Plant Expansion Complete After 8 Months
A new 8,000 square foot expansion to our existing facility was completed earlier in 2007 and has quickly become a vital part of our fabrication department. The additional space has allowed us to add more welding equipment, sand-blasting and cleaning equipment, fixture tables, and lots more. The fabrication demands from our customers have increased tremendously over the past several years and Crow has accommodated with greater capacity. This has kept our lead-times more reasonable than most and allowed us to take on larger, more demanding projects than what we could do in the past. Turnkey service may now be a more cost-effective option for customers since additional value-added services such as blasting, painting, and cosmetic finishing can be performed on-site.

Welders Acquire New Welding Certifications
Six of Crow’s welders recently acquired a new American Welding Society certification that certifies the welding department for structural fabrication projects that have become a larger segment of the company’s business. Due to this increasing demand, the six welders were certified to AWS D1.1 Structural Welding Code, Class I & Class II materials, on Fluxcor. This certification helps ensure employees are trained and certified to handle the unique structural requirements required by these customers.

New Equipment Acquired in 2007 Adds or Enhances Capabilities
In order to keep pace with customer requests, as well as take on some new jobs, numerous pieces of equipment have been added this year to maintain reasonable lead-times, improve service and even part quality. “Certain products have been in very high demand over the past year and we’ve had to quickly adapt. In order to do so, we’ve upgraded or added some equipment,” said owner Chuck Stevens. “Many of these jobs were sizable and couldn’t be completed within the constraints most customers were dealing with. Many have given us more work, or we’ve added some new work that we didn’t have the capability to handle with in the past,” he added. Some notable additions since late 2006 include:

USI-Clearing stamping/blanking press, 500-ton capacity with a 48” x 84” bed and 24” windows and cushions. Offers greater stamping capacity and ability to handle much larger dies for large, stamped parts.
Welding machines and fixture tables for increased welding capacity.
Mediablasting machines, large and small, for intense part cleaning and blasting. This is also used to prepare parts for painting and is fast, efficient, and thorough.

Crow President writing monthly column for Cutting Tool Engineering magazine.

Beginning with the August 2007 issue of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine, Crow President and GM Keith Jennings has taken over the “Manager’s Desk” column, which focuses on management and business matters in the modern day manufacturing shop. After working with the magazine on an article in 2005, the magazine remembered his writing experience and thought he’d be a good candidate to fill the position. CTE Senior Editor Alan Rooks said the magazine has always received a great response from this particular column and it was important for them to find a good replacement for their readers. Keith explained, “Writing interesting articles about this industry is a challenge, but something I enjoy. I’m looking forward to doing this.” CTE magazine is distributed all over North America and maintains a large base of readers from the machining and manufacturing industry. Take a look at CTE’s web site and see what you think! www.ctemag.com

Stainless and Structural Fabrication on the Increase in 2007
2007 has been a busy year for structural fabrication work and stainless steel fabrication. Owner Chuck Stevens said the company is set up to accommodate this work better than in the past. “We have enlarged and improved our fabrication area and it’s made a big difference in our capability. We can work with larger products, handle more of the processes internally, and turn projects around faster,” he explained. “Our good lead-times have brought us a lot of work this year,” he said. While Crow’s history has not included a large amount of structural work, some of the customers have had such a huge demand that the facility was rearranged to accommodate their projects and give them a reliable source of procurement. This strategy worked out well and the response has been good.

Crow and Junior Achievement Partner Up to Encourage Kids in Business
Crow has worked with Junior Achievement since 2001, but in 2007, increased the company’s participation by providing local leadership in the Tomball community. Crow President and GM Keith Jennings is now a Junior Achievement Director for Tomball ISD and eager to expand the program in area schools. “Junior Achievement encourages kids in a very positive fashion, which is important to me. I’m a believer that kids should be taught how to access the tremendous opportunities that will be available to them when they’re old enough to work,” he said. During the school year, primarily in the spring, Keith spends about 3 – 4 hours per week in the local schools teaching kids about business, careers, and how they can utilize their natural skills to become self-reliant. To find out more about this great organization, please see www.ja.org, or www.jahouston.org.

