(847) 934-4500

Contact us today:

Category Archives: Forest City Gear

Forest City Gear Acquires Three New Haas Turning Centers to Produce “Donuts” for its Gearmaking Operations

FOREST CITY GEAR EXPANDS BLANKING DEPARTMENT

 Leading gear manufacturer acquires three new Haas turning centers to produce “donuts” for its gearmaking operations

Forest City Gear’s blanking department now boasts a Haas ST-10 and two ST-20 Turning Centers. These machines were acquired recently to improve the throughput at Forest City Gear, a world leader in fine- and medium-pitch gear and spline work. The machines are used primarily for production of “donuts”, the near net blanks used in the company’s gearmaking operations.

Roscoe, IL-Forest City Gear has acquired three Haas turning centers to improve the throughput at its gearmaking facility.  The company has made this investment, according to President Wendy Young, “…because we needed to better control our throughput and reduce the time to start up jobs.  We were experiencing some severe delays from outside vendors and we saw problems on the horizon from such bottlenecks.  Our company is always on the lookout for such conditions, because both our quality and our delivery protocols are vital to our success with current and potential customers in the world market.”  These new machines will be used in the company’s Blanking Department, headed by Tommy Kalt, who detailed the new machines.

“We purchased a Haas ST-10 Turning Center with a magazine bar feeder, 300 PSI high-pressure coolant system and automatic tool presetter.  It’s a fast, very flexible and very easy-to-use machine tool.”  This machine, as well as two Haas ST-20 Turning Centers with 8” chuck and 20-station hybrid turret, fully programmable tailstock and high-pressure coolant pump, are currently operating in the Forest City Gear facility to produce “donuts” from automatically fed bar stock.  These donuts are the near net shape blanks used in the gearmaking operation here.  As a custom producer of extremely tight tolerance gears for the most demanding applications, according to company CEO Fred Young, “We need to have optimum control of our operation, at every step.  Our company today exports gears to every corner of the world and our rigorous quality standards require a number of intermediate steps, prior to shipment.  If the blanks are not available and our production is delayed, the entire operation slows and we simply will not allow that to happen,” Young stated emphatically.

Kalt expands on the ST-10.  “It has a manual, programmable tailstock for shaft work, another real advantage in our type of shop, where we do a lot of splines in addition to gears.  Plus, the Haas CNC system is very easy to learn and to use.  It has simple language commands and most operations can be done with the push of a button.  I like to say it has an American-made feel to it.  The work area is open, the tooling is easy to change and the learning curve was really short for our guys.  They were up and making good parts almost immediately.”  He noted that the performance of the first machine led quickly to the purchase of the two additional Haas ST-20 turning machines.  Kalt also cited the ECO CNC system on the Haas machines, with minimal lubrication requirements and auto-power down features were in sync with the Forest City Gear green initiative programs, as a further value to this purchase.

On the business side, Wendy Young was very satisfied with the cooperation of the Haas sales and delivery team.  “We were treated fairly and the support has been first-rate, right from the start.  We already see the benefits of this purchase to our company.”

For more information on this story, please contact: FOREST CITY GEAR CO., INC. 11715 Main Street Roscoe, IL 61073-0080 Phone:  815-623-2168 Fax:  815-623-6620 Web:  www.forestcitygear.com

Email:  wyoung@forestcitygear.com Attention:  Wendy Young, President

PR agency contact for Forest City Gear: Tim Daro Bernard & Company 847-934-4500 tdaro@bernardandcompany.com

Continue reading

WOMEN IN MANUFACTURING…A YOUNG GIRL’S JOURNEY

13-year-old student visits Forest City Gear to explore career options; meets many women already succeeding in “a man’s world”

Accompanied by her grandfather, Brian Cluff, vice president of Star-SU, a major gearmaking machinery and tooling supplier, Alexi Cluff toured Forest City Gear to see the manufacturing world and discuss the options there for young women. Alexi, though only 13, is currently enrolled in an advanced engineering class at Northern Illinois University, designed to encourage more young women to explore engineering and science as a career.

