Super Steel to increase production, add 60 workers

A marked improvement across the sectors in which it does business has Milwaukee-based metal fabricator Super Steel LLC looking for help.

The company said Wednesday that it plans to immediately hire 60 additional welders, CNC machine operators and other workers to handle increased production. Most of the new workers will be added as part of a ramp-up of the company's second shift, said Jason Gaare, Super Steel's director of sales and engineering.

"With the increase in orders and the timing of those orders, and with it being mostly from an existing customer base, we're needing to add shift capacity to existing production lines," Gaare said.

Employment at the north side manufacturing company will grow to 280 from 220 now.

"These are skilled positions that are family-supporting," Gaare said of the new jobs.

In announcing its hiring plans, Super Steel also said it is investing in new equipment, including additional robotic welding cells and upgrades to its powder paint coating operation.

"In order to move forward and be competitive, we need to make an investment in our equipment," Gaare said.

The increase in business that is driving the growth is coming from all four sectors where Super Steel operates, including transportation, construction, agriculture and industrial.

"All four of those have ramped up," Gaare said. "The industrial economy as a whole, that sector of the economy is really growing on all fronts. It's a general increase that we're seeing that we need to accommodate."

The company supplies products to manufacturers in capital equipment markets.

Whether the uptick in business is due to improving business conditions or a replenishing of inventories remains to be seen. "I think it's a little bit of both," Gaare said.

"We're optimistic that this momentum will continue," he added.

The new jobs are a continuation of a restructuring at the company.

In May, Super Steel was sold out of receivership to a firm owned solely by its chairman, Frederick G. Luber.

The uptick in business is the first experienced by the company since the economy stumbled in 2008, Gaare said.

Copyright (c) 2010, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Tags: daily updates, news, business, wisconsin, economy, jobs