PULASKI COUNTY, IN – The Plymouth Tube Company was founded in Plymouth, Mich. in 1924. The company is a specialty manufacturer of precision steel tubing, steel and titanium Near-Net Shapes, and steel and titanium cold drawn shapes. Comprised of 10 manufacturing plants, including the one in Winamac, Plymouth Tube is family-owned with fourth generation leadership from president Donald Van Pelt. The company moved its headquarters to Warrenville, Ill. in 1986.
The Winamac plant was the Plymouth Tube Company’s first expansion to a new location. The cold draw mill was the first building constructed at the Winamac plant in 1961. In 1988 the Winamac hot mill facility opened to produce redraw stock for the Winamac cold draw mill, as well as to manufacture hot finished seamless carbon and alloy steel tubes.
Although the oldest of Plymouth Tube’s mills, the Winamac cold draw plant’s continuous programs of renovation and expansion maintain the facility’s position as one of the most modern redraw facilities in the world. Located on a 51-acre site, the initial cold draw facility (12,800 square feet) was designed and constructed by Plymouth Tube personnel. Since 1961, the plant has undergone nine significant expansions and now has 200,000 square feet under roof. A 48,240 square-foot bay was completed in 1988 to house equipment for the mill’s large diameter tube production. Winamac cold draw produces cold-drawn carbon and lowalloy tubing for boiler, pressure, aircraft, ordinance, bearing and diverse mechanical applications.
Representing the most significant investment in new capacity in the company’s history to date, construction of the hot mill began in late fall 1986, with formal dedication occurring just two years later on Oct. 16, 1988. The hot mill is housed in a 136,500 squarefoot building located in the northwest corner of Plymouth Tube’s 51-acre Winamac site. Winamac seamless hot mill enables Plymouth Tube to be its own supplier of its tube hollows for redraws at both Winamac cold draw and Streator mills. The hot mill also allows Plymouth Tube to broaden its product base to include hot-finished seamless mechanical and boiler tubing.
Quench-and-tempered (Q & T) products started to become a major focus for both the hot mill and cold draw business units in 2007. These products are widely used in the oil and gas and OEM markets, and became an important part of the site’s strategic vision. A capital expense project for over $5.4 million was approved at the end of 2007 for a quench-and-temper line to be installed in the old weld mill building which was shut down in 2001. A modern operating labor agreement and an additional electrical substation for the town of Winamac also became a part of this project. Along with the cost savings, other benefits include a much shorter product lead time and R & D capabilities. The first orders were run in December 2008.
Currently the Winamac site has 156 employees with roughly 12 open positions to fill ranging from hourly UAW positions to staff level finance, quality and engineering positions.