Roscoe, IL-Forest City Gear frequently opens its doors to visitors, usually from customer and prospect companies, as well as international trade associations, the media, vendors and occasionally competitors.  Company owners Fred and Wendy Young have always believed this policy was beneficial to the visitors, who see some of the industry’s finest gearwork, produced and validated for quality on absolute state-of-the-technology, world-class equipment.

On March 30, 2011, however, another visitor came to tour Forest City Gear with a slightly different agenda.  13-year-old Alexi Cluff, accompanied by her grandfather Brian Cluff, vice president of Star-SU, a leading supplier of gearmaking machinery and tools, visited Forest City Gear to learn about manufacturing and especially to explore the options for women in manufacturing, an environment traditionally thought to be “a man’s world.”

Alexi is not your typical 13-year-old.  She is currently enrolled in a program sponsored by a grant from the Motorola Foundation and conducted at the College of Engineering and Engineering Technology at Northern Illinois University.  The program is a workshop in partnership with NIU-Enhanced Engineering Pathways, the Society of Women Engineers and the Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois.  The stated objective of the program is to challenge and sharpen the skills of accelerated learning for 12- and 13-year-old girls selected by their local middle school science and math teachers.  Currently, 48 girls work in small groups, assisted and taught by NIU women engineering professors and women engineers from various industries.  These instructors mentor the girls on various engineering projects, from the building of simple electrical circuits to create sound, motion and light, to bridge building, chemical engineering and lean manufacturing simulation.  The groups meet on Saturday mornings on the NIU Napervillie (IL) campus and also attend a summer camp, held each June.

Forest City Gear President Wendy Young conducts the tour through the plant, showing Alexi Cluff the many types of machines used to produce and validate quality on the company’s high-precision gearwork.

Often, the groups or individual students have tours arranged for them at local area manufacturing locations such as electronics and communications giant Motorola, where they can absorb “real world” experiences and especially meet women of all ages who have succeeded in the various disciplines required in a manufacturing environment.  Since Alexi’s grandfather had a long working relationship with Forest City Gear, he reached out to Fred and Wendy Young to arrange a tour.  The Young’s obliged, giving the young lady a complete tour of their factory and quality lab, plus arranging a roundtable discussion with a number of the women at the company, who perform all categories of activity for Forest City Gear.  A world leader in precision gear manufacturing, Forest City Gear has an international reputation for “excellence without exception,” which happens to be the motto of the company.

Women from all departments of the company, including application engineering, human resources, gear grinding, gear deburring, gear hobbing, order processing, estimating, expediting, procurement, materials inspection, quality validation, machine set-up and company management were at the table.  Alexi’s eyes and ears were wide open, as she listened attentively to every word.

Seated at the table for Forest City Gear, in addition to Wendy Young, president, were Kika Young, Geneva Parr, Mary McClellan, Krista King, Sharyl Stewart, Lori Lovett and Ingrid West.  These women are involved in literally every aspect of the company.  As Mary McClellan mentioned, “We touch the products at every step of the process, especially me (in gear deburring), because of my little fingers!”  These women were unanimous in their advice to Alexi Cluff.  “Always be willing to learn more, never be afraid to speak up with your ideas, bring all your skills to the job, every day, and don’t hesitate for ask for directions…something men never do!”  They all had a good laugh.

Alexi said, “I’ve always been interested in making things and finding out how they work,” a sentiment her grandfather echoed.  “I started making gears when I was 14 and it’s fascinated me, ever since.”  If there’s anything to that old adage about the genes skipping a generation, perhaps the gear industry will have another Cluff in its future!

Forest City Gear CEO Fred Young explains some of the company’s gear successes to Alexi Cluff at the company’s display showcase.

