Amstek Metal

When Charles G. Stevens first opened the doors of Stevens Co. in Chicago in 1898, he had a singular purpose: serving the individual needs of precision metal fabricators for consistent high-quality specialty metal products from dependable suppliers. Today the company, renamed Amstek Metal, has rededicated itself to that original mission. Recently ending a 12-year partnership with Sandvik Steel, Amstek Metal is now under the sole direction of the third and fourth generations of the Stevens family.

"We are operating again as an independent distributor and specialty metal provider," says John B. Stevens, CEO, "and this means more focused attention on the needs of our customers for improved products and delivery systems at lower costs."

4 generations of Stevens
Four generations of Stevens: In front - Charles K. Stevens (left), fourth generation; and John B. Stevens (right), third generation. Photos on the wall - Gardnar Stevens (left), second generation; Charles G. Stevens (center), founder; and John B. Stevens (right), second generation.

Focus on the Market
As in the early 1900s, Amstek Metal caters to the middle-market spring and stamping companies, providing flexibility in products, programs and priorities to fit specific market requirements. Prior to World War I, Charles G. Stevens established relationships not only with domestic producers on the East Coast but also with wire and strip producers from England, Sweden and Germany. From 1920 to 1965, Stevens relied on domestic producers to supply his customers' needs for a wide variety of steel products. In the early 1930s Stevens' two sons, Gardnar and John, became involved, orienting the company to become a mill sales agency, which it remained for the next 30 years. The company represented a number of specialty wire and strip producers, such as Washburn Wire Co., Wallingford Steel Co., Atlantic Wire Co. and Philadelphia Steel & Wire.

Transition to the third family generation began in the early 1960s as two cousins, C. Gardnar and John B., joined the company and began to plan for the next 40 years. Their view was that distribution and strip processing were the keys to future growth. During the next 10 years, Stevens Co. expanded its Joliet, IL, location to 50,000 square feet of storage and processing areas. By the mid 1970s, the U.S. specialty steel industry was in decline, and the company again began to establish relationships with producers in Europe and Japan to bring higher grade materials to its targeted customer base. The globalization of supply base continued for the following 10 years.

A new phase of the business began in July 1987, when the Stevenses formed Amstek Metal with Swedish wire producer Gunnebo to gain access to a broader customer base on the East Coast and to improve its supply base in Sweden. In 1988, Sandvik Steel purchased Gunnebo's wire mill in Sweden and its minority interest in Amstek Metal in order to promote and distribute Swedish produced spring wire into the U.S. market. After 12 years of successful partnership, Amstek and Sandvik's strategic interests have diverged, giving the Stevens the opportunity to reposition Amstek Metal as a flexible, customer-oriented service organization with global connections to a qualified and emerging supply base.

"A knowledgeable person is always available - it's the kind of personalized service which we all value as customers," says Charles K. Stevens, midwest regional sales manager. "We find that our customer-focused culture is well-suited to meet the demands of today's rapidly changing markets."

Consistency and Reliability
Amstek Metal's locations at Farmington, CT, and Joliet, IL, have been certified to both ISO 9002 and QS-9000 since 1998. Management has developed a comprehensive internal quality auditing system, which ensures conformance to ISO and QS standards. Hand-in-hand with that system, the company provides training and education to employees to keep them up-to-date on the latest processes, materials and technologies. Amstek Metal places stringent quality demands on its global network of suppliers. All materials are totally traceable from qualified, selected worldwide suppliers. Vendor approval and performance are tracked as part of the QS-9000 policy.

Diverse Products and Capabilities
Amstek Metal today offers a variety of products for a diverse customer base. Primary products include non-metallic and nickel-coated stainless spring and forming wires, medical-grade spring wires, music wire and oil-tempered alloy spring wires. Efficient, long-running packaging options are available for customers.

The company is also a supplier of precision strip steel up to 24 inches wide. Primary products include stainless strip in various widths, gauges and temper, plus annealed and tempered, high-carbon strip. "We also make sure processing capabilities are always up-to-date," notes Gene Burda, operations manager. "Those capabilities include shimless tooling for exacting tolerance control and four slitting lines that include narrow-width slitting for precision forming. Skived and de-burred edge conditioning is available, plus numerous customer-packaging options."

Looking to the Future
As it enters its second century of business, Amstek Metal works to continuously improve the original mission of Charles G. Stevens. In founding his company, Stevens understood the opportunity to serve as a matchmaker for newly established specialty metal fabricators who were seeking suppliers for specialty steel products. His concept was to source the needs of his customers and establish stocking programs for just-in-time deliveries. This concept has been successful and fuels the company's growth to serve major U.S. industrial centers in the Midwest and on the East Coast. Though the processes and materials have evolved over the years, the dedication to finding and supplying high quality, specialty steel products to metal fabricators remains constant into the fourth generation.