A 50 Year History of Magnode (January 1, 1997)

What better way to celebrate our 50 year anniversary than to reminisce about where we came from and how we got where we are today. Enjoy!

Magnode was founded in 1947 in Brooklyn, New York to manufacture magnesium anodes for the hot water heater industry. The post war building boom was just getting under way and the ever increasing need for more hot water heaters that all required anodes for cathodic protection was the chance of a life time. Here was a ready made market for a product that performed a natural function. To be successful one needed a basic manufacturing knowledge of magnesium melting and extruding. Arthur W. Bidwell, Sr. and several partners felt sure this venture could be a winner--they had the casting and manufacturing experiences necessary so they entered into an arrangement with Dow Chemical and their small company was born.

The company’s first year was one of triumph and grief. Mr. Bidwell, Sr. passed away but the company’s partners, which included his son Art, celebrated reaching $200,000 in sales, a remarkable sum, especially by 1940’s standards. It was time to expand operations.

The search for a suitable manufacturing facility was focused in the Midwest, the hub of Magnode’s growing market. Art and a fellow partner led the search. Letters were sent to the chambers of commerce in Indianapolis, Louisville, Lexington, Dayton and Cincinnati. The most eager reception came from Cincinnati’s chamber. They wasted no time in alerting Magnode that they had five sites that could accommodate the type of building required to house their extrusion line.

One of the five Cincinnati sites was exactly what Magnode needed. It was located in Trenton, Ohio about 30 miles north of Cincinnati and a few miles west of Middletown. "The Trenton site was so ideal that we bought it the day after we first saw it with help from the First National Bank," said Art.

Art spent two years fighting in the Korean War while his partners kept the business moving forward. Upon his return, the first extrusion press that was ordered for the new plant in Trenton had arrived. Magnode was now also casting its own billets, feed stock for the extrusion presses. These were important steps in the company’s strategy to bring as much of the manufacturing and design process in-house, a term the industry calls vertical integration.

Business was good, but Art and his partners recognized future growth lay not with magnesium but with aluminum, a more versatile metal. The business continued to expand, and another press--this one 1000 tons--was bought and installed in the early 60s.

In the early 60’s one of the partners died and another became ill. The company bought their stock, and Otis Grant, assumed the title and responsibilities of president while Art served as vice president and treasurer. Art focused primarily on sales and marketing. His son Martin recalls how dedicated his father was to the business. "He’d leave Sunday on his sales trips and not return until late Thursday," said Martin. "But he’d be up early on Friday and in the office."

In 1965 lightning struck an air cooling system on top of the anode manufacturing facility which contained 130,000 pounds of magnesium. The building was completely destroyed by fire. However, the facility was quickly replaced with a pre-engineered steel structure and operations were back at full tilt in less than eight weeks.

In the late 60s, Magnode announced a major $2 million expansion for a new 40,000 square foot building as well as new 4500 ton press. This expansion increased employees by 50 percent! The construction of the U.S. highway system created a tremendous demand for bridge railing, safety barriers and other highway products made of aluminum. Business couldn’t have been better.

Otis Grant retired in 1973 and sold his Magnode stock to Art, who became the sole owner. Shortly thereafter, Magnode became an Ohio corporation and faced a new marketing challenge. As the highway system was coming to its completion, the demand for bridge railing and other road products was diminishing. However, as a testament to the multi-talented Magnode sales team and to the multi-faceted nature of aluminum, new markets were found and developed.

Among those new markets were aluminum containers for missiles for the Defense Department. "The aluminum versions protected the delicate instrumentation inside the missiles every bit as well as steel, yet weighed a mere one-third as much," said Art. Magnode worked directly with the U.S. Department of Defense, and its subcontractors to develop these designs and, in so doing, made a significant contribution to protecting America during the Cold War.

In the mid-70’s Magnode purchased Wright Manufacturing Company located in Indianapolis, Indiana, a fabrication and anodizing company. These capabilities enabled Magnode to take another step in vertical integration by finishing the extrusions already being supplied to the consumer durable market.

Magnode was quickly building an industry-wide reputation for its ability to extrude products requiring tight tolerances and exacting specs. Extruding a simple piece of aluminum framing certainly presents a lot of manufacturing challenges, but they pale in comparison to the expertise and know-how to extrude complicated parts like computer housings and automotive components. Here, deviations as slight as .001 of an inch can render the piece useless.

On August 11, 1980, the company and the community celebrated the grand opening of its new $3.5 million aluminum billet casting facility. This capability would enable Magnode to convert scrap and ingot into the billets required for extrusion. The company, its customers and the community would benefit from a more economic and environmentally friendly source of raw material.