At the end of the roundtable, Forest City Gear CEO Fred Young had some comments.  He detailed the difference in the European education model, where there’s considerably more encouragement given to young women to explore any and every working option.  In America, he noted, “Our greatest strength came from manufacturing, the basic ability to make things better and faster than anybody else.  The value-added service of making something from raw materials is what builds a nation’s wealth and makes us more self-reliant.  Letting go of manufacturing would be a big mistake.  By learning and using the technology we develop, as well as what we can gather from other countries, we’ll make America a stronger nation and more successful, in the long run.”

Following the visit, her grandfather remarked to Forest City Gear President Wendy Young, “Alexi was excited and, on the way home, quite animated. The sharing time with your ladies impressed her immensely.  She has been journaling her observations.  She told us in the car on the way back home that the very first class she had at the NIU workshop for girls was a hands-on exercise in lean simulation and that what she saw at Forest City Gear, from the way the routing sheets, bar codes and processing were set up, that you obviously have implemented lean manufacturing practices!  As she downloads, processes and articulates what she saw and observed, she has already started to ask me questions about gear geometry.  Such sweet candy to this old grandpa!”

At this roundtable discussion, Alexi Cluff listened as women from every department of Forest City Gear spoke of their roles at the company and the many opportunities for women in the traditional “man’s world” of manufacturing. Many of these women are the lead or key individual in their respective departments at the company.

In reviewing the NIU program and the comments above, perhaps it’s possible Alexi Cluff actually IS your typical 13-year-old girl.  They just need to be shown their options.

Forest City Gear was founded in 1955 by Stetler and Evelyn Young, parents of the current CEO, Fred Young, who runs the company with his wife, President Wendy Young.  Forest City Gear is considered among the premier gearmakers in the worl

d, with successes ranging from the Mars Rover to the BMW/Oracle, winner of the America’s Cup.

Brian Cluff and his longtime colleague and partner, David Goodfellow, manage and operate Star SU LLC, located in Hoffman Estates, IL.  The company sells various leading brands of gearmaking machinery, other machine tools and a proprietary line of cutting tools.

Here is a link to the news release about the program on the NIU-EEP website (www.niu.edu/eep): http://www.niu.edu/PubAffairs/RELEASES/2008/nov/scouts.shtml

For more information on this story, please contact: FOREST CITY GEAR CO., INC. 11715 Main Street Roscoe, IL 61073-0080 Phone:  815-623-2168 Fax:  815-623-6620 Web:  www.forestcitygear.com Email:  wyoung@forestcitygear.com Attention:  Wendy Young, President

PR agency contact for Forest City Gear: Tim Daro Bernard & Company 847-934-4500 tdaro@bernardandcompany.com

 

 

Continue reading

FOREST CITY GEAR PURCHASES NEW TAKISAWA LATHE…SEEING DOUBLE!

Twin-spindle, twin-turret turning center with twin CNC control has 16-pallet capacity and boasts 27-second cycle time in continuous mode

Takisawa TT-200G, a twin-spindle, twin-turret turning center, purchased by Forest City Gear, has made dramatic improvement in this gearmaker’s blanking production.

Roscoe, IL-Forest City Gear has purchased a Takisawa TT-200G, a fully-automated turning center with twin-spindle, twin-turret and twin-CNC operation, for its in-house blanking department.  By the acquisition of this machine, according to a company spokesman, the production in the blanking department has radically improved, as the machine combines full automation with twin-sided, simultaneous machining.

With a 16-pallet capacity, this Takisawa 8” chuck type machine boasts a feed rate of 8m/min and features a standard spindle and turret plus a second C-axis spindle and turret with milling function.  In addition, a bar loader, workpiece stacker, turnover unit, chip conveyor, air blower, tabulating counter and other equipment are onboard for fully automatic mode operation of the machine.

As a strictly custom gearmaker, Forest City Gear made the decision recently to develop an in-house blanking department, thereby improving its turnaround time on most jobs, according to company president, Wendy Young.  “We were reliant on a number of outside suppliers and, while our volume overall is quite substantial, we were often slow to receive some small, project-specific blanks for production.  Many of our jobs are short-run, highly specialized precision gears and that means we place a premium on being very efficient in our time-to-first-part protocols.  The Takisawa is already making a big impact on our blanking operation here.”

