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Soulé News
VOLUME 2 NUMBER 3 MARCH, 1964
SOULÉ INSTALLS
New Color-Anodizing Facility
*Photo: Pictured above are two of the new color-anodizing tanks now being installed at Soulé's San Francisco plant. Thirteen such tanks will be installed, giving Soulé one of the largest and most modern color-anodizing facilities in the U.S. Going over installation blueprints are "Benny" Bennight, right, maintenance foreman, and Roy Jacobs, maintenance.*
Soulé Steel's San Francisco plant is now in the process of installing one of the largest and most modern color-anodizing facilities in the nation.
The new facility which will consist of twelve — and eventually thirteen anodizing tanks — will provide the Architectural Products Division with the ability to clear- or color-anodize aluminum extrusions and sheet. The colored aluminum will be produced through two of the country's foremost color anodizing processes — the Kalcolor process, developed and licensed by Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation, and Duranodic 300, a process licensed by the Aluminum Company of America.
In announcing the new facility, Lee Soulé, President, states: "Colored architectural aluminum — as provided by the Kalcolor and Duranodic 300 methods — is winning wide acceptance with architects throughout the United States, not only for its durability and extremely low maintenance costs, but because of its high aesthetic appeal. While Soulé is not the first fabricator to establish such facilities, we find ourselves in the unique position of profiting from all the developments that have been advanced to date, so that our new color-anodizing plant promises to be among the finest in America."
Completion date for the new installation is scheduled for July, 1964, and according to Ken Archer, General Manager of the Aluminum Products Division, "the process should be in full operation by July 15."
Work on the new facility already is underway and on schedule. Tank sizes will vary in width — from three feet to five feet, and will be thirty-two feet long, with a common load depth of eight feet.
All anodizing equipment is of the latest design and will be completely new throughout. The system will be designed so that all controls may be easily viewed by quality control personnel. Controls will be either fully automatic or manually operated, according to the method best suited for consistent color duplication.
Both Kalcolor and Duranodic 300 are hailed by architects and builders as the finest processes yet devised for color-anodizing aluminum, producing color-fast, low maintenance shades for a wide variety of applications in window-walls, curtain-walls, trim, and a host of architectural uses in modern building. Colors range from various shades of gold, through tans, browns, olives and grays to deep black.
Archer states: "We have every reason to believe that the market for colored aluminum has just begun. Kaiser, for example, has now licensed fourteen firms of which five are on the West Coast.
Because of the large investment involved moreover, all major fabricators in our opinion, will soon be promoting color as a standard part of their specifications. Colored aluminum may well become the standard finish demanded by architects and builders. This will apply not only to exterior walls but interior trim — aluminum ceilings, entrances and partition members.
This is another important step that Soulé Steel Co. is taking to continue its leadership in the manufacture of Architectural Aluminum Products in the West.
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From the President
"Leading the Way"
In this March issue of Soulé News, as in the February issue, it is our pleasure to make a second announcement about our company's expansion and development program.
Not only are we adding a continuous steel casting unit at the Long Beach Mill but we are building and installing a complete color anodizing facility at our San Francisco plant. This will be one of the largest and most modern color anodizing plants in the United States.
Because of the ever-increasing demand for color-finished aluminum products, we are making another important investment to maintain ourselves as leaders in the aluminum architectural building field, as well as to continue our corporate growth.
The total valuation of all offices, schools, hospitals, churches, and social buildings in the United States for 1963 amounted to well over $14 billion according to the latest F. W. Dodge statistics. Of this, the eleven Western States accounts for $2.8 billion or 20% of the U.S. market.
We expect this year and succeeding years to be even better than 1963 in the West as well as the U.S.
This represents a tremendous area for future growth and development in the architectural products field. As Ken Archer has stated, we have every reason to believe, moreover, that the market for colored aluminum is still in its infancy. We are, therefore, extremely proud to announce the installation of this new facility — and congratulate all who have had a part in making this growth possible.
Edward Lee Soulé, Jr.
Soulé Citizen of the Month
*Photo: Ernie Clark, Soulé detailer by day and Morse code instructor by night for Scout Troop 159.*
When Ernie Clark sits down at the keyboard don't expect to hear a Rachmaninoff prelude. But if you appreciate the dit-dit-dit-da bit, (that's Signal Corps language) you'll love Ernie's rendition of the staccato chorus by Morse.
