15 minute read
Springmaker Spotlight
Pictured (l-to-r): John and Lisa Bilik, and Marty Krashoc.
Bringing it All Together:
A Profile of John Bilik and All-Rite Spring Company
By Gary McCoy, Managing Editor Like most companies in the spring industry, the story of All-Rite Spring Company involves strong personalities, an entrepreneurial spirit, many sleepless nights and much blood, sweat and tears.
The formula for success at the company reminds me of a book by Tim Layden, “Blood, Sweat & Chalk,” which is subtitled “How the Geniuses of Football Created America’s Favorite Game.” The history of All-Rite Spring Company could be a chapter in a book about “Blood, Sweat and Springs.”
John Bilik is the chairman and CEO of All-Rite Spring Company. His grandfather, Stan Bilik, started the company in 1943 near O’Hare Airport with his brother-in-law, Rudy Schneider. Schneider soon left and went on to start O’Hare Spring Company. Stan Bilik moved to Harwood Heights, Illinois and grew the business from a 19,000 sq. ft. facility.
Bilik said there were already many great spring companies in the Chicago area when his grandfather started, each specializing in different kinds of springs.
“Aside from basic coilers and simple fourslides, processing and specialized tools for intricate springs needed to be designed and built in-house,” explained Bilik. “Our early focus was on formed ends and transferring parts mechanically for additional bending, and then on to presses if additional bending was needed. Of course, we offered all the traditional compression, torsion and extension springs that customers needed.”
To get a foot in the door with new customers, Bilik said they always started with the most difficult or complicated jobs that other companies did not want.
Second Generation Changes
After returning from a stint in the Air Force around 1967, Edward Bilik joined the family business. “After several restless years of working as father and son, Ed decided to begin a separate company,” explained Bilik. All-Rite Industries was formed, specializing in fourslide and stamping work. Both companies grew over the years, until finally Ed Bilik purchased All-Rite Spring from his father in 1979.
All-Rite Spring was nearly out of the spring business by 1985, having few customers and equipment left. “Several family members were given spring and wire machines over the years to begin their own companies,” said Bilik.
Rebirth of All-Rite Spring
Bilik and his wife, Lisa, were gifted the remnants of All-Rite Spring in 1989. The turnaround of the company is nothing but remarkable.
Utilizing a small rental unit in Barrington, Illinois, the Biliks started making cold calls and reconnecting with former customers. After three years, they had reached $1 million in sales and moved to nearby Lake Zurich, to rent a 10,000 sq. ft. facility and build revenues to more than $4 million over the next three years.
It was in 1994 that the company moved to its current location in Spring Grove, Illinois. From an initial 20,000 sq. ft. facility, the company has added on numerous times to expand their footprint to its current size of 115,000 sq. ft. of manufacturing space.
Buying the property in Spring Grove northwest of Chicago all started with an RV trip organized by Lisa Bilik. “We got about 10 pizzas, some beverages and I think we had around 12 or 13 employees. We drove from Aurora, Illinois to Janesville, Wisconsin before ending up in Spring Grove,” explained Bilik.
He said the area was pretty much farmland at the time. With low housing costs and good schools, Bilik said everybody really liked the area.
“With the exception of one guy who ended up moving to Michigan, all the original people on the RV trip are still here and they have built a life in this area,” explained Bilik. “Work is hard. so why make it any harder on yourself? That’s a choice.”
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on shaped materials. About 70 percent of the company’s current work is in the automotive industry.
Uniting Two Companies
When Bilik’s father recently decided to retire, plans to unify All-Rite Spring with All-Rite Industries began to take shape. With both companies now operating under one management system, total revenues have increased to $40 million annually with a combined 250,000 sq. ft. of production floor space and 175 employees.
“Today, I get to work with my wife, Lisa, my sister, Elizabeth, and her husband, Chad Genengels, who is our vice president of sales,” said Bilik.
The management team includes company president Marty Krashoc, who works out of the Spring Grove facility, and Mark Andreasik, who serves as the general manager at All-Rite Industries in Lake Zurich. Andreasik grew up in the business and Bilik said he’s kind of like the oracle for the company when it comes to solving problems.
Bringing Krashoc on board in May 2015 to run the company was quite a change for Bilik. “The difference between how my grandfather and my father and how I did things early on and how we do them today has changed. Marty runs the business as a business,” explained Bilik. “He has a lot of creativity, but he has a lot more discipline than I do.”
