Technical Member Profile: New Dimension Metals Corp.

New Dimension Metals Corp. (NDM) is a supplier of cold-finished carbon and alloy steel bar products. The company was founded in 1990 in Dayton, Ohio, by John C. Gray, who has spent his entire career in the steel business.

Mr. Gray started the bar mill as an alternative to what he considered the “big steel” mentality among the steel establishment. According to Mr. Gray, the old steel culture focused on only a single dimension that put the steel industry first.

His vision was to create a new dimension in providing cold-finished steel bars. This new dimension would put customers first and concentrate solely on those customers’ needs. As a result, NDM offers a variety of materials and lengths designed to meet the requirements of end users. The name “New Dimension Metals” embodies this vision and the company’s motto, “To run our business more like our customers and less like the competition.”

NDM also provides value-added, first-operation processes, such as saw-cutting or shearing-to-length, chamfering and packaging. Other services include hot-roll bar straightening, turning, polishing, thermal treatment, annealing and custom bundling. The company has 40 employees and is certified to ISO 9002.

As part of Gray America Corp., NDM shares a total of 340,000 square feet with three sister companies: A-Lab Corp., L&H Threaded Rods and Scarlet & Gray Corp. In total, there are 125 employees under one roof.

NDM currently has seven cold-drawing lines. The mill can cold-draw any carbon and alloy steel grade that is produced by hot-rolled bar mills. The company works with both standard and special grades, and maintains an inventory that includes 10xx, 11xx, 12xx, 4140 and 8620 steel.

NDM’s bar products include 1/4-inch to 4-inch rounds, 7/16-inch to 2-inch squares, 5/16-inch to 2-3/4-inch hexagons and 1/2-inch by 1-inch to 1-inch by 4-inch flats. Special shapes are also available upon request.

“Our customers supply parts to a variety of markets, such as automotive, agriculture and lawn and garden,” says Mike Mulligan, the company’s sales manager since 1994. “We also sell some of our bars to OEMs, as well as to the service center industry.

“We’re a material supplier to PMPA member shops,” Mr. Mulligan continues. “Precision machining companies are a big part of our market. We got to know many of our current customers through our technical membership in PMPA.”

Mr. Mulligan credits many of his customer relationships to PMPA’s networking opportunities. “You really get to know your customers on a personal level at the association meetings and conferences,” he explains. “It’s much better than doing business by phone, fax and e-mail.

“I like the exposure to some of the members’ best practices,” he continues. “Even though we’re in a different industry, there are many things we can learn from the best people in the PMPA. We try to emulate some of those practices.”

Mr. Mulligan, who currently serves on the PMPA Technical Program Committee, is a user of the PMPA Listserves. “I contribute when there’s something that relates to carbon and alloy steel, which is our business,” he says. “I try to give an answer when I can. If there’s something that our sister company, A-Lab, can help a member with, I try to offer those services as well.

“There are customers we wouldn’t have without PMPA membership,” Mr. Mulligan sums up. “I think PMPA members try to support the technical members and favor them with their business when it makes sense. There are definitely customers that value the fact that we are PMPA members.”