By day, you'll find Ernie detailing in the Architectural Products Division, San Francisco. In the evening, there's Ernie with a bunch of the boys from Scout Troop 159, sponsored by Soulé, teaching the International Morse code or playing "Code X", a sort of Morse-Bingo that Nevada hasn't heard about yet. Ernie is Assistant to Scout Master Chuck Mickel and Soulé News salutes him as "Citizen of the Month" for his good work.
Born in Toronto, Canada, his affiliation with scouting goes back to his youth when he rose to the rank of Star Scout. He spent two years in the Royal Canadian Air Force as an air gunner during World War II and came to the United States in 1954. He has been with Soulé continuously since April, 1955.
Since May, 1957, when Soulé formed Embarcadero District Troop 159, Ernie has helped to organize and maintain all aspects of the troop training program including knot-tying, tower and bridge building. He lives in San Mateo with his Arizona-born wife, Beatrice and their two children, Terry, aged 3 and Linda, 2.
Ernie claims that art is his hobby, but if you want to see his eyes light up, ask him about the dot-and-dash business. Five or six years ago he picked up a surplus army - special - training - code - kit for the Scouts. He got it for a song. It has 10 keys plus a lamp system. It's one of those versatile units that will run on virtually anything from 6 volt batteries to regular house current. He claims that he can turn up the volume so loud that you can hear it a quarter of a mile away.
"No, Ernie . . . no demonstrations please. We'll take your word for it. Just keep up the good work!"
People in the News
*Photo: Millar*
*Photo: Abele*
*Photo: Lamb*
*Niles O. Millar* recently retired as a Director of Soulé Steel Co. Formerly Corporate Secretary and General Credit Manager, Niles retired from this position last year at this time.
*Maurice "Maury" Goldman* has recently taken over the duties as inside sales for the Architectural Products Division at San Francisco. Maurice, who has been with the company for 11 years, has worked in the engineering and estimating departments of Architectural Products prior to assuming his new duties.
*Wilbert Abele* is the newest member of the Los Angeles office. "Wil" started with the Company during the latter part of February as a Sales Trainee of the Commodity Products Division. He is new to our fair State of California having very recently arrived from Indiana where he started his Sales career. He is a graduate of Ursinus College in Pennsylvania, is 24 years of age and carries around six feet and one inch of two hundred and twenty pounds. The best of luck, Wil, on your new assignment.
*Clarence C. Lamb*, Shear Operator — Los Angeles Plant retired last month after being employed since 10-23-30. Born in Sims, Texas, Clarence has lived in California since 1923. His hobby is fishing but he plans to sell real estate on a part time basis following retirement here.
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ANNOUNCING
1963 Safety Contest Winners
In ancient mythology the phoenix was a bird which rose from the ashes. Who knows the strange circumstances surrounding this mysterious event. If the silly bird had taken a few simple safety precautions it might never have fallen into the fire in the first place. We do know this however; the city in Arizona which bears the same name has a much better safety record. In fact, the Soulé plant in Phoenix is the 1963 grand champion among all Soulé plants.
Here are the final 1963 standings:
**PLANT LEAGUE**
1. Phoenix & Seattle (tie) 2. Los Angeles 3. Los Angeles Rebar 4. San Francisco 5. Portland
**FIELD LEAGUE**
1. Phoenix 2. Southern California 3. Northern California 4. Mill 5. Seattle 6. Portland
**COMBINED PLANT & FIELD LEAGUE**
1. Phoenix 2. Los Angeles 3. San Francisco 4. Los Angeles Rebar-Mill 5. Seattle 6. Portland
Now it can be told, Phoenix tied with Seattle for first place in the Plant League, and was undisputed champion in both the Field League and the combined Plant and Field League.
Congratulations Phoenix! You have established an enviable record by your efforts to keep all phases of the operation free of accidents. Good work Seattle! You were every bit as good as Phoenix in the Plant League.
Phoenix and Seattle didn't have a single in-plant lost time accident during 1963. That's 100%, and obviously good enough to win in anybody's league. A big pat on the back should also go to Los Angeles for running a close second to Phoenix in the Combined Plant & Field League.
Harry Lange, Phoenix district manager is justifiably proud of the 1963 record. "You don't win safety awards without 100% effort by everybody," he said. "All the employees, plant and field, deserve the full credit."
Lee Soulé, company president, announced "Now that the victors are known, company awards will be presented to Phoenix and Seattle at dinner meetings this month.
1963 is history, and a pretty good one at that for company wide safety. Wouldn't it be great to have a six way 100% tie for 1964? Let's try it.
Safety Is Our Business Too!
