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Welcome to a brief overview of
Precision Castparts' history, which chronicles its rise from
a small Portland-based casting company to a worldwide manufacturer
of complex metal components. The story covers more than 50 years
of operational excellence, technical advances, and dynamic growth. |
| 1949 |
In 1949, Joseph B. Cox, president
and owner of Oregon Saw Chain, started a small investment casting
business in Portland, Oregon, to make a special cutter for his
chain saw. Ed Cooley, assistant general manager for the company,
began spending more and more time with the casting operation
and solicited outside work, primarily in the Portland area. |
| 1953 |
On April 1, 1953, the casting
division was made a separate business and named Precision Castparts
Co. |
| 1955 |
Sales volume had grown appreciably
by the latter part of 1954, and the need for a larger facility
and more workers became apparent. In June of 1955, the move
was made to a new facility on Johnson Creek Boulevard, now the
site of the Titanium Business Operation. |
| 1956 |
In 1956, the company was incorporated
as Precision Castparts Corp. under the laws of the State of
Oregon and owned by Ed Cooley and two other individuals. |
| 1959 |
In late 1959, PCC initiated experiments
with its ceramic shell process toward the manufacture of larger
castings. While this casting process derives from the lost wax
casting methods of ancient Egypt and the Renaissance, sophisticated
investment castings are now found in military and commercial
aircraft engines, medical prosthetics, industrial gas turbines,
and several other high-tech applications. |
| 1962 |
The acquisition of a 1,000-pound
vacuum furnace in the early 1960s enabled PCC to manufacture
much larger castings than any of its competitors. This resulted
in several contracts to provide large aircraft engine castings |
| 1967 |
PCC was awarded a contract with
General Electric for the manufacture of several large TF39 engine
castings, The TF39 aircraft engine, powerplant for the U.S.
Air Force C-5 Galaxy heavy military transport, was the forerunner
of GE's comnmercial CF6 family of jet engines, which now power
wide-body aircraft for Airbus Industrie, Boeing and McDonnell
Douglas.
The large, complex thin-walled aircraft engine parts, the first
to be cast anywhere, required a substanial advance in the state
of the art. Pratt & Whitney awarded a contract to PCC for
large structural casting on the JT9D engine, also used on many
wide-body applications. Precision Castparts had entered the
aerospace business in a big way. |
| 1968 |
PCC became a public company in
1968 with the offering of 120,000 shares of common stock; 1,100
new shareholders were the proud new owners. In 1989, the company
was listed a member of the New York Stock Exchange as PCP.
The company developed its first titanium castings for use on
the Boeing Supersonic Transport, or SST. Much of the pioneering
work in titanium casting was done by PCC, and the company is
the industry leader today. |
| 1972 |
PCC's smaller castings parts
also included titanium and cobalt alloy medical prosthetics,
cast to surgeons’ custom specifications for hip, knee,
and finger joint replacements, as well as bone staples. |
| 1974 |
From 1974 to 1975, PCC invested
more than $2 million to facilitate the production of its own
air-melted alloys. Today, in-house production provides for nearly
all stainless steel-, nickel-, and cobalt-base alloys required
for remelting into castings. The company supplies some alloys
to the airfoils business and is beginning to market these products
to outside foundries. |
| 1980 |
While sales reached more than
$97 million in fiscal year 1980, the recession in the general
economy immediately followed. The time period from early 1981
to 1983 was a difficult one for PCC. Yet despite reduced sales
volume, PCC looked to the future and proceeded with plans for
a new titanium manufacturing plant. |
| 1981 |
A foundry was added to the back
of the old "Ford Building" adjacent to the Portland
Plant (LSBO). An east addition was erected in 1983, and a Hot
Isostatic Processing (HIP) addition the next year. Today, PCC’s
Titanium Business Operation is the world’s leading manufacturer
of titanium castings. |
| 1985 |
In the 1980s, PCC began its growth
through acquisition of related businesses. The company formally
purchased the foremost titanium foundry in Europe from Messier
Fonderie D’Arudy in early fiscal year 1985 and built a
new plant in Ogeu-les-bains, France, in April 1986. This facility
now operates as part of PCC Structurals. |
| 1986 |
The acquisition of the Airfoils
Business in June 1986 nearly doubled the size of PCC’s
operations. This business is a leading producer of cast blades
and vanes used in the high-temperature turbine sections of aircraft
engines. In addition, for the past several years, both the Airfoils
Business and the Structurals Business in Portland have been
making major inroads in manufacturing components for the industrial
gas turbine (IGT) market. |
| 1987 |
The addition of PCC Airfoils
made fiscal year 1987 the best in PCC’s history, with sales
of $326 million. To complement this business, PCC acquired AETC
Limited, headquartered in Leeds, England, in July 1996 to serve
aircraft engine and IGT customers with both investment casting
and machining capabilities. |
| 1988 |
PCC completes a $5 million Technical
Center in the Clackamas Industrial Park, across the street from
the company's Small Structurals Business Operation. |
| 1991 |
In the 1990s, PCC embarked upon
an acquisition strategy designed to diversify from its core
aerospace businesses, while pursuing familiar metalforming processes.