Krashoc was not a stranger to springs, because his parents had worked in the industry his whole life. After earning a degree in mechanical engineering at Purdue University, Krashoc worked at Motorola in the area of mobile devices for a little more than 10 years. He moved out of state to pursue other work, but the opportunity to return to the spring industry lured him back, along with the chance move back to his hometown of Spring Grove. Krashoc also earned an MBA in finance from the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management.
Bilik says Krashoc helps verify the numbers and strategy to take the company to the next level.
“With our current revenues at around 40 million, we’re looking to grow beyond 100 million and Marty runs the company.
Pictured (l-to-r): Mike Steele and Jim Tomei.
I’m stepping back and trying to keep the peace in the family.”
With the discipline that Krashoc brings to the company, Bilik says “that is the item probably most in demand at every spring company that has brought itself to a certain level of success.”
The reunification of All-Rite Spring Company and All-Rite Industries started in January 2021, and Bilik jokes that “blending these two families is a job for a psychiatrist or psychologist.”
Bilik says his wife Lisa has been a key. “She’s the one who speaks calmly, listens to everybody and tries to keep the peace.”
Bilik says the combination of the two companies provides an environment where there are plenty of opportunities. With the size of the combined operations, Bilik says there is no room to do things on a whim. “There’s a lot more science to the business now.”
Wired for Business
Another important change for the company has centered on raw materials.
“Most of our volume issues weren’t something that we were doing wrong, it wasn’t the machines fault, it wasn’t the operator’s fault, it certainly wasn’t for the lack of inspecting. The raw materials had occasional problems,” explained Bilik. “We couldn’t live with the occasional problems, so we started making our own flat wire. We started rolling wire and ordering entire heats that were to our specification in chemistry.”
Bilik said it came down to being unable to find material consistently enough on the open market to keep their customers happy.
He further stated, “So we’re controlling the raw material, we’re getting the right tensile, the right hardness, the right ductility, and the right grain structure as we’re
Maribel Morales sorting clock-wound springs.
forming and coiling these springs, where it used to be kind of a happy accident.”
They also hired industry veteran Jim Tomei in December 2020 to help oversee the materials side of their business. Tomei came on board with experience at Suzuki Garphyttan, and graduate and undergraduate degrees in metallurgical engineering.
“Bringing Jim in to take charge of the materials has really helped us because he understands the ins and out of wire materials,” said Bilik.
A Three Legged Business
Bilik says the company’s business stands on three legs of its employees, customers and suppliers.
“Others have said it, but I strongly agree that a manufacturing company is like a family,” said Bilik. “When everybody is working together, everybody wins. When someone has a problem, it affects everybody around them. We act and operate as a family, and we don’t leave anybody behind who is making an effort to do their best.”
Without customers, Bilik says All-Rite would have nothing.
“We treat our customers the way we would like to be treated on the best day,” he explained. “Extending every courtesy, holding ourselves accountable, never offering something that might not be possible, and playing a role as an actual part of their team.”
Bilik says when it comes to suppliers, they will hold their hand through the entire journey.
“Mistakes will be made and we try to catch them early. We try to explain our needs exactly and look for elements crucial to a successful outcome that may be overlooked,” said Bilik. “When we make a promise, we keep it, and we give our suppliers every opportunity to understand our needs, and the commitment they are taking when working with us.”
He says teamwork at every level is the only way forward in the industry.
Current Challenges Paired with an Exciting Future
Bilik says like every spring company, the past year has been a challenge that has included unexpected tariffs, plant shutdowns, union strikes, supply chain interruptions and the coronavirus.
He says every year feels like it has its own character.
“But each challenge can be overcome with the same teamwork and philosophy of preparing for the unexpected,” he explains. “Keeping everybody employed through these challenges has been a primary goal for our company. I’m happy to say we’ve accomplished it, time and time again, learning from each experience. Every year the ‘rainy day fund’ grows, just in case it gets crazier.”
Bilik believes the immediate future is exciting.
“Orders are strong, and challenges have shifted from finding work, to finding materials. There are still unexpected interruptions, but the trend is looking good,” said Bilik.
“We have increased our raw material, work in process, and finished goods to account for new and unexpected challenges. Keeping our customers happy during difficult times is often rewarded with new business during good times. We have many new programs launching over the next three years; our challenge is deploying the proper automation to maintain the lowest cost process we can.”
