|
|
|
Call it building on tradition.
Kovatch Castings, located at 3743 Tabs Dr. in Green, celebrated their 16,000 square foot expansion and 35 years in business on July 22. They invited customers, suppliers, associates and even some competitors to the event to tour the updated facility.
“I was very pleased,” owner Doug Kovatch said. “I felt it was a really positive and received well by our customers, suppliers, even some friendly competitors present. We had associates from all around the country.”
Kovatch said he has been involved with an investment casting institute doing trading for 20 years.
“I've made a lot of friends and have no problem with being open about our plant,” he said.
Manny Matias, owner of Precise Castings in Ontario, Canada, came down and said there is no real animosity among competitors in the industry, and he looked forward to touring the plant. Tom Planz, VP of Sales and operations at Paramelt who supplies wax for Kovatch, was also on hand to see how their partner was expanding.
The plant is a far cry from its look a year ago, with a massive expansion to allow growth in both business and in jobs at the company. Kovatch said in the last 18 months, they have gone from 150 to 200 employees.
“The 16,000 additional square feet has allowed [us] to expand five departments. There’s more room to spread out and grow, we were getting pretty tight in some ares in the plant.”
Engineer Dave Everly talked about how they are still in the process of moving some of the departments from one area to another to help with efficiency.
Right now, a product might start on one end of the building, shift to the other side of the building, then head back to the original side for the following step. The plan is to move everything so it flows from one room to the one beside it.
“It's creating a better flow plan for products, so there is less inefficent movement for parts,” Kovactch said.
Besides efficiency, Everly showed the new machines that they have bought recently to stay on the cutting edge of technology. Better equipment to look for cracks when developing a mold, digitial cameras and a conveyor belt-like furnace are a few examples of equipment added to make Kovatch Castings better equipped to get the job done.
The open house wasn't just to show off all the new toys at Kovatch. The company is also celebrating 35 years in the business.
Call it building on tradition.
Kovatch Castings, located at 3743 Tabs Dr. in Green, celebrated their 16,000 square foot expansion and 35 years in business on July 22. They invited customers, suppliers, associates and even some competitors to the event to tour the updated facility.
“I was very pleased,” owner Doug Kovatch said. “I felt it was a really positive and received well by our customers, suppliers, even some friendly competitors present. We had associates from all around the country.”
Kovatch said he has been involved with an investment casting institute doing trading for 20 years.
“I've made a lot of friends and have no problem with being open about our plant,” he said.
Manny Matias, owner of Precise Castings in Ontario, Canada, came down and said there is no real animosity among competitors in the industry, and he looked forward to touring the plant. Tom Planz, VP of Sales and operations at Paramelt who supplies wax for Kovatch, was also on hand to see how their partner was expanding.
The plant is a far cry from its look a year ago, with a massive expansion to allow growth in both business and in jobs at the company. Kovatch said in the last 18 months, they have gone from 150 to 200 employees.
“The 16,000 additional square feet has allowed [us] to expand five departments. There’s more room to spread out and grow, we were getting pretty tight in some ares in the plant.”
Engineer Dave Everly talked about how they are still in the process of moving some of the departments from one area to another to help with efficiency.
Right now, a product might start on one end of the building, shift to the other side of the building, then head back to the original side for the following step. The plan is to move everything so it flows from one room to the one beside it.
“It's creating a better flow plan for products, so there is less inefficent movement for parts,” Kovactch said.
Besides efficiency, Everly showed the new machines that they have bought recently to stay on the cutting edge of technology. Better equipment to look for cracks when developing a mold, digitial cameras and a conveyor belt-like furnace are a few examples of equipment added to make Kovatch Castings better equipped to get the job done.
The open house wasn't just to show off all the new toys at Kovatch. The company is also celebrating 35 years in the business.
“It is an encouragement that manufacturing isn't dead, but alive and well in our state,” Kovatch said. “We are grateful for the state of Ohio for providing grant money for this with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. It's a very wise spend of tax payer dollars.”
The company added $2 million on top of what they received from the grant Kovatch said. That was spent to good use when considering the employment given to construction, the TC archicetects and the builders Seese/Sveda on top of the new employees at Kovatch.
As Kovatch looks ahead, he sees numbers still prospering in castings as the company continues to grow.
“I'm excited about the future, it looks bright,” Kovatch said.
