Howard Precision Metals Inc. | 9
The company specializes in aluminumgoods,
as Anderson says; they know what they can
do and they concentrate on doing it better
than anyone else. That concentration is also
exacted in their communications with clients
and commitment to service. “Our salespeo-
ple don’t spend their days putting out fires
or making excuses... they’re free from prob-
lems and that enables them to better focus
on helping customers find better ways to do
things. Howard Precision Metals prides it-
self on doing what we say we are going to do.
We simply don’t let our customers down,” af-
firms Anderson.
TODAY AND TOMORROW
Having garnered the degree of respect for
their capabilities, Anderson says the compa-
ny is routinely contacted by machine shops
and the occasional fabricator who have select
needs, but in recent years, other contact has
come from attorneys or designated represen-
tatives from private equity firms expressing
interest in purchasing the company. While
huge corporations continue to sweep up a
variety of smaller operations, Anderson says
Howard Precision Metals will remain a fam-
ily affair. Don Howard’s son, Mark, has been
working in and for the business for near 30
years. She hints of possibilities of his future
leadership, but says, “For now, Don and Bob
are very much in charge and thrive on grow-
ing the business.” In any case, much like the
tolerances on their materials they manufac-
ture, Anderson says Howard Precision will
remain “a very tight organization.”
The company is poised to penetrate
further in service of hydraulics/pneumat-
ics, bar stock supply, and the production of
extrusions. Anderson says the company will
continue to grow slowly and steadily. Finan-
cial stability has allowed the company to be
driven without constraints from the typical
ebbs and flows in the metals distribution in-
dustry. For example, in 2001, when everyone
was tightening their belts, Howard Precision
Metals built new additions and a brand new
12’ plate saw. Furthermore, in2011, when the
economy was at a snail’s pace, they opened a
new facility in Minnesota to provide better
support to one of its largest markets.
In what has been the seeming pattern
of the Howard’s history, Anderson says, “We
do what is right for us, when it is right for us
and the customers we serve.”
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