Mainebiz

V O L . X X V N O. V M A R C H 4 , 2 0 1 9 22 A Maine company that recently started processing steel with a next-genera- tion, $1.4 million laser has actually been handling metal since before the state was a state. American Steel and Aluminum LLC in South Portland uses the 56,000- pound, German-made machine — one of about 20 installed worldwide last year — to cut, drill, engrave and shape steel into complex designs and sizes, all pro- duced to custom specifications. By using the laser device, dovetails and other precision-cut connections replace old-school welds, saving time and money. A single employee needs only a couple of minutes to turn out processed metal that previously could take an hour and involve separate steps by five workers. For its customers, the precise work also has benefits. "[American Steel] is one of the first in Maine to provide value-added ser- vices to the steel that manufacturers are consuming," says Tyler Fitzpatrick, com- modity manager at Fisher Engineering, a Rockland manufacturer of snow plows. American Steel delivers steel parts in partially finished, easily assembled kits, each of which can equip 20 plows. "ey support us very well by pro- viding precise laser-cut, kitted parts so we can continue to make high-quality plows," Fitzpatrick says. A changing industry e high-tech operations at American Steel bear little resemblance to its original business, established in 1806 by Francis Edmonds as Swedes Iron, which was on Portland's Long Wharf. Back then, merchant ships delivered much of the country's bar iron from ports in Sweden and Norway. Soon Swedes Iron was also car- rying steel and in 1869 incorporated as E. Corey & Co., after the name of Edmonds' partner. At one time Portland's oldest existing business, the company remained on the water- front until it merged with American Steel and moved in the 1960s to the current location on Wallace Avenue in South Portland. In addition to South Portland, American Steel operates facilities in Auburn, Mass.; Fremont, N.H.; and Syracuse, N.Y. Steel, aluminum and copper- nickel alloy, from U.S. and Canadian mills, arrive via rail and truck as sheets, coils, tubes, bars, beams and other shapes. Inside its cavernous 80,000-square-foot Maine facility, American Steel stores nearly 4,000 forms of metal, from 50-foot-long, 16-inch-wide beams to quarter-inch- wide "keystock" steel used in gears and couplings. "Steel is not just steel," says Sam Blatchford, American Steel's president. "ere are thousands of varieties, and a lot of science behind each one." American Steel saws and mills the raw metal to customer specs before distributing the processed materials to manufacturers throughout Maine and the Northeast. e metalsmithing is a growing part of the business, and an increasingly important service for customers. e value-added work represents about 10% of American's business, accord- ing to Blatchford. But he hopes that por- tion will eventually grow to 50%. "What we're really going after is, 'How can we assist customers to get better throughput and be more profit- able, by doing more of the stuff they're experts at?'" he says. Hidden impact While customers such as Fisher, Bath Iron Works and North Berwick-based Hussey Seating Co. are well-known in Maine, you won't find the American Steel and Aluminum logo on plows, ships or your seat at Gillette Stadium. It may even come as a surprise that Maine is doing steel work at all. e steel industry has moved far beyond its roots in Pittsburgh and the industrial Midwest. American Steel employs over 100 and is a subsidiary of privately owned Nova Steel Group, a Quebec-based processor and distributor with plants in Canada, the United States and Mexico. And while Maine doesn't manu- facture raw steel, steel fabrication and processing account for more than 600 jobs statewide, $36 million in wages and $135 million in direct economic output, according to 2018 data from the American Iron and Steel Institute. Suppliers to the state's steel industry gen- erate another $151 million in output. ose statistics represent a small fraction of the $206 billion industry nationwide, and are less than half the corresponding results recorded in New Hampshire. Nevertheless, busi- nesses like American Steel play a key role in Maine's manufacturing sector — a role that belies the numbers. P H O T O / P E T E R VA N A L L E N Saving time and money American Steel brings new technology to an old industry B y W i L L i a m h a L L M A N U FA C T U R I N G F O C U S What we're really going after is, 'How can we assist customers to get better throughput and be more profitable, by doing more of the stuff they're experts at?' — Sam Blatchford American Steel and Aluminum Sam Blatchford, president of American Steel and Aluminum in South Portland, oversaw the addition of a $1.4 million laser cutter used in steel fabrication.

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