History
Early History
The Move to Ravenna
1905 Incorporated
World War I
The 1930's
The 1940's
World War II
Korean War
Modern Era
Mid 1950's
The 1960's
Aluminum
Permanent Mold
Problems
New Laws
Early 1970's
New President (Robert
McCoy)
Tri-Cast, Inc (Iron
Foundry)
Sales Growth
New President (Dale
McCoy)
Lite Metals Company
Magnesium Casting - Photo
by Kevin Evanoski
Magnesium Furnace - Photo
by Kevin Evanoski
Casting Layout - Photo by
Kevin Evanoski
Master Pattern - Photo by
Kevin Evanoski
Pattern Storage - Photo by
Kevin Evanoski
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Pouring Magnesium
- Photo by Kevin Evanoski
The A. C. Williams Company
started in business in Chagrin Falls, Ohio in 1844. It was founded
by John Wesley Williams, the father of A. C. Williams. The Williams'
family came to Chagrin Falls in 1840 with Reverend Benajah and his eight
sons, including John W., coming from western New York state. The
Williams family, represented by Robert Williams, came to this country from
Norwich, England in 1693.
The original foundry building was located on an
old sawmill and furnace property just above the dam on the Chagrin River.
John W. Williams, using the old furnace building, not operating for
several years, started with a small cupola of one-ton capacity and one
molder and a few helpers. This energetic group produced chain pump
reels, spouts, and plow points. Only an occasional heat or melt was
run off about once or twice a week. When a wagon load of pump reels,
spouts, and plow points was finished, John Williams would drive through
the country trading his products for scrap iron and farm produce.
Some of the farm produce was given to his few employees as pay and the
balance placed with local merchants against which he would draw orders for
the balance of his payroll. There was practically no money in
existence and the majority of business was done in trading.
After
a few years, John Williams managed to trade for a set of patterns for an
elevated oven, wood burning stove called "The Empire." The
foundry needed pig iron in order to produce the thin section castings for
the manufacture of stoves, so John Williams mortgaged his factory to
Governor Tod of Youngstown and from that time until Governor Tod's death,
John Williams bought all of his pig iron from the Governor and formed a
lasting friendship.
A few years later, the J. W. Williams Company
started to produce old-style, short wagon boxes used on wagon axles and in
the wheel hubs and also boxes for wrought iron axles and a few old-style
polished flat irons.
The business
grew in spite of lack of money and a larger cupola was installed. A
trip hammer was purchased to forge wrought iron axles and a Contract was
obtained by John Williams for cannon carriages used by the Government
during the Civil War. Other castings were produced for the machinery
used in the Pennsylvania oil fields. At about this same time, John
Williams obtained a permit to manufacture seamless wagon skeins and from
that time on, skeins and bolster plates for wagons were the principal
products of this Company.
During 1865, John Williams' son, Adam Clark
Williams, started working at the foundry on a full-time basis and the name
was soon changed to J.W. Williams & Son.
In 1870, a line of pruning tools was
added. At about this same time, coke came into use as the fuel for
melting iron instead of wood and charcoal. The coke was hauled to
Chagrin Falls by team from Bedford, Ohio and the pig iron was hauled by
team from Solon, Ohio.
In 1886, Adam Clark Williams bought the business
from his father and with five molders and a total of fifteen employees, he
expanded the Company by adding a line of sad irons with wood handles.
A narrow gauge railroad had been built by ten of the leading citizens of
Chagrin Falls, A.C. Williams being one of these, and later, the railroad
was sold to the Connolton Railroad Company and changed to a standard
gauge; this provided a means of transportation and greatly increased the
business activity in the area.
In the fall of 1889, A.C. Williams was on his way
home from a business trip to Detroit and was unable to make railroad
connections in Cleveland. He, therefore, remained overnight.
He went to the Park Theatre and during the performance, a man came on
stage and announced that if A.C. Williams was in the audience, he should
call at the box office immediately. There he was told that his plant
was burning and there appeared little hope of saving it. On arrival
home the next morning, he found the plant completely destroyed. A.C.
Williams was undecided about the future as he had not recovered from the
financial depression and was deeply in debt.
Citizens of Chagrin Falls urged him to rebuild
and employees offered to work on the building without pay. The
railroad offered to haul all building materials and machinery from
Cleveland without charge. Owners of teams offered to haul the
material and machinery from the depot free of charge. With this
cooperative spirit, there was no choice but to rebuild. Mr. Williams
borrowed from about a dozen friends and from the local bank and on a
Sunday morning, two weeks after the fire, work started on the new
building. One hundred men were working at the site without any
thought of pay whatsoever.
