Zekelman Industries Touts New Investments in Local Plants

WARREN, Ohio – The chairman and CEO of Zekelman Industries, the parent company of Wheatland Tube Co. and Sharon Tube Co., says new investments in its local manufacturing plants help ensure a vibrant future for workers in the Mahoning and Shenango valleys.

“Years ago, we had this dream of how we were going to make this place better,” Barry Zekelman said as he addressed workers and guests outside Wheatland’s plant in Warren on Monday. “It’s not just about how to make the facilities better – it’s also how to make them safer.”

The answer was to invest tens of millions of dollars in new automation in production and warehousing that streamlines the manufacturing process and allows plants such as Wheatland to become more competitive, Zekelman said.

Zekelman said several years ago the company made a $15 million investment on new upgrades to its mill here, added another production line that it relocated from Little Rock, Ark., and, most recently, invested approximately $50 million in a fully automated indoor warehouse that it commissioned in Warren earlier this year.

Company executives, workers and guests attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Dietz Road plant Monday to celebrate the new warehouse.

Zekelman said these investments in the long-term will pay great dividends for these local plants and the company’s workforce. He noted that there are workers at his local factories who have served 30 years or more at their jobs, and they deserve a workplace where they feel safe.

“People are giving a lifetime to us, and we have to pay them back,” he said. “We have to make their jobs safer. We have to make their job easier. We have to make sure that they can run out their career here and do so in a dignified manner.”

Zekelman was in town Monday to celebrate the opening of the automated warehouse. The new operation is a fully synchronized receiving, racking and distribution system that significantly reduces delivery times.

“Two years ago, it could take two, three, four days to get a load out of here, and you’d have to prep that in advance,” he said. “Today, if you wanted a load out of here in an hour, I’ll have it ready. And we’ll do it safely.”

Zekelman said such improvements and flexibility represent the future of American manufacturing. “Anyone who said that you can’t manufacture in America – they are dead wrong,” he said. “There’s a great future here, and we need to bring our youth into it.”

The Warren plant manufactures tubes mostly used in sprinkler systems. Its new warehouse required an 85,000-square-foot addition that is 62 feet high, as the racking system stands approximately 52 feet.

Zekelman Industries, based in Canada, has also built similar warehouses at its plant in Rochelle, Ill., and its Sharon Tube facility in Farrell, Pa. A fourth enclosed warehouse is currently under construction at another Wheatland Tube plant on Council Avenue in Hermitage, Pa.

“We’re in constant search to improve ourselves,” Zekelman said. “It makes us more efficient, so we can produce more product and do it at a faster pace.”

Zekelman said his business is still challenged by imports impacting its plumbing pipe division. “It’s unconscionable to me how we’re bringing in plumbing pipe from the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Turkey and others when we could be making it here. We have the capacity.”

Attendees at the event were then presented with a demonstration of Wheatland Tube’s product in action.

Shane Ray, president of the National Fire Sprinkler Association, told attendees that Wheatland’s product helps save lives. “You’ll save more lives in 20 years in this business than I did in the 20 years riding in the right front seat” of a fire engine.

Ray organized the burn of two trailers – one with a sprinkler system and one without – outfitted with material such as drapes and furniture covered with traditional synthetic material. The sprinkler demonstration extinguished the flames within minutes, while the trailer without the fire suppression system engulfed the small room in less than two minutes.

“Since 2010, nearly 40,000 people have died in home fires in the country,” he said. “In sprinkler buildings? Less than 100.”

Jose Arroyo, staff representative for United Steelworkers District 1, said the Warren plant’s modernization effort has helped clear the way for upgrades at Sharon Tube and Wheatland’s Hermitage plant.

“You have a lot of guys here that have helped with that transition,” Arroyo said. “We’re very proud, especially since they’re investing here in Warren.”

Pictured at top: Barry Zekelman, president and CEO of Zekelman Industries, stands in the new warehouse in Warren.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.