Oil City’s
year of business, Oil City Iron Works recently added capacity for larger castings to take advantage of a continued boom in the energy market. ALFRED SPADA, EDITOR/PUBLISHER
Now in its 125th
1886 at the start of the oil boom. Because Corsicana was the site of the first oil well west of the Mississippi (two blocks from where the plant sits today), the facility was dedicated to the oil market from around the turn of the century through the 1980s. To survive the recession of the early 1980s, Oil City began to diversify its customer base, and by the 1990s, it had regained solid financial ground. “We needed a new direction,”
O
said Eric Meyers Sr., chief executive offi cer of Oil City. “T e start of the diversifi cation put us in the position we are today.” Today’s Oil City maintains strong
footing in the oil, gas and energy markets, which make up 40% of pro- duction. To take advantage of a new energy boom, the casting facility ex- panded its nobake molding capabilities from a few thousand-pound to 8,000-
20 | MODERN CASTING August 2011
il City Iron Works, Corsicana, Texas was established in
Oil City Iron Works Inc. Corsicana, Texas
Metals: Ductile, austempered ductile, gray and high-alloyed iron.
Molding Processes: Green sand and nobake. End Markets: Oil, gas, solar, mining, pumps and valves, general manufactur- ing and agriculture.
Casting Size: Ounces to 8,000 lbs.
Value-Added: Machining, heat treat, painting, surface treatment and assembly.
2010 Production: 7,425 tons.
2011 Production: 5,977 tons (through July). Employees: 259. Plant Size: 200,000 sq. ft.
lb castings during the last fi ve years. “We are constantly looking at ways
to eff ectively increase capacity along with effi ciency,” said Bill Riley, vice president of manufacturing. “We real- ize that there remains a demand for large domestic castings and that has been a key factor in our planning and development phase for future growth.” Meyers’ son and current Oil City
President Eric R. Meyers called the company’s growth smart growth. “To
watch the news and plan for any- thing is diffi cult,” he said. “We con- tinue to be conservatively optimistic and will continue to expand into larger castings as we are pushed by the energy market. As oil, general mining and natural gas continue to increase, we will see our workload increase.”
Next in Line During Oil City’s move toward
larger castings, the family business was undergoing a transition from one generation to the next. On Jan 1, 2008, Meyers Jr. took over as president of the company while his father moved on to hold the title of chief executive offi cer and chairman of the board. Succession planning is common
in metalcasting, but according to the Meyers, the process isn’t easy. Is the surrounding management team strong? Does the new generation have the experience, passion and fi re to suc- ceed? Has the new generation earned the trust and respect of employees
Energy
Boom
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68