The plant was completed and production started.
Business prospered and the number of employees increased. Then, on
Thanksgiving night of 1892, the factory was again completely destroyed by
fire. Due to lack of fire protection in Chagrin Falls, and the
relatively poor shipping facilities, A.C. Williams decided to rebuild in a
more favorable location.
The Move to Ravenna, World Wars I & II & Korean War
A.C. Williams visited many towns and cities
in northeastern Ohio and finally selected Ravenna. Until his death,
he felt he had made no mistake as he was delighted with the town and its
people. His business and the city of Ravenna grew and prospered.
Erection of the plant was started in mid-winter,
1892-1893. The panic of September, 1893 struck the country and it
was necessary to shut the plant down for several months. On resuming
operation, Mr. Williams found the demand for sad irons diminishing and
realized that a change of product was necessary.
He finished up some sad irons by nickel plating
and also produced some small models for his traveling salesmen.
These small irons, a convenience for the salesmen, were the start of the
toy business for The A.C. Williams Company. There followed over the
next thirty years, horse-drawn, then wheel toys, automobiles, tractors,
and finally airplanes. At the same time and extending through this
period were the various Cast Iron banks, including house banks, animal
banks, several hundred different types and styles that have all become
collectors items over the last twenty-five years. Through the
1920's, The A.C. Williams Company was recognized as the largest Cast Iron
toy manufacturer in the world.
In 1905, the business was
incorporated as The A.C. Williams Company and Mr. Williams' son-in-law,
J.H. Bigalow, moved to Ravenna from Cleveland, Ohio and became active in
the business. The first Officers of the incorporated A.C. Williams
Company were: A.C. Williams, President; his son, John W. Williams,
Vice President; and his son-in-law, J.H. Bigalow, Secretary and Treasurer.
During the first World War,
production of toys and banks decreased and the hardware line was
expanded. At this time, the Company produced first castings for
other companies to use in their product and most of these were related to
war production items through 1916, 1917, and 1918.
Immediately after the first World War, A.C.
Williams, prompted by the illness of his wife and the decision of his son,
John, and family to move to California, sold his interest in the business
and moved to California. His son-in-law, J.H. Bigalow, became
President of the Company and Clyde A. Heisler, son-in-law of Bigalow,
became an Officer of the Company.
Gradual change was taking place in the toy and
hardware business over the next few years. Stampings, plastics, and
rubber toys were making inroads into the Iron toy line, which was sold
principally through outlets like S.S. Kresge, F.W. Woolworth, and
others. Stamped, and particularly, able foundry capacity unused, and
with an excellent work force trained in small, thin-section castings with
fine finish and a machineable Iron, C.A. Heisler, now Vice President,
pushed the jobbing foundry business--the production of castings for other
manufacturers. These requirements gradually utilized the entire
foundry capacity and the last toys and hardware items were produced in
1937-1938.
By the late 1930's, White
Sewing Machine Corporation had emerged as the largest customer of The A.C.
Williams Company and more than one-half of the foundry's capacity was
devoted to this one customer who required free machining, smooth surfaced,
and very uniform castings.
In 1940, with a definite trend
toward light-weight castings and because the portable sewing machine was
an excellent application for castings lighter than Iron, a pilot, or
experimental plant was started in Magnesium by J.B. Heisler, who joined
the Company in mid-1936 and was in charge of production. This
occupied one small corner of what was known as Plant II on North Walnut
Street, which served as additional foundry capacity primarily for uncored
or plain work like sewing machine beds and motor ends. At about this
time, a fine relationship started with Warner & Swasey Company on
machine tool castings, first with the very smallest parts used on their
various turret lathes and other machine tools, finally developing into the
largest customer through World War II. To produce these castings and
many others of heavier sections, it was necessary to make radical changes
in the type of metal poured, and a laboratory was added to help control
the metallurgy. It was not unusual to run two and even three types
of Iron in one day to produce the wide range of castings now a part of The
A.C. Williams Company.
Pearl Harbor and World War II
changed the foundry operation from sewing machines, stoves, and other
appliance parts, and lighting fixtures to machine tool castings, bomb
plugs, grenades, half-trac castings and in the newly developed Magnesium
Division, a variety of aircraft castings, including many kinds of wheels,
structural castings and many radar parts. Manpower for all
industries was under very rigid control. Women took over more of the
production at A.C. Williams. More than half of the employees in the
Core Departments were women and they replaced many men in Cleaning,
Inspection, Painting and Finishing.
