John McGivern, General Manager
(video link)

Founder and owner, Bob Stange, working on one of his classic cars (a 1955 Porsche)

A 12" solid mount aluminum rear end assembly.  This Strange Engineering design provides a rigid foundation for the most powerful world champion racers.

Axles, axles, axles — This is the product (or an early version) that started it all.

by Joe Romanowski
Chairman & CEO

I love success stories like Strange Engineering (http://www.strangeengineering.net).  They truly exemplify the American entrepreneurial spirit.  In the late 1950s, Bob Stange built a few axels in his garage for some buddies who liked to drag race their street cars.  That modest beginning has manifested itself into Strange Engineering, a high end, high technology niche that internationally supports the hobbyist, enthusiast and professional dragster with axels, drive line components and suspension systems.

I recently met with John McGivern, General Manager (video link), and asked him what makes Strange special and different.  He told me a story that has made a legend of their founder.  Many years ago Bob Stange said, “We Sell Jewelry Here.”  That simple statement has driven their business to the top of their market niche.  Today, they build thousands of parts that have a distinctively smart high quality look and feel.  Even though in recent years Bob Stange has distanced himself from much of the day to day Strange Engineering operations, and is now focused on rebuilding classic cars and custom woodworking, he is still the company’s “design department.”   The design engineering staff continues to run each new part by Bob to make sure it meets his standards as a fine piece of jewelry.

Does Strange Engineering have off shore competition?  Absolutely.   Several of their domestic competitors have looked overseas to be more price competitive.  Strange has continued to drive their vision that their Morton Grove, IL plant is a world class manufacturing company.  They have nineteen pieces of CNC equipment (all Mazak), the oldest is just seven years old.  While their business has more than doubled over the last ten years, they have increased their workforce by only 20%.  They are focused on reducing costs and increasing their throughput with high technology equipment and an attitude of continuous improvement.

I was quite surprised at the complexity of their product mix.  Their production runs can be low volume, high mix… and the parts can be very intricate.  They also have high volume runs of commodity parts.  Many times fast turn around is required.  And, their parts are machined from a wide range of materials, including titanium, magnesium, aluminum and steel as forgings, castings and weldments.

John dazzled me with this fact:  the top fuel dragsters exceed 330 mph in a quarter mile in just 4.4 seconds. That is amazing!  

I was also thrilled to find that their company has been recession proof.  Even during the most dismal manufacturing years of 2000 to 2003 they grew every year.  They continue to capitalize on the fact that motor sports is the fastest growing sport segment in the U.S.

John gave us some wonderful compliments. I asked why they have continued to buy Mazak machine tools, Sandvik cutting tools and Blaser coolant from Machinery Systems and Machinery Tooling & Supply.  He said our products have been dependable and reliable. Strange made a decision years ago to standardize on one machine tool builder and as few suppliers as possible to reduce costs.  They continue to trust not only our equipment and products but our staff.  Congratulations to Mike Bielfeldt and Henry Kirchner and all of us for supporting their work with Strange.