Growing Up in the Industry
Like many other springmakers, Bilik grew up in the industry, and his family made their home in River Grove not far from the
Chicago city limits. He has many relatives still living there who have been involved in the spring industry over the years.
“At an early age, many of my cousins and I were introduced to the simplest of coilers, 00 Torringtons and a Samuel 1 Popcorn, making springs for our grandfather,” said Bilik. “Stan would point out any imperfection and make us adjust actions and regrind cams until the ends were perfect, often extending set up time by hours. We would learn the finer points of proper gearing, roller selection and just how far a tool could wear before it was rendered useless.”
Bilik said this tutelage by his grandfather prompted him to study mechanical engineering and to attend Bradley University before returning to a new role in quality and administration with All-Rite Spring after college.
He has always appreciated the spring industry because it affords opportunities to do many different things. Bilik said there are new enabling technologies that make old processes more viable, or things that can be combined with old processes to create something new.
“At All-Rite Spring, we are always looking for new machine designs, add in robotics and integrated vision, torque and force sensors into processes to make our product safer for the end-user,” says Bilik of the company’s desire to innovate. “Right now, we are in a push to take sequential processes and make them as parallel as possible, sometimes doubling or tripling yield. We have over 200 pieces of CNC equipment that are less than 7 years old on the floor. Even the newest machines are subject to process improvement.”
Bilik said it is not uncommon for machine builders to visit them to learn and adapt the company’s processes into their machines.
“The engineers and builders in our automation department like hearing people tell them something is impossible. It may take a year or more, but what was impossible in the past is now running on the floor. The future of automation is the most exciting thing happening on the floor right now. When we hire young engineers, machinists, toolmakers or automation integrators, the excitement is always centered around the latest process we are bringing online. Each month, there is something moving from R&D to the process floor.”
He said the most difficult thing about running a spring company right now is estimating an uncertain future, with respect to base material costs.
“Many long-term customers have traditionally worked with supply agreements that have a predetermined cost, with productivity givebacks.” Bilik candidly states that the way material costs have risen, a structure like that is hard to continue.
“Many customers are resistant to negotiating work, leaving the raw material cost open ended and subject to future adjustments. We have considered turning away from new business when this format is nonnegotiable.”
Family, Free Time and Friends
John Bilik and his wife, Lisa, have three children, Luke, Grace and Anne. Luke graduated with a mechanical engineering degree and is currently enrolled in
All-Rite Spring Company employees outside their headquarters in Spring Grove, Illinois.
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the MBA program at Marquette University. Grace is finishing her undergraduate degree in political science and social justice. Anne is a freshman at the University of South Carolina studying biology. Away from work, Bilik enjoys making music. “I’ve been playing various instruments for four decades,” he explains. “Starting with guitar in the church, to nightly lullabies on the piano, music has always served to bring calm to a flustered mind.” He also likes to fly and has logged almost 25 years as a private pilot. He is a multi-engine instrument pilot with a type rating in Cessna Citation jets. To get away from work and their home in Illinois, the Biliks like to retreat to Lake Tomahawk in Minocqua, Wisconsin. “It’s where our family has been going to relax for more than 80 years. It’s like a second home to us.”
Bilik has made many friends in the spring industry. He said some of the the best times he’s had is traveling to other countries for work and meeting new people and being exposed to new cultures. One of his good friends is Robert Kupczak, who owns RK Trading Company and Jackson Spring and Manufacturing.
Kupczak has taken Bilik and other friends and spring industry colleagues on trips to Asia.
“Bob has a gift for explaining the history of a country and its people; he is extremely passionate about every detail, and willing to talk for hours and hours to anyone willing to listen,” said Bilik. “He is very friendly and has relationships with springmakers and machinery builders all over the world. On trips we’ve taken, Bob is never afraid to make travel plans, jump on a train, plane, or boat in a foreign country and see where it takes us.”
Bringing it all together reflects his relationship with Kupczak and the way he personally gauges success.
“I get to work with people I love and adore,” said Bilik. “I’m a resource for my friends and family. I get to choose who I work for, with and against if necessary. Having options that lead to fulfillment on whatever level is important over time; that’s how I personally gauge success.”
He concludes, “We have come a long, long way, but there is always so much further to go; feeling good about that is a reflection of success.” n