Victory in Europe and then V-J Day, brought about
a rapid conversion to civilian production and the pent-up demand for
sewing machines meant full employment and full production for A.C.
Williams Company for the next five-year period. The Magnesium
Division expanded into Aluminum and for a period of several years,
additional Aluminum molding capacity was provided by a plant at Jones
Brothers Structural Steel Company.
The Korean War again
changed business conditions and while civilian items were not stopped,
war-related casting requirements received preference and the production
facilities at the Aluminum and magnesium Division were expanded to meet
the increased aircraft casting requirements and to provide space for the
Aluminum foundry that was brought back from the Jones building.
The Modern?? Era
In 1954, Directors of the Company approved of
plans for a new Iron foundry called the West Foundry, principally to take
care of the demand for sewing machine castings for White Sewing and their
principal customer, Sears, Roebuck & Company. This was the
largest expansion ever undertaken and the West Foundry was the most modern
facility in the area with overhead sand system and pallet line for molds.
Operation started in the fall of 1956.
Ownership of the White Sewing Machine Corporation
changed and resulted in the decision of Sears, Roebuck & Company to
purchase their sewing machines from Japan. The A.C. Williams Company
lost its largest customer, which represented about 75% of the Company's
total business.
The last sewing machine
castings in Iron, Aluminum, and Magnesium were shipped in mid-1957.
At this same time, foundries all over the country were closing down due to
a severe business recession. The Company was heavily in debt as a
result of expansion and modernization.
J.B. Heisler, with his brothers, Robert and
Bruce, and other Officers and Directors, made the decision to expand sales
efforts and rebuild the Company on the basis of a wide range of customers
rather than one or two large ones. For the last half of 1957, the
remaining work was shared as equally as possible among the employees so
that very few lost their jobs. Special effort was made to keep
skilled molders and core makers busy at some task, even painting the
plants. An extensive sales effort over the entire eastern half of
the country on Iron and over the entire country in Aluminum and Magnesium
resulted in all plants being back in full production by January of 1958.
With relatively few exceptions, the Plants worked a full schedule over the
next nine or ten years.
Changes were taking place in
the foundry industry and it was necessary to update and modernize, so in
1965, a large program was undertaken by the Company. At the Iron and
Semi-Steel Division, the Grinding, Cleaning and Inspection Departments
were expanded and revised and a new Shipping Room was added with more
loading dock space. Core facilities were improved and the first
shell core machines were incorporated in that department, plus a new shell
molding machine. The Melting Department was completely changed over
with the installation of two new cupolas and a charger, which eliminated
the hand charging and provided an excellent facility for the Company and
its customers. Part of the old, original foundry, built in the
winter of 1892-1893, was rebuilt and a sand system was installed to
furnish properly mixed sand to two new automatic molding machines.
The Aluminum and Magnesium Division was involved in the program; a
new Core Department and new core making machines were provided. At
this same time, temporary quarters were provided for the start of an
Aluminum Permanent Mold Department and shortly thereafter in November,
1967, an entire new Aluminum Permanent Mold foundry was completed.
This Plant on North Walnut Street was called, by knowledgeable foundrymen,
the finest Permanent Mold foundry to date and it incorporated many new
features for ventilation and improved working conditions.
After the startup
of the new Aluminum Permanent Mold foundry, a die casting machine was
installed in the vacated, temporary Permanent Mold Department of the
Aluminum and Magnesium Division. Many of our sand casting customers
were using die castings and they seemed pleased with our first production
efforts. Additional business was received and in late 1970 it was
decided to change the Monarch building on Cleveland Road from an Iron plug
machining facility to a Die Casting foundry. This would give the
Company a wide range of castings to offer; Iron, Aluminum and Magnesium
sand castings, Aluminum Permanent Mold castings, and Aluminum Die
castings.
Problems, Closing, and a New A.C.Williams Company
There were signs of problems at The A.C. Williams
Company beyond those normally associated with a growing and expanding
company in the very competitive foundry business. The 125th
Anniversary year, 1969, had been successful in sales volume only, not in
profit. Scrap was at an all time high and production per employee
had decreased in spite of some large expenditures for improved production
equipment.
There was some improvement during 1970 when
Management was reshuffled and Profit Sharing was started for the first
time with production employees. In fact, a substantial Profit
Sharing bonus was shared with these employees for the year 1970.
However, the production at the new Aluminum Permanent Mold foundry and the
new Die Casting plant never approached anticipated rates of production;
therefore, these two operations were not competitive.