In June 1991, Advanced Forming Technology, Inc. (AFT) of Longmont,
Colorado, joined the company; its expertise lies in the area
of metal-injection molding, an advanced technology for the manufacture
of small complex parts for such markets as automotive, firearms,
electronics, and consumer products, among others. |
| 1994 |
PCC acquired the assets of ACC
Electronics, Inc. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in April 1994
and renamed the subsidiary PCC Composites, Inc. The business
manufactures advanced technology metal-matrix composites for
the electronics, communications, and other industries. In early
1997, PCC Composites moved selected personnel and equipment
from Pittsburgh to AFT’s facilities in Longmont, Colorado. |
| 1995 |
In January 1995, PCC reached
definitive agreement to acquire Quamco, Inc., headquartered
in Holden, Massachusetts. This business, renamed PCC Specialty
Products, is a world-class designer and manufacturer of premium
metalworking tools and machines for many applications, including
the cold forming of fasteners and gundrilling. This business
has since been strengthened and positioned for growth through
the acquisition of Olofsson Corporation of Lansing, Michigan,
a company involved in the design and manufacture of a broad
line of computer-controlled metalworking machine systems and
Astro Punch, a company specializing in the design and manufacture
of cold heading tools. |
| 1996 |
AETC Limited, headquartered in Leeds, England, was acquired
in July 1996 and has become part of the Airfoils Business,
serving the aircraft engine and IGT customers with both investment
casting and machining capabilities.
At the end of July 1996, PCC finalized the acquisition of
NEWFLO Corporation of Austin, Texas, a leader in the design,
manufacturing, marketing, and servicing of high quality, niche-oriented
industrial fluid management products. This acquisition continued
the strategy of diversification into non-aerospace markets
and provided another platform for future sales and earnings
growth for the company.
PCC has subsequently made additional acquisitions to enhance
the product line of this business, now known as PCC Flow Technologies.
Crown Pump is a high-quality supplier of submersible turbine
products. O.I.C. Valves offers a complete range of stainless
steel gate, globe, and check valves. Baronshire Engineering
Ltd. manufactures stainless steel, quarter-turn butterfly
valves and actuators for the food, beverage, and pharmaceutical
industries. E/One is a manufacturer of highly engineered equipment
for low-pressure sewer systems and other applications, and
TBV produces a line of specialty ball valves and pipeline
instrumentation.
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| 1997 |
In November 1997, PCC added another
business through the acquisition of J&L Fiber Services,
Inc., of Waukesha, Wisconsin, the world leader in the design,
manufacturing, and sales of refiner plates for the pulp and
paper industry. J&L complements PCC’s core competencies
in metals and the management of complex manufacturing processes.
The business is the market leader in North America and Latin
America and is number two in Europe and Asia. The majority of
J&L’s refiner plate revenues derives from sales of
replacement parts for pulp and paper mills; the remainder is
in complementary products for paper refining for OEMs who build
new mills.
In July 1997, PCC acquired the assets of Pittler Maschinenfabrik
GmbH, a designer and manufacturer of custom and special machine
systems since 1889. Pittler will provide Olofsson boring and
turning machines and Eldorado gundrilling machines a base of
operations in Europe and to provide a broader product line to
offer the domestic and international markets.
PCC enhanced its investment casting capabilities in December
1997 with the acquisition of Schlosser Casting Company of Redmond,
Oregon, a manufacturer of titanium investment castings for airframe,
aircraft engine, medical prosthesis, and other markets. Schlosser
helped to accelerate PCC’s entrance into the growing airframe
market, while increasing overall titanium capacity and capability.
