117 Years. Five Generations. Unlimited Value.

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Relentless agility is powering the evolution of the Oscar Winski family of companies

For 117 years, the Oscar Winski Company (OWC) has integrated fresh ideas and an ever-increasing drive to meet the challenges of change in the metals industry, adding value at every turn. Relentlessly agile and driven to serve, five generations of the Winski family have leveraged their tireless dedication to their customers into a diversified group of businesses, expanding their roots in metal scrap and recycling to include new steel and aluminum distribution, metal fabrication, strategic global sourcing, and manufacturing.

In 1907, Oscar Winski and his son Louis established their scrap metal business in Lafayette, Ind. In the decades that followed, the family built a robust commercial and industrial metals recycling business, eventually taking their customers’ leads and providing the services they’d need as the industry moved with the times. That simple change to “go where their customers go” has vaulted them into an enviable leadership slot within the industry.

“Our secret to success has been our devotion to customers,” said Alex Bluestein, Executive Vice President of Business Development and a member of the fifth generation of Winski family leadership. “Our top priority is taking care of our customers, and that’s cemented a decades-long bond with many of our customers. It’s opened the doors to important growth and diversification across generations.”

From its roots in metal scrap to its evolution as an industry standout, OWC has been a responsive innovator. The recycling business grew into Lafayette Steel and Aluminum, which developed a metals service center to process steel and aluminum coil for use in manufacturing. From that successful outgrowth came their expansion into value-added fabrication, which became a business of its own. In the past several years the organization has continually advanced quality and efficiency, adding a host of capabilities made possible with state-of-the-art technology, enabling them to meet more complex challenges. “In these last few years, we’ve invested heavily in welding, robotics, and other forms of automation to gain additional market share with a higher value proposition,” Bluestein said.

Seizing opportunity from chaos

As the pandemic receded, many U.S. based manufacturers were rethinking their reliance on offshore manufacturing, motivated by supply chain and logistical disruptions, cost escalation, quality issues, and heightened geopolitical tensions. The necessity of revamping their supply chains to hold onto the cost advantages of offshoring while taking advantage of the reliability of local sourcing management led OWC to rise to the challenge. Through their fabrication division, they invested in robotic welding equipment, enabling the organization to take on high complexity production work and expand their offerings while staying cost competitive.

As a result, all of OWC business units have embraced Industry 4.0 technology, particularly in machine automation. They use remote controlled production equipment in their metals recycling yards. The Fabrication division now uses robots, cobots, and on the laser cutting side has deployed automated material handling systems. Automation also helps to offset the dearth of available labor and frees skilled staff to do more meaningful and valuable work.

These technological leaps have given leadership the confidence to drive forward, investigating the newest advancements, including AI. “It can be scary, but with each step we take, we learn, demystifying prevailing beliefs and gaining confidence to push further. We’ve only just begun kicking the tires, but AI is the next frontier.  AI solutions are becoming more accessible to companies of our size, and we’re building the confidence needed to explore,” he said.

“In tandem with technological expansion, we have initiated new plant layouts for fabrication, streamlining operations and modernizing … leading to our next wave of growth.” The project is scheduled for completion by the end of Q1.

New frontiers in sourcing

Leveraging over 40 years of expertise in global supply chain management, in 2021 OWC launched Stratic Global Sourcing. Stratic’s novel methodologies allow customers to benefit from lower-cost parts and components in their domestic manufacturing operations with confidence and ease.

Customers choosing to engage third-party suppliers often lack the time and resources to find, qualify, and manage their own offshore network and supply base. This can be quite daunting.  But through Stratic’s network, located in India, customers can immediately plug into well established and reputable manufacturing entities that can produce their products to customers’ most exacting standards. These partner companies working with Stratic also serve Fortune 500 companies, are well-capitalized, and have impressive qualifications.

“When you talk to a company about sourcing from a foreign country, their initial concerns are usually quality and reliability, making sure that their suppliers understand the standards and can meet those standards on a very regular basis,” Bluestein said.

Stratic makes a thorough examination of their current processes and supply needs, giving their customers the opportunity to find the best, most economical path forward that also ensures seamless, on-time delivery of their goods.

Historically in the manufacturing industry, it was common practice for OEMs to be vertically integrated. In the current business landscape, many of these manufacturers are reallocating their resources to focus more on critical areas like engineering, marketing, and final assembly. They seek to streamline their operations by minimizing their involvement in the complex sourcing of individual components, parts, and products. This is precisely where Stratic steps in, providing a solution that simplifies this transition.

As Bluestein put it, “Being able to bring a value proposition to the table, to source product, and to help rescue companies out of China or capacity-constrained domestic supply, was a great opportunity. The need was far greater than we expected but we were able to respond very quickly.”

Stratic helps their customers evaluate the specifications and prints of the products they are tasked with manufacturing. Their process helps compensate for any imperfections to better meet their customers’ needs. Bluestein explained. “This is a very, very typical problem that occurs. Even though the product has been engineered and written into a design document, it may have gaps.”

The Stratic team also roots out any potential issues that may emerge, addresses them with customers and suppliers, and then evaluates the design plans for manufacturability. “We're bringing tremendous engineering and quality resources to the table that add value to the overall supply chain,” he stressed.

“The customers that we've acquired with Stratic couldn't find suppliers that could produce parts for their product lines in the immediate term, so they had to look elsewhere. They didn't necessarily have global sourcing groups that could go set up camp in India, establish a network of 20 different suppliers, manage the quality and the program launches and the logistics to get it back to them quickly and consistently.”

In addition to filling those critical needs, Stratic is a dynamic partner who can anticipate customer needs sooner and better than they do, which is a cornerstone of OWC’s core values.

“That’s inherent in all of our businesses,” Bluestein said, adding that they combine their institutional knowledge with the current business environment to help align expectations and help customers compensate for imperfections in critical processes such as forecasting.

“We're able to identify certain anomalies that facilitate conversation between our customers and ourselves to understand if there needs to be some additional consideration for factors that impact their forecast. Our ERP system provides historical information at our fingertips and uses that to cross reference customer forecasting.”

OWC is also diving into product development through their Konik Heavy Duty Products division, another post-pandemic business launch – and their new first product over their 117 years – a forklift mount kit for commercial trucks and trailers. Ever ingenious, Konik developed the design to be manufacturer-agnostic, demystified the installation, and improved the inventory system. The company slogan, “First to the Road,” is a nod to their ability to get kits into their customers’ hands and installed quickly, minimizing downtime.

The addition of Konik to the OWC portfolio was a natural step, as LSA supplied fabricated components and assemblies to truck OEMs for years. While Konik’s initial customer concentration has been through aftermarket distributors, OEMs are now taking notice.

“We're starting to get engagement with forklift OEMs and the larger trailer OEMs to add Konik to their product offering.  Working at both the OEM level and the aftermarket has broadened our participation across the value chain in a way that we hadn't before,” he said. Konik is expanding their product lines and plans to roll out more truck and trailer accessories in 2024.

That admission from Bluestein epitomizes the entrepreneurial spirit and devotion that OWC has applied to every venture in its history. That care extends to the entire Oscar Winski family of associates, providing abundant opportunities to develop meaningful careers in fascinating, interconnected, and tech-focused businesses that will continue to lead the metals industry for years to come.