National Bronze & Metals


The suppliers' supplierNational Bronze & Metals supplies a wide variety of copper alloys. Keith Regan learns from president Michael Greathead how winning customersÔÇÖ trust and investing in the future will pave the way for growth. At a time when many businesses are embarking on initiatives to reduce their inventory, National Bronze & Metals is expanding the copper alloy products it keeps in stock. The Houston, Texas-based company, founded in 1983, carries as many as 80 different copper-based alloys, representing some 13.25 million pounds of inventory.  The selection, says president Michael Greathead, is likely the widest array of copper alloys offered by anyone in the USA. This strategy has helped turn National Bronze into a super-distributor, with more than 75 percent of its sales being made to other distributors who help serve end users such as the oil and gas, aerospace, plumbing and heating and construction industries, among others. The remainder of the companyÔÇÖs estimated $80 million-plus revenue for 2007 comes from direct sales to those users. By working closely with copper alloy mills and using its own facility in Lorain, Ohio (where a massive construction project is about to launch to build a state-of-the-art facility) National Bronze can carry inventory that ordinary distributors cannot afford to stock, but that customers need. ÔÇ£Our customers would otherwise have to go to the mills and buy these products in quantities much greater than they need,ÔÇØ says Greathead. ÔÇ£Working with us allows them not to hold the inventory but still have the product their customers want. The very distributors who are looking to cut back in their inventory are the very same ones who are seeking that inventory to meet customer demand.ÔÇØWorking in this role gives National Bronze strong buying power with the producers, too. Buying in large quantities, it can negotiate pricing from a stronger position and the mills have the comfort of knowing they will have an outlet for their product. ÔÇ£They know the product weÔÇÖre buying is something our customers require,ÔÇØ says Greathead. ÔÇ£They just donÔÇÖt require them in large enough quantities to make it worthwhile buying direct.ÔÇØ The company has expanded its product range over the years, identifying alloys that customers need in a just-in-time program and adding them as warranted. For instance, it previously acted as a broker for copper-based alloy plate products, which it is now adding to its own lineup. It has also made its own innovations, recently winning a patent for the continuous cast production methods that produce its NBM 995 Stem Bronze, a lead-free product used for valve stems. The new and more efficient production process makes it less expensive, and enables the resulting products to meet emerging environmental standards requiring that little or no lead be used in many metal products. Those moves fit with the companyÔÇÖs overall philosophy, which is to become a trusted source of product and service for customers. ÔÇ£We want them to come to us with confidence, making sure they donÔÇÖt have to go out into the marketplace each time they have a new need arise,ÔÇØ Greathead says. ÔÇ£We pride ourselves on the quality of our staff and on being able to answer questions for customers and maybe guide them in new directions when alternatives they could consider using are available. We want them to know that if they run into a technical glitch, they can turn to National Bronze and weÔÇÖll help them look at their options and also be confident that weÔÇÖve got the inventory to supply their needs at any time.ÔÇØ Quality of product is a key consideration. Many of its distributor partners handle a range of metals, with copper alloys often a relatively small part of their business. National Bronze earned ISO 9001-2000 certification in 1999 and has maintained it ever since, with many of its products subjected to industry-specific standards and specifications, such as those that find their way into aerospace and military uses. The companyÔÇÖs recent capital investments in its core facilities underscore its belief that it can continue to grow by winning more business from existing customers and fostering new relationships. Last year, the company upgraded its Houston headquarters with a $2 million expansion that added 52,000 square feet of warehouse space, creating more room for material handling and enabling expanded inventories. This year, it plans to start a $20 million, 100,000-square-foot expansion at its Lorain, Ohio manufacturing facility, which it bought 10 years ago. The expansion will enable it to triple its production capability and consolidate all of its operations there under a single roofÔÇöcurrently, material is moved between existing buildings, a challenge in the cold northern winter months. The build-out will also include a new state-of-the-art foundry, continuous vertical and horizontal casting capabilities, an expanded finishing area, an additional 30,000 sq. ft. of warehouse space and new office space.National Bronze expects the plant to be completed by the middle of 2009 and by the time itÔÇÖs running at 85 percent capacity, for the number of employees there to nearly double to around 75. New equipment will be a major part of the upgrade and ensures the company is current with changing technology, Greathead says. ÔÇ£We are most emphatically investing in the future and itÔÇÖs not just equipment and inventory, itÔÇÖs our people as well,ÔÇØ he adds. ÔÇ£Our investment is not singularly guided through one area of operations. WeÔÇÖre really looking for the long-term view where we create not a position of dominance but a position of strength that will let us supply our customers what they need on an ongoing basis while offering the technical backup and support they need and canÔÇÖt get anywhere else.ÔÇØ┬á Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *   ┬áFirst published March 2008