This critical component of the Magnode operation would not have come to be if it were not for the cooperation and support from the communities of Trenton and Middletown, the utility companies and numerous government agencies that assisted with permits, licensing and loans. Such was the degree of cooperation, that the Middletown Journal in a 1980 editorial wrote:

"As long as this kind of spirit is in evidence, our area can look forward to many more decades of progress based on a sound footing of diverse and prospering industry operating in a cooperative, pro-business, pro-growth atmosphere."

Initially, the facility could produce up to 65 million pounds of billet a year, with expansion capabilities up to 130 million pounds--capacity the company would later need. Magnode was one of but a few independent extruders with the capability to cast its own billet and continue the process through to the extruded product, fabrication and finishing. This degree of vertical integration is rare in the industry and allows Magnode to be a single-source producer to its customers, ensuring tighter quality control and more competitive costs.

Magnode’s new billet facility also spoke to the company’s deep-rooted environmental ethic that was in place long before it became popular in corporate America. Magnode has created a manufacturing environment that produces virtually no air pollution and where almost everything is recycled.

In 1985, Magnode opened a newly upgraded facility in Indianapolis that is dedicated to finishing operations. Once lengths of aluminum are extruded, they need to be cut to size and then machined, punched, riveted or anodized depending upon their end use. Then in late 1994, Magnode opened another new plant in Middletown, Ohio to manufacture and finish heat sinks for the consumer electronics industry. Heat sinks are primarily used to absorb and dissipate heat generated by stereos, computers and other products to prevent them from overheating.

For Magnode, business is very much a family thing. Art’s sons Martin Bidwell, president and chief operating officer; Joseph Bidwell, vice president of manufacturing; and daughter Kathleen Bidwell Gramke, assistant director of human resources, have served numerous roles in the company. They sit on the company’s board of directors, as do son-in-law, Tony Walter, vice president/general manager of the Indianapolis operation; wife, Ann F. Bidwell; and son, Fr. Michael Bidwell. Johnie Adams, vice president of technical services completes the board of directors. "Each of our managers is committed to the business, knowledgeable, bottom-line focused and hard working," said Art.

Working closely with the unions that represent the employees, Magnode management has created a positive working environment with good wages and benefits. Perhaps nothing speaks to this point more convincingly than the company’s low turnover rate in an industry full of companies with revolving doors. Plaques honoring the many Magnode "old timers" (those with more than 25 years of service to the company) are displayed proudly in the lobby with samples of the company’s many products.

In 1986, in a Middletown Journal article, Art Bidwell was quoted as saying:

"Our people make the difference. We are not just another extruder. They all have much the same equipment that we have. The success we have enjoyed is directly related to our innovation in developing ideas and the use of our technical expertise. In short, it is the talents and abilities of our people as problem solvers coming up with new and more effective ways for our customer to make his product more competitive, to make his operation more productive. That’s the Magnode philosophy."

The company's Trenton operation has just been awarded the ISO 9002 certification, a prestigious, internationally respected designation which means quality standards and processes are exacting. The next goal will be to attain QS 9000 certification in late 1997.

Somehow, while leading the company and raising a family, Art has managed to make significant contributions to his profession and his community. He has held numerous positions, including president of the Aluminum Extruders Council and chairman of the Extruded Products Division of the Aluminum Association. He also sits on the board of directors of The First National Bank of S.W. Ohio and the Middletown Regional Hospital.

The Company’s key markets are now in defense, automotive, consumer electronics and consumer durables. Its work has won much customer and industry praise, including two highly coveted first place awards from the International Aluminum Extrusion Design Competition. One such honor came for the company’s innovative highway safety barrier design and the other for components used in the microprocessor industry. Art is gratified at how much more sophisticated the products they extrude presently are compared to those of the early years. "Our handling equipment and die construction are light years ahead of where they were even 10 years ago, and they exceed industry standards by 50 percent or more," he said.

Of course, making extrusions and fabrications is only one part of the Magnode equation. Delivering them is the other. Magnode has its own transportation division which delivers 60 percent of the product it makes to its customers as well as transporting material between its facilities in Middletown and Indianapolis.

It humbles Art and fills him with pride to see what started 50 years ago as basically a sales organization grow into a 320-person facility with sales in excess of $45 million.

But it’s looking forward, not staring into the rearview mirror that most interests Magnode. As the company celebrates its 50 anniversary, its five year plan emphasizes continued growth, ongoing modernization and the search for new products and applications. Part of the growth will be the opening of the Monroe facility in mid-1997.

The future also means another generation of Bidwells at the helm. Martin has assumed the role of president and chief operating officer as of January 1, 1997, while Art remains chief executive officer and chairman of the board.

Martin as well as all Magnode managers are committed to growth and performance. We feel great responsibility for our employees and their families and the communities in which we operate. "We will use every resource we have to keep moving forward and build on our legacy."