Port Washington-based Modern Equipment Company Inc. makes furnaces and ladles that can undergo the stresses of metal melting at foundries.
Modern Equipment Company Inc.
369 W. Western Ave., Port Washington
Industry: Foundry furnaces and ladles, contract manufacturing
Employees: 50
It can take several months to manufacture a product that can withstand such high heat tolerances, but the melting systems made at Modern Equipment can last up to 30 years before they need relining, said Jim Winistorfer, president and head coach.
“We generally talk in terms of weeks and months as opposed to hours and days,” he said. “We tend to go after systems. We go after the complex systems that require fabrication, painting, piping, electrical, testing, along with painting the whole system together.”
The company starts with 20-foot sheets of carbon steel, which it cuts into the desired shape using flame cutting. Then, the steel plates are rolled into a furnace or ladle, and fabrication, welding and painting are completed.
“The shape of it dictates the reaction of the metal,” said Joe Girard, director of operations.
Using Modern Equipment’s furnaces, foundries melt down scrap aluminum or new “ingot” aluminum blocks and then use its ladles to pour the molten metal into molds to cast parts.
A large aluminum melter that Modern Equipment employees are currently working on can melt 5,500 pounds of aluminum per hour at about 1,350 degrees Fahrenheit.
The foundry systems, which usually cost between $10,000 and $300,000, are shipped on flatbed trucks and ferries.
The company provides furnace and melting equipment to most major automotive companies, and recently completed a $3.5 million order for a large car maker in Canada.
In addition to foundry projects, Modern Equipment does contract manufacturing and prototype work for the engineering industry.
Its contract products include industrial food ingredient mixers ranging from two to 500 gallons, as well as products used in the water processing, chemical processing, compound mixing and environmental air handling industries.
Modern Equipment distributes contract manufacturing products and foundry systems all over North America, with a concentration of customers east of the Mississippi River, Winistorfer said.
Founded in 1919 as Modern Pouring Device Co., the company initially focused on foundry ladle manufacturing, Winistorfer said. In the 1950s, it started making iron foundry furnaces. In the 1980s, the company added aluminum furnaces. Today, the company manufactures only aluminum furnaces, but still completes repairs on iron and steel melters.
In 2007, the 47-employee company moved from a 98,000-square-foot building at 336 Spring St. in Port Washington to its current 165,000-square-foot location at 369 W. Western Ave. in Port Washington. The building was previously occupied by engineering and construction firm Trak International.
“Trak had 600 people here,” Winistorfer said. “We’re occupying a space that’s much larger than we fill.”
The company uses the additional space for meetings, lunches, training and to conduct a daily huddle – a short meeting at the beginning of the day to set priorities and encourage accountability.
The extra room also affords space to grow, but the company has been cautious since the Great Recession cut its business by about two-thirds.
“We’re trying to grow prudently, but we’d like to be back where we were a few years ago,” Winistorfer said. “Over the course of the next three to four years, we’d like to be back to more than 100 people.”
The new strategy for growth, Winistorfer said, is diversifying the company’s work so that one-third to one-half of customers are outside the foundry industry.
Modern Equipment has been on the upswing for the last two years, with sales doubling from 2010 to 2011. Winistorfer expects a 20 to 30 percent sales jump this year, he said.
The company has also started hiring again, with 14 new employees added in the 2011 fiscal year ended Sept. 30. The company is also working with high schools and other organizations to increase recruitment of young, skilled workers.
“Some people have been here 40-plus years,” Winistorfer said. “We’ve got a lot of experience throughout.”
