November 2021 Volume 3

EQUIPMENT & TECHNOLOGY

tooling and finish machining for their products. As the company grew, it found that acquisition of precision machining assets served them well, nurturing their path to growth and enabling them to serve their existing and potential customers by offering precision product solutions. In 1971, after some law school and four years in sales, Andy Ulven recognized that he had “hot metal” in his blood, so he and his wife, Diane, purchased Molalla Iron Works in Oregon, with $3,000 from her savings account. This was re-named Ulven Forging and it continued the production of low-volume forgings serving the forestry and logging industries of the Northwest. In 1973 operations were moved to a location outside of Hubbard, Oregon that had housed a 13,000 ft2 facility on four acres. In 1986, the Ulvens purchased Skookum/Rope Master, a Portland- based manufacturer (established in 1890) of blocks and rigging. Today, Skookum is a brand of The Ulven Companies, and over the years the company expanded into serving additional industries such as the defense, oil and gas, transportation, infrastructure, commercial fishing, maritime and general rigging industries. In 1998 Ulven purchased Hale Iron Works, a manufacturer of rigging products. The Hale product line has been integrated into Skookum’s catalog. Along the way, Ulven’s customers expressed the need for quality steel castings. They were taken seriously and Ulven acquired the equipment to establish Wolf Steel Foundry, which poured its first heat of steel in 1989. But Ulven Forging’s biggest push into machining started in 1995, when the company teamed up with Brookway Machining, a CNC machine shop, to provide forged and machined cross brace latticework for New York City’s Brooklyn Bridge. According to Dan Ulven, President of The Ulven Companies, “Our collaboration with Brookway Machining made us aware of the value of precision machining to the future growth of our business as a ‘full service’

An associate measures machined ring blanks for dimensional accuracy. Photo courtesy of Specialty Ring Products Vertical Integration by Acquisition In Oregon, what began as a small forging company has, over the decades, morphed into the corporate group now known as The Ulven Companies. Throughout its 50-year history, The Ulven Companies have maintained significant machining assets to provide

times before the integrity of the die block was compromised. “In the old days you used to see guys using manually operated milling machines, hogging out the metal to re-sink worn dies. Now one person can run three or four CNC machining centers that need only to be set up and turned on,” Lee concluded. Constant tool room needs made it good business sense for forges to have machining capacity easily at hand. Some forges acquired machining companies, while others developed in-house machining operations. As this early trend toward vertical integration took hold, some operations saw the opportunity to finish-machine their own forged products, and some have solicited machining business as an independent revue stream.

A finish-machined front axle die cavity. Photo courtesy of Weld Mold Company.

A flood welded axle die block. Photo courtesy of Weld Mold Company.

FIA MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2021 19