Sivyer Steel opened up its doors this week to a group of professionals in the steel castings industry to showcase its best practices and technological advances.
The century-old Bettendorf foundry hosted 32 members of the Steel Founders’ Society of America Future Leaders program.
“The whole idea of the Future Leaders is that young people in various companies have been identified as future leaders who show promise to grow the company,” said Hal Davis, Sivyer’s vice president of technology.
The annual event, which moves around Steel Founders members, provides a networking opportunity for newer foundry personnel and experienced industry professionals to get together and share ideas, challenges and other information.
In addition to touring Sivyer, the young leaders’ visit to the Quad-Cities included a tour at the Rock Island Arsenal’s Joint Manufacturing and Technology Center, or JMTC.
“Hosting the Future Leaders allows us to support and encourage networking in our industry, while providing Sivyer Steel with the opportunity to showcase our facilities and our partnership with the Rock Island Arsenal,” said Davis, who helped organize the event.
Davis said the last tour at Sivyer was two years ago before some of the company’s recent capital improvements. Visitors learned about Sivyer’s recent decision to go paperless on the shop floor as well as an improved process of reclaiming and recycling the sand it uses in its casting processes.
“It was a fairly attractive trip for them to see our facility, which has had a lot of renovations done, and to see JMTC on the island.”
The event also included roundtable discussions, research presentations and an expert panel discussion. Two of the Future Leaders are Sivyer employees.
“We all get to exchange ideas. We’re as much involved in the give and take as those coming from outside the area,’’ he said.
Founded in 1909, Sivyer Steel Corp. was one of the first large steel foundries in the United States. The company has been at its current Bettendorf location since 1961. It produces steel castings for power generation, military ground vehicles, flow control systems, construction, freight transportation and rail.
Sivyer employs about 300 people.