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| 1998 |
In July 1998, AFT moved into
its new 120,000 square foot manufacturing plant in Firestone,
Colorado, where metal-injection molding, metal-matrix composite
production, and a third advanced manufacturing process, Thixoforming™,
will be performed. The business has also formed a joint venture,
AFT-India Pvt., for metal-injection molding in India, and construction
of a manufacturing facility in Bangalore is underway.
PCC Flow Technologies experienced significant growth through
acquisition during 1998, as PCC added small, niche-oriented
fluid management companies for market expansion and synergistic
opportunities. In February 1998, PCC acquired Environment/One
of Niskayuna, New York, which manufactures and services grinder
pumps and other products for low-pressure sewer systems, as
well as detection systems for the power generation industry.
In March, Baronshire Engineering of Glasgow, Scotland was acquired.
This company, a manufacturer of stainless steel butterfly valves
contributed its strong, U.K.-based distribution system to PCC
Flow Technologies and served as the initial acquisition in the
business’ European quarter-turn valve strategy.
PCC acquired TBV of Worcester, Massachusetts, in May, a manufacturer
of ball valves, primarily for severe services, and pipeline
instrumentation, custom-engineered units mounted in pipelines
for accurate readings of flow, temperature, etc. |
| 1999 |
The expansion of PCC Flow Technologies
continued into the next year as well. In February 1999, the
Company acquired Sterom, S.A. of Campina, Romania, a manufacturer
of high-quality industrial valves and oilfield equipment. Sterom
has since become part of The Energy Group. Valtaco, a Swiss
manufacturer of quarter-turn, three-piece ball valves, and The
Reiss Engineering Company Limited of Peterborough, England,
a British manufacturer of knife gate valves, were acquired in
November 1999 as further development of PCC Flow Technologies’
European quarter-turn valve strategy.
Precision Castparts Corp. consummated its largest acquisition
ever with the completion of its tender offer for Wyman-Gordon
of Grafton, Massachusetts, on November 25, 1999. Wyman-Gordon,
a leading manufacturer of forgings and investment castings for
the aerospace, power generation, energy, and other markets,
has served to strengthen PCC’s position in existing markets
and to extend the Company’s participation in non-traditional
industries, along with providing significant opportunity for
cost savings and productivity improvements throughout its worldwide
operations. |
| 2000 |
The year 2000 saw the continuation
of the Company’s strategic growth through acquisition.
In March 2000, PCC added Fastener Engineers & Lewis Machine
(FELM) of Rockford, Illinois, to its PCC Specialty Products
business. FELM, a designer and manufacturer of wire-processing
equipment, serves the fastener industry and thus shares many
synergies with Reed-Rico and Astro Punch, two other PCC Specialty
Products’ operations that supply this same market.
Technova of Aarau, Switzerland, was acquired in April 10, 2000,
as a further contributor to PCC Flow Technologies’ quarter-turn
valve strategy. The business is a manufacturer of high-performance
valves lined with engineered plastics or polymers to handle
corrosive and/or abrasive fluids and pure liquids.
The success of the Wyman-Gordon acquisition was further enhanced
with the Company’s addition of UEF Aerospace in Lincoln,
England, in May 2000. Now Wyman-Gordon Lincoln, this manufacturer
of forged engine discs, engine shafts, and airframe and landing
gear components, produced through the hammer-forging process,
complemented Wyman-Gordon’s existing forging capabilities
and created further opportunities for bottom-line improvements.
Formation of The Energy Group, comprised of Barber Industries
of Edmonton, Canada; PCC Ball Valves, Inc., of Linate (Milan),
Italy; and PCC Sterom of Campina, Romania, to take advantage
of shared marketing and technical synergies and to serve their
customers base more effectively.
The flagship for production and distribution in PCC’s European
quarter-turn valve strategy was acquired in November. Wouter
Witzel of Losser, The Netherlands, is a leading manufacturer
of rubber-lined butterfly valves for complex, automated industrial
processes.
Wyman-Gordon opened a machining facility in Plzen, Czech Republic,
in December 2000 to provide low-cost machining to its growing
base of European customers. The plant cut its first chips cut
less than five months after the start of construction. |
| 2001 |
Continued growth to the Wyman-Gordon
business came in January 2001 with the acquisition of The
Drop Dies and Forgings Company of Cleveland, Ohio, a manufacturer
of high-quality, specialty forgings form difficult-to-forge
metals. Renamed Wyman-Gordon Cleveland, this operation has
increased Wyman-Gordon’s forging capabilities and extended
its reach into broader markets.
