ARTICLE
What started as a Western Michigan home-based operation to supply investment cast hardware in 1961 continues to operate today as a privately held air-melt steel investment casting company specializing in technically challenging medium sized parts for aerospace and defense applications. Company founder, Gerald Krause graduated from the U of M with an engineering degree and while working at Howmet Corporation in Whitehall, MI saw an opportunity to start a business serving the small parts marketplace that was overlooked by the market’s larger players. The humble beginnings gained traction and the company moved into a larger facility in Whitehall. Growth continued and it became clear that more complex parts with NDT requirements represented another overlooked market opportunity so in-house capability was added. In 1984 construction of a new facility began. It was purpose-built to provide smooth work flow and the site chosen would allow the 35,000 sq ft to be expanded. The company still operates from that facility in the Montague, MI Industrial Park. Fast forwarding to 2005, Bob Johnson joined the operation as the Sales Manager and brought a history of technical sales and engineering in the investment casting marketplace. His experience covered a wide variety of products and disciplines ranging from sand, permanent mold, die casting, machining, and investment casting including large aerospace and defense applications in steel, titanium, and vacuum melt super alloys with some of the largest names in the business. A key component of Bob’s decision to join the small company was to explore the possibility of a buyout. Gerry Krause had been searching for a buyer for a while and owning Shellcast would achieve one of Bob’s lifelong goals. Shellcast immediately began to swing from a commercial product focus to more difficult aerospace and defense applications. Bob and Gerry began working on a succession plan in 2007 putting Bob in operational control in 2009. Shortly thereafter while wintering in Florida Gerry became ill and regrettably passed away in late 2010. 2011 saw the creation of the business holding company Johncast, LLC with the purchase of the company completed in July 2011. Today Shellcast operates with high reliance on process control to eliminate scrap and rework. Quality systems accreditation such as AS-9100D and NADCAP for NDT put the company on a par with far larger industry players. Market demands for bigger and more complex parts are met with new equipment throughout. Most notably the company recently qualified large and complex assemblies on the PAC-3 missile launcher system for the Redstone Arsenal. The project involved a partnership with one of Shellcast’s customers, Seiler Instruments in St. Louis, MO who provides machining, finishing, and assembly operations for the 150lb unit. Gerry’s son Randy Krause, provided a little perspective on what his father might say about the 60-year milestone: “My dad didn’t brag about anything. Outwardly, he probably wouldn’t say much about the 60-year anniversary. But he would have been enormously proud of the accomplishment. As a young man, my dad didn’t have any money. His father died when my dad was 5 years old. His mother was poor. Yet, at 17 years old, as his Eagle Scout project, he single-handedly built a small house for his mother to live in, which she did until the day she passed. He used his self-taught construction skills to pay his way through the University of Michigan. These are things he never discussed and I learned only later in life when I found an old scrapbook. One of my favorite things my dad would often repeat is this: ‘ya know, Randy, I always find that the harder I work, the luckier I get.’ I repeat this now to my children and in my business. Shellcast has been a story of success that sometimes might look like good luck but built on the back of lots of hard work!” Bob was quoted as saying “The company remains successful because of the skill and the dedication of the employees. From the wax room to shipping we have some of the best that investment casting has to offer. People always think the guy at the top is the key but I don’t think that’s always true. I don’t make the castings, the folks in the shop do. I think Gerry would be proud.”