Glueckler Metal has found success producing highly specific parts for the heavy duty truck and automotive markets.
Written by James Buchanan & Produced by Kevin Patey
Based in Barrie, Ontario, Gluecker Metal has found that in its case the key to success is being the best at producing very specific component parts for heavy-duty trucks and automobiles.
“We’ve been in business for 20 years making parts for the heavy trucking industry,” says Carl Christensen, operations manager for Glueckler. “Specifically, we make components that engage the brake drums.”
As of late, though, the company has moved in a new direction — which is manufacturing components that go into the decoupler of an automobile, which itself is attached to the alternator.
Asked how the company came to hone in on such a specific component, Christensen says that these parts had been made by another company located literally across the street from Glueckler. But when the company went bankrupt, it left its primary customer in need of a manufacturer. Glueckler was in a position to produce these parts and before long it had won a contract to pick up where its neighbor had left off.
“The folks across the street tried to grow too fast and went bankrupt,” says Christensen. “The lesson we learned from that is that it is important to grow as fast as the market requires, which has been a great lesson for us.”
Currently, that particular component is included in 3.5 million vehicles, which Christensen says could soon grow to 12 or 14 million.
“It’s an ideal part for a four to six-cylinder car because it helps with the fuel efficiency,” he says.
As to its trucks business, Glueckler manufactures three to four million parts each month, which translates into two parts for each brake installed…
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