In April 2001, ground was broken for new casting/machining
facilities in Merida, Mexico, as PCC continued to globalize
its manufacturing operations. A month later, the Company announced
Advanced Forming Technology’s intention to build a 30,000
square foot metal-injection-molding manufacturing facility
in Retsag, Hungary, to serve as the center of the MIM component
manufacturing business in Europe.
At the end of the year, PCC acquired AOP Industries, Inc. of
Moore, Oklahoma, a manufacturer of floating and trunnion-mounted
ball valves. AOP’s product line complemented that of
other Fluid Management Products’ operations, particularly
PCC Ball Valves and Sterom. It has also provided many opportunities
for production synergies and opened up AOP’s well-established
distribution network to the segment’s Energy Group products. |
| 2002 |
In the first quarter of the
calendar year, PCC further positioned itself for profitable
growth with three acquisitions: Western Australia Specialty
Products (WASA) of Perth, Australia; Lake Erie Design of
Cleveland, Ohio; and C.W. Valve Services of Houston, Texas.
WASA, part of the Forged Products segment, provided PCC with
an efficient, internal source of nickel-based superalloys.
The acquisition of Lake Erie Design, a manufacturer of precision
ceramic cores for industrial gas turbine, aerospace, and
other investment casting applications, created valuable synergies
with PCC Airfoils’ SRI operation, resulting in an improved
cost structure and increased competitiveness. C.W. Valve
Services, which had been involved in the repair and remanufacture
of General Valve’s Twin Seal and 4-way diverter valves
in the U.S. Southwest, offered General Valves, part of the
Fluid Management Products segment, the opportunity to spread
C.W. Services’ expertise across a wider customer base
throughout North America and to grow its aftermarket business.
A long-term contract with a significant industrial gas turbine manufacturer significantly
increased PCC’s share of this market at the outset of 2002, benefiting
both PCC Airfoils and PCC Structurals.
Bill McCormick, PCC’s chief executive officer since 1991, retired, and
Mark Donegan, president and chief operating officer, assumed the role of president
and chief executive officer at the August shareholders meeting. Bill McCormick
continued his close involvement with the Company as non-executive chairman.
Fluid Management Products started production at its new plant in Wuxi, China,
which initially handled PACO Pump assembly, but was designed to accommodate other
product lines, such as Johnston and Crown. In addition, the segment’s new
Ipoh, Malaysia, plant opened its doors for business, providing improved service
and distribution to current and future customers throughout the Asia Pacific
region.
Advanced Forming Technology moved its Composites operation into a larger facility
in Longmont, Colorado, to handle increased volume.
PCC identified PCC Olofsson, Eldorado, DTI, and STW as non-core businesses and
moved them into discontinued operations. |
| 2003 |
Continued profitable growth
dictated continued expansion during the year. E/One completed
expansion of its facility in Niskayuna, New York, to support
the anticipated growth in both its sewer system and detection
system businesses. In addition, the new FRISA/Wyman-Gordon
ring-rolling facility in Monterrey, Mexico, began production
during the year, opening up a totally new market for PCC.
PCC moved PCC Superior Fabrication, Fastener Engineers & Lewis Machine,
and Barber into discontinued operations.
Mark Donegan became chairman of Precision Castparts Corp., in addition to
continuing his role as chief executive officer.
In August, PCC announced the acquisition of SPS Technologies,
Inc., a major supplier of critical fasteners for aerospace, automotive,
and general industrial applications; of specialty alloys and waxes for the
investment casting industry; and of highly engineered tools for fastener
and other applications. The acquisition was completed in December. PCC immediately
classified SPS’ Magnetic Products business, as well as its Mohawk
and Dacar operations, as discontinued operations. SPS’ Specialty Materials
and Alloys operations became a third business within PCC’s Investment
Cast Products segment; SPS’ thread-rolling operations were consolidated
with Reed-Rico within the Industrial Products segment; and SPS’ critical
fastener operations became a fifth PCC segment, Fastener Products.
PCC sold Newman’s, a valve distributor within Fluid Management Products,
which was included as part of the 1996 NEWFLO acquisition. |
| Today |
Precision Castparts Corp. now
employs more than 16.000 people, with more than 80 facilities
in 22 states and 16 countries. The stock, which is traded on
the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol PCP. The company continues to look for opportunities
for future top- and bottom-line growth. |
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