Wausau Steel takes advantage of a soft market to reorganize and plan its expansion efforts.

Wisconsin-based Wausau Steel Service Center has established itself as a leader in the Midwest, but the company isn’t content to rest on its laurels. Instead, it’s taking advantage of downtime in the industry to reorganize and reinvest in its operations.

Wausau has been servicing clients throughout the Midwest for more than 50 years, and has become the largest independently owned, steel service center in central Wisconsin.

With locations in Wausau and Milwaukee, the company is a leader, but is small enough to meet customers special needs, Vice President and General Manager Mike Keefe says.

The Wallach family started the company in 1951, and Peter Wallach still serves as president and owner. As Wausau Steel continues to grow, Wallach is excited to invest money back into the company to help it position itself for the future, Keefe says.

The company is on track to reorganize its operations in the next five years by adding equipment, improving product flow through the operation and putting quality standards in place. “We have expanded in Milwaukee, are finishing the reorganization in Wausau and are growing into a new territory for us in Minnesota,” Keefe says.

The company has a joint venture in Minnesota with Remmele Engineering in Big Lake, Minn., which is part of its reorganization plan. “We process various metal products on our high-definition plasma table there,” he explains.

“The partnership includes processing the tooling components for new Boeing airplanes. We project requirements for a 100,000-square-foot facility for Remmele and other customers in Minnesota within the next five years. Once that’s completed, we’ll look at product developments and new geographic markets.”

Adapting to Trends
The company currently serves customers in Wisconsin, western Minnesota, northern Illinois and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, sending out 20 company owned trucks per day. Keefe has been with the company for one year and says he is excited about the plans for the future.

The company is taking advantage of a slow time in the market to restructure and invest. “Our business is a little soft, so we’re concentrating on investing in infrastructure, reorganization and expansion into new market areas,” Keefe notes.

Wausau Steel is already a market leader in light-gauge plate processing, and the sale of structural bars and structural tubing. “We have two new state-of-the-art high-definition plasma burners with the ability to cut bevels and hold close tolerances. We also have CnC Oxygen fuel burning capabilities which produce precision burnt parts up to 10-inches thick.”

Training efforts
To maintain its position as a leader in the market, Wausau Steel emphasizes training.

All employees go through initial training when they join the company – OSHA safety training and job-specific training.

Keefe says the company keeps “very close record” on employee training efforts, and tries to cross-train employees for various positions whenever possible.

Wausau Steel recently completed its first audit for ISO certification, and expects to be officially certified soon.

Keefe says the certification isn’t nearly as important as the mindset that it brings to the organization.

“It instills in people that we want to do it right and do it right the first time,” he explains. “Everyone in the company believes in our company, our products, our service and our quality.”

Recycling work
Wausau also operates a recycling division that purchases metals, including:

• Scrap steel and iron
• Copper
• Brass
• Aluminum
• Aluminum cans
• Radiators
• Stainless steel/alloys
• White metals

The company offers pick-up services for industrial accounts.

It provides lugger boxes and 40-foot trailers for customer convenience, the company notes.