PMPA Membership Provides Business Advantage to Laurel Steel
Laurel Steel has and continues to experience business and competitive advantages as a result of its almost 30-year-long technical membership in PMPA.
Laurel Steel Limited, founded in 1967, is a member of the Harris Steel Group, a division of Nucor Corporation, and supplies cold-finish bar to a variety of customers, primarily in the precision machine industry. Laurel’s commitment to quality earned the company designation as the first North American cold finisher to receive ISO 9002 registration and was among the first to receive QS 9000 registration.
“Laurel is one of several strategically located cold-finish bar plants. One of the nice things about our location in the Great Lakes region is that we have access to a range of markets,” says Dave Tidey, vice president of sales and marketing at Laurel Steel. Laurel’s precision machine customers serve a variety of industries, including automotive, fluid power and appliance manufacturing.
Laurel Steel has and continues to experience business and competitive advantages as a result of its almost 30-year-long technical membership in PMPA. Mr. Tidey and his team attend the national-level meetings and are active in local chapters, as well as in chapters outside of the Ontario area. They find that conversations and resources both online and offline help them to stay current on industry trends and customer needs.
“Throughout the last 25 years, the products we were supplying were generic, measured in fractional increments. Now, our customers need to order more precise, decimal sizes,”
explains Mr. Tidey. “We’ve learned through the PMPA members that needs have shifted, helping us institute better surface quality and tighter tolerances to ensure that we are able to produce materials that are ready for their shops.”
Precision machine customers’ surface, diameter and length requirements have significantly shifted over the years. The learning opportunities Laurel has with PMPA membership, not only allow the company to keep up with industry demands, but ensure that it is a leader in meeting them.
Another benefit of PMPA membership that Mr. Tidey discussed was building relationships, which remain an important component of Laurel’s PMPA membership.
“We can network at PMPA events, but even more so, we can make friends,” Mr. Tidey explains. “I, as well as Laurel, have developed and grown significant friendships through PMPA. Many friends aren’t even customers, which is a good indication of the interpersonal value we maintain.”
Personal connections and business intelligence from PMPA continue to help Laurel thrive as a supplier.
“If we didn’t have access to the knowledge through PMPA, we would need to learn through other avenues,” Mr. Tidey summarizes. “In this industry, that is difficult.”
Laurel Steel, a division of Harris Steel ULC, is located at 5400 Harvester Road, Burlington, Ontario, Canada L7R 3Y8. Phone: 800-265-6811. Fax: 905-634-7888.