To further complicate the
situation, new Federal and State laws had gone into effect covering Air
Pollution Control, Environmental Control and Occupational, Safety and
Health requirements, or OSHA, and all of these were particularly severe in
the foundry industry. Melting metal, transporting molten metal to
mold areas, pouring sand and metal molds, the cleanup work, removal of
burned sand and excess metal from the castings, all generated severe
problems for the foundry industry as far as the new codes were concerned.
It made the cost of compliance very, very high. More than two years
of effort went into the study and the basic engineering of the equipment
necessary to handle the Pollution, Environmental, and OSHA problems for
the Iron Division alone. It was very apparent that, while the
problems could be solved, the Company could not afford to handle these in
all five operations. The decision was made to concentrate on the two
largest and potentially the most profitable, the Iron Division and the
Magnesium Division.
Through the years of 1972
and 1973, the Die Casting plant was closed down, then the new Aluminum
Permanent Mold foundry was closed. After a short period of time, the
Aluminum Sand foundry was shut down, leaving only the Magnesium operation
of the entire Aluminum and Magnesium Division.
The Board of Directors and the Shareholders were
then confronted with a major decision, perhaps the most important ever
made at The A.C. Williams Company--should the new equipment on order for
an Iron foundry be placed in the present plant in Ravenna??--this new
equipment included electric melting equipment to replace relatively new
cupolas and additional automatic molding equipment that would eventually
replace the jolt-squeeze machines that had been the heart of the Iron
Division for many years--or, should the Company move to a new location,
build a new and much smaller plant around this new production equipment
and utilize low-cost financing available in these communities who were
eager to attract industry and generate jobs for their area residents.
The new equipment was very costly and changes to a relatively old plant
would be more expensive and less efficient than a completely new plant.
Several communities in Ohio and others in the South had indicated their
interest in A. C Williams Company by providing a location and giving
financial assistance to build a modern Iron facility.
The most important answer had to come from the
production employees, the Officers of the local Union, and the
International through some means of long-range stability that would assure
the Company there would be no interruption of production and that a
cooperative attitude would prevail in attaining production rates from the
new equipment at a time when the Company was carrying a large debt load.
Fortunately, for all concerned; the employees, the Company and the
community, a long-term Labor Agreement was negotiated through July and
August and signed in September of 1974, assuring the Company of genuine
labor stability to 1980. Because of the Agreement, the decision was
made to place the equipment, on order for a year, in the Iron Division in
Ravenna.
A new President, Robert
E. McCoy, took over the top Management position at the A.C. Williams
Company. Work on the new installation went ahead full speed and by
the summer of 1975, the electric melting equipment was installed and Iron
was being melted in a completely different manner than in the previous 131
years. The majority of the automatic molding equipment was also
installed and by Labor Day of 1975, the Iron Division was ready for the
"New Era" of the foundry business and another chapter of A.C.
Williams' history.
The Heisler brothers, Jim, Bob, and Bruce sold
their interest in 1977 to Robert E. McCoy and seven other management
employees because a seventh generation was not available to continue the
management by J.W. Williams' descendents.
Business was very strong and profitable. The new
management group embarked upon a plan to supply its customers with
aluminum, large iron, steel and short run products.
Tri-Cast, a small iron
plant in Akron was purchased in 1978, followed by a large iron foundry in
Delaware, Ohio and a steel foundry in Barberton, Ohio in 1979. The
Company was now capable of expanding it customer base while increasing
sales to its existing customers.
The aluminum foundry was started again in 1978
and a centrifugal foundry and machine shop were moved into the North
Walnut plant.
Sales grew from $6
million in 1977 to $36 million in 1980 but some large customers suddenly
went bankrupt and could not pay their bills forcing the Company to cut
back its operations, move through Chapter 11, coming out of it in January
of 1983 with a plan to pay its creditors 100%. The Company sold off
all operating plants except the magnesium and Tri-Cast operations before
coming out of Chapter 11.
A nail gun plant was started in Tallmadge
but only lasted three years. The bulk of the pneumatic guns were
designed into die castings eliminating the need for the operation.
The unsecured creditors were paid off in 1993.
Dale E. McCoy succeeded
his father as President January 1, 1994.
The Company name is no longer used as the
marketer. Two separate corporations operate independently of each
other. Lite Metals Company, Inc.
sells magnesium and aluminum castings nationwide from Ravenna, Ohio and
Tri-Cast, Inc. of Akron, Ohio sells iron and ductile iron castings,
also nationwide. Both companies are owned by The A.C.Williams
Company, Inc. of Ravenna, Ohio.
Each company employs less than fifty employees
and plans to continue doing so in order to maintain better service to
customers. Satisfied customers will help the company to survive in
the future and another 150 years is our goal. |
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