New Plant Expansion Underway
A new 7,000 square foot expansion started in May and is scheduled for completion in July. The expansion will include additional space for welding and fabricating projects, a newly added “clean room” for cosmetic products, and additional storage for plant activities. Owner Chuck Stevens said the expansion will allow for additional capacity, especially on large fabrication projects. “We will be able to handle more jobs in a more efficient manner. The expansion will also give us more room for new fabrication equipment that will help us accommodate our growing fabrication business,” he said. Plans are in the works for an official OPEN HOUSE later this year to unveil the expanded facility.

Fabricated Cosmetic Products On The Increase
Fabricated cosmetic products on the increase. While Crow has traditionally been a heavy-gauge fabricator, the numerous requests for cosmetic fabrication has presented new opportunities to expand capabilities. As a result, new tools, equipment, and personnel have been added to focus on this growing market. With the addition of a new “clean room” in July, cosmetic fabrication capabilities will be dramatically enhanced allowing Crow to better accommodate this market. Please contact our Sales Department with any requests our questions about utilizing this department for your cosmetic product requirements.

Laser-cut brushed aluminum custom sign.		Laser-cut brushed aluminum custom sign.

Around The Shop...
2006 has been a busy year at Crow and the goings-on around the shop have sure reflected that. It looks like the second half of the year will be as busy as or even busier than the first part, so here’s a quick glimpse into our company and some of these things we’ve been doing this year.

Expanded CNC Capabilities Starting Second Quarter of 2006
The first quarter of 2006 was a busy time for equipment acquisitions and capabilities improvements. As a result, several new pieces of CNC equipment were added into our production activities and have made improvements to numerous parts and projects. Let us know if you think any of these machines could benefit your company.

Charmilles EDM Production of higher-tolerance parts Aid in hard tooling (dimensions of X, Y, Z axis)		Charmilles EDM High-Speed Drill 14” x 10” table Z-axis = 13”

Production Backlog Remains Strong
Business levels going into the second quarter are looking good. While some delivery times are longer, most jobs are maintaining their standard lead-times and Crow personnel are working hard to accommodate the requests of our customers. Some hot products of the moment are utility boxes, oil and gas components, nuclear components, and industrial valve components.

Crow Hosts FMA Education Workshop
Crow will be the host company for an educational workshop sponsored by the Fabricators and Manufacturers Association International. The workshop is titled Solving Your Press Brake & Shear Challenges and will be held on April 4 - 5, 2006 in Tomball, Texas. Crow is excited to be part this program and looks forward to working with the FMA on future events. For more information, go to: http://www.fmanet.org.

New equipment and capabilities for 2006
Crow has recently acquired several new pieces of equipment to expand and improve it’s in-house capabilities and services. These include a new EDM machine, new engraving machine, and a new PEM fastener machine. This equipment will allow us to expand the services available to our customers and give them even more and better options for their fabrication and manufacturing requirements. Please call the Crow sales team to discuss how this equipment may benefit your own projects and simplify your procurement of these services.

Crow experiences a record year in 2005
2005 proved to be a great year for Crow that included a record year in sales. While much of it was attributed to an improved market for our existing customer base, a large percentage was also due to the large volume of new customers that found Crow to be a great match for their manufacturing projects. This included companies with a variety of products such as architectural products, offshore panels and components, railroad car components, heavy equipment parts, and more. We expect 2006 to be an even better year and are excited about the many projects that are currently under evaluation.

Crow president ends four year term on local Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.
Crow President and GM Keith Jennings recently completed a four-year term on the Tomball Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. He was recognized at the Chamber’s January luncheon as well as their annual banquet held on January 20th. With the Tomball area and all of northwest Houston continuing its rapid growth as a strong business community, Keith provided his insight and concerns on the many issues facing the Tomball area as well as the entire northwest Houston area. “It was an awesome learning experience for me and it will continue to be an exciting opportunity working with the Chamber for many more years to come. It is great to have so much support from the other businesses in Tomball. They love to see us succeed and their positive attitude is infectious.”

Crow to host spring Fabricators & Manufacturers Association event
Crow is excited to host the “Solving Your Press Brake and Shear Challenges” FMA seminar on April 4 – 5, 2006. The seminar is part of the monthly series of programs offered by the nationally renowned Fabricators and Manufacturers Association. The two-day event will consist of some classroom brain storming sessions as well as a hands-on press brake and shear training session. For more information, please contact the FMA at www.fmanet.org.