_____________________________________________________________________________________ Hubbardton
Forge
Hubbardton Forge stands to continue as one of the oldest commercial forges for many years to come
There ’ s a stellar collection of around 240 designers , makers , and doers , who are responsible for the dayto-day operations of Hubbardton Forge ( Hubbardton ). The organization , which has been producing handcrafted , artisanal lighting solutions since 1974 , is also one of the US ’ oldest and largest continuously operating commercial forges . Manufacturing Today last sat down with the company in early 2022 , so we ’ re touching base once again , with Steve Wiegers , Vice President of Operations , and Louis Rousseau , Process Engineering Manager , to hear how things are going .
“ The last 12 months have given us an opportunity to settle back into normalcy after the whole Covid impact ,” begins Steve . “ We weathered the storm better than most , and never actually saw our on-time delivery service levels drop below 90 percent , or our lead times exceed four to five weeks , and we ’ ve managed to fully recover . We feel like we ’ re all kind of past it now ; the challenges in sourcing raw materials and the surges in demand that many manufacturers experienced , and we ’ re ready to shift our focus back onto the elements that were difficult to prioritize during that period . Chiefly , we ’ re starting to think about new equipment again , and other investments that we can implement to improve both the plant and the business overall .”
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