Five Questions

©iStockphoto.com/tostphoto Five Questions

United Wire Co., Inc.

Five Questions provides an opportunity for SMI associate members to tell the spring industry about their company and the products and services they offer. In this edition, we talk with Bob Swanson Jr., president of United Wire Company.

1|Can you tell us about the history of United Wire and the products it offers to spring manufacturers? My grandfather started United Wire in April 1994. My grandfather, uncle and father all had experience in the shaped and flat wire business from working at previous companies in the ’70s and ’80s. I started working for the company in the summer of 1994. When we first started, our main business was supplying zipper wire to the zipper manufacturers. United Wire offers flat, square, and shaped wire in stainless steels, carbon steels, copper bases, nickel bases, aluminum and cobalt alloys in all tempers.

2|What are the latest trends impacting wire distributors and what effect is it having on spring manufacturers? Due to market conditions, wire distributors are doing everything they can to have wire available to spring manufacturers. The demand is very high, but the supply is very low. The effect on the spring manufacturers has resulted in longer lead times due to no material and increased costs once the material finally arrives. On a good note, if you have material then you are making money.

3|What type of services do you offer to springmakers? One of the main services United Wire offers is the very wide range of alloys that we manufacture. Not many companies work with carbon steels and stainless steels, as well as copper bases, grades of aluminum, nickel bases and cobalt alloys. We do it all. Another service feature is our flexibility of order quantity we can accommodate, from 25 lb. to 25,000 lb. orders. If a springmaker is looking for 50 lbs. of Inconel, 500 lbs. of stainless steel, or 5,000 lbs. of music wire, United Wire can service all orders. Our large size range capability is also a great service we offer. We can supply a .005” x .015” or can produce a .056” x .750”, so a springmaker can get many different sizes from us, as opposed to having to call different suppliers for different products.

4|What role does logistics play in serving spring manufacturers? Right now, logistics has played a very negative role in servicing spring manufacturers. Trucking companies are taking longer to deliver product and costs are going up.

5|Can you tell us about a recent challenge that you were able to solve for a customer? A spring manufacturer was stamping a part and the packaging they were receiving from their supplier was causing many problems. Since we are capable of rolling wire .750” wide, we can offer a very similar product to slit or coil. The advantage United Wire offers is much larger packaging. The customer went from getting 30 lb. coils from their previous supplier to getting 1,000 lb. reels from us, which resulted in cost savings. They were extremely happy. n

United Wire Co., Inc. 50 McDermott Road North Haven, CT 06473 Phone: 800-840-9481 bob@unitedwirecompany.com www.unitedwirecompany.com

Bob Swanson Jr.