NuWeld Inc.
For Williamsport, Pa.’s NuWeld Inc., everything comes down to quality. The company is based in a 211,000-square-foot, 24-acre site, where it has worked to perfect its welding, project management, quality control, safety and engineering services, as well as its ability to work on turnkey projects. The company serves the gas, power and industrial plant sectors.
“We have excellent craftspeople who are dedicated to the success of our company,” CEO Tim Satterfield says.
Value Added
The way NuWeld provides value to its customers is through its turnkey project capabilities. The company’s engineering team can handle project design, taking a customer’s specifications and ideas and incorporating them into the design and layout of a project site. From there, NuWeld can manage all of the material procurement, managing the material flow all the way through the shop and into the final product.
“It is important that we place a lot of emphasis on engineering and quality assurance,” Satterfield says. “Our customers expect high-quality products and on-time delivery, and meeting their expectations is what drives us.”
Satterfield says engineering is a value-added service because it allows NuWeld to help the customer by manufacturing or installing engineered products to their specific design. The quality control department adds value because the company possesses an approved quality assurance program, which ensures that the company is shipping out exactly what the customer needs.
“Overall project management is important to a lot of customers because they don’t want to handle the engineering or procurement themselves,” Satterfield says.
Most of the company’s current work is in northern Pennsylvania in the natural gas industry, but it is also doing high-level work for the nuclear industry and commercial power industry. Throughout its history, the company has worked on equipment, such as condensers, that ultimately have been put to work all across the country and around the world.
The Road to Improvement
NuWeld is consistently looking for ways to make investments in improving the company. Satterfield says NuWeld has allocated resources toward computer software such as MRP and ERP systems. It is also investing in shop equipment to make its processes more efficient.
“We are investing in marketing, as well, to try and increase the visibility of the company,” he adds. “NuWeld is also restructuring somewhat, as we will be bringing in a new president and CEO.”
Satterfield says the idea is for him to continue as the company’s chairman, getting out into the field and talking to the customers to be sure that relationships are strong. The company has grown to the point where new blood is needed to help manage NuWeld on a day-to-day basis.
“I don’t think I can put my skills to work with the customers properly and effectively with how we are currently operating.” Satterfield says.
Human resources at all levels are another key investment area for the company. In fact, NuWeld has run an in-house training program for the last seven years that takes craftspeople in as laborers and gives them the opportunity to work their way up. In-house training includes a welding school, training with hand tools and training with blueprints and drafting.
“We strive to bring in young people who have a desire to forge a career path, and we can provide them with opportunities to advance themselves,” Satterfield says.
He admits that the drop in natural gas prices is a challenge for NuWeld because of its heavy presence in the sector. However, because the company also has a significant presence in the nuclear and commercial power industries, it can divert some resources away from natural gas and into the energy sectors that are performing better.
“We have an aggressive plan for the next 10 years, and we have always met or exceeded our business plans,” Satterfield says.