Category Archive: Made In America

What the Steel Tariffs Mean for American Manufacturing

The current state of steel is on the minds of many people around the world. With the recent introduction of tariffs on international steel and aluminum shipments, American manufacturers are scrambling to make sure they have an adequate supply.

The uncertainty has driven up the price of these metals substantially over the past few weeks. With a 25% tariff on steel and a 10% tariff on aluminum, this is a significant supply barrier to overcome. And even with American metal suppliers available, prices are rising steadily along with demand. Just last month, the price of hot-rolled coiled steel was upwards of $800 per ton, which was already 32% higher than 5 months before in October. It’s a significant increase over a relatively short span of time.

The rising cost of raw materials has caused many manufacturers to raise the cost of their products. This trend is already impacting numerous seemingly unrelated industries, including farming. Farmers rely on metal-based products for their daily operations. Everything from heavy equipment such as tractors, to the massive grain storage bins that are vital for their operations rely on metals such as steel and aluminum. As the price of the material rises, producers of these items are raising prices in response, making equipment upgrades difficult or impractical for many end users.

And for projects that involve construction and infrastructure, the budgeting process is even more difficult. With material prices fluctuating so much, it’s hard for even the suppliers to gauge how much a final job will cost. A customer that ordered a particular product just a few months ago may find the price considerably higher if they need to re-order anytime soon. And for ongoing projects, the costs are continuing to climb – a problem especially felt in the public sector where budgets are relatively inflexible.

At Ohio Valley Manufacturing, our pricing is relatively stable thanks to a reliable supply. We are fielding many questions regarding lead times, however. Currently, we’ve been able to keep up with demand and don’t anticipate any major impacts within our own business. We continue to monitor the situation, however, and understand the volatility of the market.

If you need a dependable heavy gauge stamping provider, give us a call to see how we can help. You can reach us at 419-522-5818 or by emailing sales@ohiovalleymfg.com.

Ohio Continues to See Growth in the Manufacturing Sector

We recently came across an article talking about the continued steady growth of Ohio’s manufacturing sector and we’re excited to end the year on a positive note. Since Gov. John Kasich took office and implemented new policies to help the sector. National efforts of reshoring, STEM education, and manufacturing hubs have also helped to grow the industry. The growth in manufacturing is not only beneficial to manufacturers but also helps to bring more money into Ohio’s economy. George Mokrzan of Huntington Bank directly credits the resurging manufacturing sector for boosting consumer spending.

At Ohio Valley Manufacturing we have seen our own growth as well with more orders mostly due to Class 8 trucks and the rise of trailers. These increases have led us to expand our facilities to better serve our customers. This growth also means we need more skilled workers and we have posted two new job opportunities, one for a Tool & Die Design Engineer and a Toolmaker.

To learn more about our services, visit our website and be sure to follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn for more updates about our company, the manufacturing sector, and other industry news.

Ohio Valley Manufacturing’s Plant Assist Services

As a large capacity production facility we are able provide clients with plant assist services and temporarily provide production of high and low volume jobs. We have been able to do this for several of our clients who experience an unexpected interruption in service, whether a customer’s press breaks down or they have an influx of orders we are able to react quickly and provide fast turnaround.

Every level of our team works together from our tool room, to our scheduling managers, to our operations helps us to provide our customary quality service and give parts back to the customer as quickly as possible. Our facility can work with materials as thin as .020 inches up to .625 inches and can produce pieces that measure up to 72 inches by 100 inches.

We have experience with a variety of industries and are ready to meet the metal stamping needs for clients in the agriculture industry to the transportation industry. We are ISO 9001:2008 certified and customers interested in learning more about our plant assist services can visit our website or request a quote. We also encourage our blog readers to follow Ohio Valley Manufacturing on Twitter and LinkedIn to stay updated on all our company and industry news.

Our Commitment to American Made Quality

At Ohio Valley Manufacturing we’ve been reading the news about reshoring efforts and products made in America. It seems that almost every month the manufacturing sector continues to grow and we couldn’t be happier with the news. As an American made company our main focus has always been on the quality of our products and services. In the past we have seen some tools that were built overseas that do not make parts to print, which means that we have then had to rebuild these tools to make quality parts.

With parts made in America we have never seen quality issues like that as manufacturers must adhere certain standards. For our own company we are ISO 9001:2008 certified and our Quality Manager has established a Quality Management System which reviews everything from customer requirements through purchasing to production and delivery. We are continuously reviewing our processes and equipment and encourage employee and customer feedback.

To learn more about Ohio Valley Manufacturing, our commitment to quality, and our products and services, visit our website. You can also follow our company on Twitter and LinkedIn to stay updated on company and industry news.