|
Potatoes Meet Manufacturing
|
Idaho Steel will be celebrating its Centennial anniversary next year! The company, based in Idaho Falls, Idaho, designs and manufactures potato food processing equipment – serving an industry that is best described as recession resistant. Their equipment can be found in every continent in the world, co-owner Davis Christensen says, with the exception of the Antarctic.
The company opened for business in 1918 as a small fabrication shop. After World War II, Davis says, “The processing world opened up, with companies like McDonalds mass producing fast food. Idaho Steel, with its long history in fabrication, was well positioned to participate in the potato food processing manufacturing industry. In fact, Idaho Steel’s machines were among the first to produce dehydrated potato flakes and granules for the Army.
In 1991 Lynn Bradshaw purchased the company, and today it is co-owned by Lynn’s family members (sons) Alan and DeLynn Bradshaw and his son-in-law Davis Christensen.
Today, Idaho Steel is a complete OEM, with in-house capabilities including;
• Engineering and Design – Using the latest advances in AutoCAD, Inventor design (including 3D Modeling), and manufacturing software, they are able to provide their customers with custom and off-the-shelf potato food processing equipment. Their latest innovation, yet to be rolled out, uses Virtual Reality technologies to enable customers to download a machine they wish to purchase, and virtually work with the machine.
• Manufacturing – The company offers a fully tooled machining and fabrication shop. CNC processes are used in both fabrication and machining of all their products. They have recently added 3D printing to their manufacturing operations, and Davis says it is used to make smaller plastic parts that were tying up their machining centers, and can now be made quicker and more cost effectively. This also allowed them to combine several pieces into one, and allowed them to eliminate nuts and bolts that could come apart and fall into the equipment, and contaminate the food being processed.
• Installation and Support – Idaho Steel supports the installation of their equipment into their customers’ facilities and they offer a complete parts and shipping department for their customers replacement parts requirements.
Idaho Steel’s customers hail from all over the world, and their end-users include fast food giants such as McDonalds, as well as frozen potato manufacturers like Ore-Ida (the inventor of tater tots). Potatoes take on many shapes, from the hash browns we love, to tater tots, to curly fries, to diced potatoes, to Julienne potatoes, to mashed potatoes, to the standard French fries, just to name a few, and often fast food companies make their potato shape unique – much like a signature to their brand. Frozen potato manufacturers, too, have their own unique potato shapes that often require custom potato processing equipment. For this reason, Davis says, “We don’t make widgets – in fact many of the systems we design are custom.”
|
Idaho Steel’s potato processing machines are largely manufactured with stainless steel, and they are built to last. In fact, many Idaho Steel food processing machines built 50 years ago are still in service today. Today, the company manufactures four different process lines: Flake, form, fry and mash. Each line requires several different machines.
More than 2 decades ago, Idaho Steel formed a partnership with Kiremko, a Dutch company that also manufactures equipment for the potato processing industry. Davis says that the partnership with Kiremko enabled Idaho Steel’s further growth in the worldwide market.
|
|
Idaho Steel’s ownership team also offers their own branded potato processing equipment through a company called Reyco Systems, which the family partners own. Across the 2 entities, Idaho Steel and Reyco Systems, the companies reside in 4 facilities totaling ~100,000 square feet, and they employ more than 220 people, all in Idaho.
In order to remain competitive over the past nearly 100 years, Idaho Steel has consistently invested in superior equipment for their manufacturing operations. In fact, they have purchased a number of their machine tools through Smith Machinery over the past several decades. Clark Smith, 4th generation owner of Smith Machinery, says, “Idaho Steel has been a loyal customer for many years now — they purchased their early Cincinnati shears and press brakes from my father, Tracy Smith, and some of these decades old machine tools are still operational today.”
|
Under the current ownership, Idaho Steel continues to purchase many of their machine tools through Smith Machinery. Brad Birkinbine, Machine Shop Manager with more than 20 years of tenure at the company, says, “I tend to restrict the number of machine tool dealers who we work with and I can say that when I need a superior, solid machine, I go to Smith Machinery. The Smith Machinery team is outstanding — our Sales Engineer Klaus Lassig and owner Clark Smith are just so knowledgeable. They also pay attention to our business, and they understand it so that they can make machine tool recommendations that are based upon our business and requirements.” He continued, “With some other machine tool dealers, you feel they are just proposing a machine to close a sale.”
Service is a critical component in Idaho Steel’s machine tool purchases. Brad says, “Smith Machinery’s training and service is exceptional, and I would grade them a 99%.” He added that the training provided by AJ and the service provided by Larry and Paul is also best in class. “We call Larry and Paul our ‘go-to’ guys, and when we have any questions or issues they are here in a heartbeat”, Brad elaborated. Davis adds, “Smith Machinery takes great care of us.”
Smith Machinery purchased machines are seen throughout the company, and they include 6 Mazak VCNs (Ver tical Center Nexus), a Mazak VTC (Vertical Traveling Column) vertical machining center, and 11 Romi CNC machining centers. Recently they purchased the Mazak VTC-800/30-SR, a 5-axis, Vertical Traveling Column,vertical machining center. Brad says, “The swivel head delivers improved accuracy and repeatability due to the backlash free design, which allows the machining of complex features and contours.” He continued, “We’ve seen a significant reduction of machining processes and increased productivity, thanks to the additional axis.”
|
Brad and Davis agree that superior machines are a necessary ingredient to manufacturing quality products for their customers, but they also recognize the value of their employees. Brad says, “My team leaders all have more than 20 years of tenure with the company, most with close to 30 years, and we remain loyal to Idaho Steel because it is a great place to work.”
Davis adds, “Our experienced machinists appreciate that we are willing to invest in superior machines for their use. Not only do they embrace new technology, but since we service an industry that runs 24x7, the reliability of superior machines reduces the stress for our team.”
|
Klaus sees a special work ethic in the team at Idaho Steel. As a former machine shop owner, Klaus recognizes the importance of a dedicated team. “There are so many people at Idaho Steel who genuinely care about the quality of work and the end product. The level of detail is so impressive; in fact when I saw the legs for one of their dryer drums, they were so perfect that I was sure they were robotically welded – in fact, the welder who had just finished welding on the legs, was standing nearby, and you could just see the pride he showed in his work. What you see at Idaho Steel is more like art, its not just functional.”
|
|
Idaho Steel is not just celebrating 100 years next year, but they are poised to see many more decades servicing
the potato food processing industry.
the potato food processing industry.
To learn more about the company, go to idahosteel.com
Article courtesy of A2Z Metalworker
41 West Guest Avenue
Salt Lake City, UT 84115
Phone: 801-263-6403
Fax: 801-263-6404
Email: smc@smithmachinetools.com
Salt Lake City, UT 84115
Phone: 801-263-6403
Fax: 801-263-6404
Email: smc@smithmachinetools.com