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Plant has seen
ups and downs
By Michael Roknick
Herald Business Editor
When it comes to new
niches, over the past sever-
al years Salem Tube Inc.
has been spreading its
wings — sometimes literal-
ly.
Although its core busi-
ness remains in the heat
exchange, oil refinery and
oil rig industry, new mar-
kets for the Reynolds De-
velopment tube maker in-
clude the aerospace
industry with customers
such at General Electric,
Boeing, and Pratt Whitney.
“Our products are used
in fuel lines for aircraft en-
gines,’’ said Fred Prossen,
vice president of finance,
chief financial officer.
Other more areas target-
ed by the tube maker in-
clude the medical equip-
ment, nuclear and auto
industries. Sales have
picked up to the point
where Salem Tube’s mill is
now running three shifts
seven days a week. What’s
also helped sales is that
sales in its core trade have
also picked up.
Producing stainless steel
and nickel alloy tubing
from one-eighth of an inch
to two inches in diameter,
the business fills a special
niche that no nearby tube
producer can fill.
But Prossen said the
company will need to take
its foot off the full-bore pro-
duction gas pedal.
“It’s not good for the
men — and it’s not good
for the equipment,’’ he said
of the non-stop production.
With 125 full time em-
ployees now on the job,
Salem Tube has seen the
ups and downs over the
years. Owing around $2
million to creditors, in 1994
the company had to file for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In
an interesting twist though,
one of its major customers,
Spanish-based Tubacex,
bought the company be-
cause it simply couldn’t do
without Salem Tube’s prod-
ucts.
In 2005 the company
also had 125 workers on its
payroll but shortly later
nearly half of the workforce
was on layoff as sales to its
core business got sluggish,
said Linda Horm, human
resource manager, safety
director. But now the em-
ployment rolls have risen
as the economy has slowly
improved.
The nuclear industry is a
sector being targeted by
Salem Tube as a growth
area. Radiation leaks at the
Fukushima nuclear power
plant in Japan last year after
a major earthquake and
tsunami curbed the appetite
for nuclear power plants
but that has changed of
late. Earlier this month the
federal government gave
the green light for new nu-
clear plants in Georgia.
Nuclear markets would
add to the company’s glob-
al markets as it’s now sell-
ing in Canada, Mexico,
South America and Europe.
Recent improvements to
the plant include a new fur-
nace and ultra sonic equip-
ment which is used to de-
tect any defects in tube.
“It has to be an almost
perfect tube if it’s going
into nuclear plants, aircraft
or military work,’’ said
Prossen said.
Of course another
growth area Salem Tube is
looking at is the Marcellus
Shale boom now cropping
up throughout Pennsylva-
nia, Ohio and West Vir-
ginia. The company’s prod-
ucts have obvious potential
for the drilling industry.
While Marcellus will help,
Prossen doesn’t the drilling
as an end-all for business.
“It’s not going to double
our volume or the number
of our employees,’’ he said
of drilling activity.
Still, the company is en-
joying steady growth.
“We hope it continues,’’
Prossen said. “We hope to
be adding more employ-
ees.’’
Outlook
Sunday,
February
Sharon, Pennsyl
F
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N T H E
G
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RANSPORTATION
I
NDUSTRIES
ÿ F
INANCE
Saturda
Michael Roknick/Herald
Salem Tube Inc.’s products are ready for shipping. Based in Pymatuning Township, the company ships its tube products throughout the
world.
Michael Roknick/Herald
Andy Payne, the environmental safety coordinator at Salem Tube Inc., checks out
a box of the company’s product. The tube maker serves a variety of industries from
aerospace to oil refineries.
Salem Tube finding
new niches to fill
PYMATUNING TOWNSHIP
By Pat Woo
League of Women
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