*by Ralph E. Shulenberger, Labor Relations Director*
Since this issue of Soulé News announces the Safety Award winners for 1963, I thought it would be a good time to remind you that we have a full staff of Safety managers and Industrial nurses to implement the Safety program throughout the company.
Frank Kleman is Safety manager in Los Angeles, assisted by Ethel Allen at the Wilmington plant and Thelma Sharp at Dominguez. In San Francisco, Safety manager Charles Mickel is ably assisted by Nancy Sanders. This group forms the nucleus of a well trained, competent staff whose only concern is our health and safety, on and off the job.
Safety is a full time job for everyone of us, but it's reassuring to have these accident prevention experts on the job. Naturally the company is continually striving to provide safe, healthful working conditions and to prevent damage to equipment and property. If you have any problems relating to safety, or any ideas on how safety can be improved get in touch with any of the people mentioned above.
Nobody wants an accident. Accidents kill time . . . so let's kill accidents.
*Photo: Field employees, Phoenix' Standing; Left to right, Bob Lee, Jack Adams, John Condiff, Bob Reed. Kneeling; Left to right, Jake Northern, Glen Hickman, Garey Woodfill, O. D. Scott.*
*Photo: Shop employees, Phoenix: Back row; L. to R., D. Wells, C. Bruno—Foreman, M. Azbell, A. Perassi, C. Peterson. Front row, L. to R., C. Considen, M. McMorris, R. Pippin, R. Bloomingdale, R. Smith.*
*Photo: Shop employees, Seattle l. to r.; Gordie Tate, Roy Dillon, Claude Abel, Rick Lysne, Rick Abel, Cliff Boren.*
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U.S. Government Calls On Soulé In A Post Finish!
*Photo: Fence-Posts scheduled for shipment to South Vietnam, being processed through Soulé Steel Company's five-stage pretreatment and painting system at Los Angeles plant. Soulé processed 18 to 21,000 fence posts in a single eight-hour shift.*
You've heard that old saw about the difficult being done immediately — the impossible taking a little longer? Well, apparently we have earned that type of reputation and recently the Los Angeles plant lived up to it.
The United States Steel Company and Kaiser Steel Company were awarded a government contract to produce more than two million drive-type fence posts for use in battle torn South Vietnam. The two companies completed their part of the job and it became Soulé's responsibility to clean, dry, paint and bake-finish the posts . . . and, if you'll pardon the pun . . . post haste.
The Los Angeles plant gave a dramatic demonstration of its adaptability and know-how through the use of its huge five stage pretreatment and painting system. This equipment is normally used for our regular line of steel residential sash. The system features an overhead conveyor type flow coat painting operation which allows for complete cleaning, painting, drying and baking in one continuous operation. Under the supervision of assigned military inspection teams Los Angeles processed 18 to 21 thousand posts—that's between 112 and 135 tons worth — in a single eight hour shift, and that's going some!
Each post, approximately 11 gauge, weighing 12.5 pounds, in six and eight foot lengths was run through a hot water spray cleaning apparatus, flow coated next in a zinc phosphate solution and conveyed to a drying area. After drying they were moved through Soulé's flo-coater painting operation, weatherproofed and finally conveyed through the bake ovens for finishing.
When the job was completed the posts were packaged in bundles of 111 pieces each.
The posts are now in use in South Vietnam. They have been used to erect barbed wire barricades around native villages that we see and hear about in the news daily. This was a job well done by Los Angeles and if these barricades are instrumental in saving one single life, or shortening the conflict by one hour we will all have been well and truly reimbursed.
COLOR-ANODIZING ## Those Responsible . . .
*Photo: Pearson*
A great many people at Soulé Steel were of course responsible for developing the new color-anodizing facility which will go "on stream" this July.
Playing a key role, however, in the project were Bob Pearson, superintendent of plant engineering and development — the man who toured the country on behalf of Soulé studying other installations — Ernest Vevoda, research engineer, Hans Kirchner, mechanical engineer, Don Mattade, foreman in the structural fabricating department, and Al Schurner, plant superintendent at San Francisco.
To these men — as to all employees at Soulé — the Soulé News offers a special salute, for making this outstanding new installation.
Soulé News
Published monthly by the Soulé Steel Co. — Howard Soulé, Editor
**Associate Editors**
Dominguez—Frank Kleiman Fresno—Jo Davis Los Angeles—Don Garner Phoenix—Rod Newton Portland—Dolores Bedgood
Salt Lake—Andree George San Diego—Esther Longnecker San Francisco—Sally Kelsay San Francisco—Mike Mickel Seattle—Dee Henderson