&L for more than 22 years. “Out of necessity, we’ve become pretty self-sufficient with modify- ing equipment and making things work.” Employees were involved in developing and building the new plant.
The D&L team started collecting
equipment, purchased both used and new systems and integrated them in the new plant. The electrical system was a major
cost saver. A scrap supplier was dismantling a former wood mill that
February 2015 MODERN CASTING | 23
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