Tommy Kalt, who runs the blanking department at Forest City Gear, concurs.  “We’re achieving a 27-second cycle of continuous turning and the fully automatic mode means a big boost in production for our department. Because we do so many jobs that require relatively few blanks, our speed was hampered, due to excessive downtimes for set-up.  That situation is diminished to a great degree with the Takisawa machine.”

This sale was made for Takisawa by Brad Fischbach of Yamazen.

Forest City Gear is a world-class supplier of high-precision gears for demanding applications in the aircraft, aerospace, defense, instrument, medical, racing (boat and auto), high-end sporting goods and other markets.  The company sells its products worldwide, including to China.

Forest City Gear was founded in 1955 by Stetler and Evelyn Young, parents of the current CEO, Fred Young, and is considered among the premier gearmakers in the world.

For more information, please contact:

FOREST CITY GEAR CO., INC.
11715 Main Street
Roscoe, IL 61073-0080
Phone:  815-623-2168
Fax:  815-623-6620
Web:  www.forestcitygear.com
Email:  wyoung@forestcitygear.com
Attention:  Wendy Young, President

Continue reading

FOREST CITY GEAR OFFERS NEW CAPABILITIES BROCHURE

Forest City Gear Capabilities Brochure - Click Image To Download

Forest City Gear proudly announces the availability of its new capabilities brochure.  This new literature details the many markets for which the company produces highly-specialized, custom gears to suit the most demanding applications for accuracy, stability and wear.  A world-class gearmaker, Forest City Gear has a reputation in the international market for “excellent without exception,” the mantra of company CEO, Fred Young.

Forest City Gear produces precision gears for a variety of markets, most notably aircraft, aerospace, defense, instruments, medical, racing (boat and auto), high-end sporting goods and more.  The company’s products are found on the Space Shuttle, every car in the starting field at the Indy 500, the world’s longest distance casting reel, highly sophisticated measuring instruments and Siemens magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines, as well as Howitzer’s, surface-to-air missiles and other military ordnance.  The company proudly boasts it will have every wheel and actuator gear on Curiosity, the next generation Mars Rover vehicle.  That achievement was based on its outstanding performance on Spirit and Opportunity, the current vehicles occupying the Red Planet.

Long recognized internationally as a leading gear manufacturer, the company continues its philosophy of reinvestment and ongoing purchase of the latest, most advanced gearmaking technology in the world.  As Fred Young explains, “We don’t wait for the order to buy the machine, we acquire the best technology available to push our capabilities into new arenas, every day.  That policy, coupled with arguably the most sophisticated gear quality lab in the world, has kept us in the forefront of the industry for decades.  We’re very proud of that fact.  As evidence of same, Forest City Gear counts dozens of other gear companies among our customers, as they bring work to us which they cannot perform themselves.”

The full brochure is available online at www.forestcitygear.com, which also details the company in a virtual tour of the facility, plus videos and a full personnel directory of key contacts.

For more information or a copy of this new capabilities brochure, please contact:

FOREST CITY GEAR CO., INC.
11715 Main Street
Roscoe, IL 61073-0080
Phone:  815-623-2168
Fax:  815-623-6620
Web:  www.forestcitygear.com
Email:  wyoung@forestcitygear.com
Attention:  Wendy Young, President

Continue reading

Warm Family Biz Chills Electricity Bills

Forest City Gear is featured on the cover of Green Manufacturer - Click To Read

Continue reading

FOREST CITY GEAR HOSTS CORN BOIL TO CELEBRATE 55 YEARS

The weather mostly cooperated and over 250 people came out for the festivities.

Leading manufacturer of high-precision gears feeds, educates and entertains over 250 employees, suppliers and others

Roscoe, IL-Forest City Gear supplies some of the world’s leading companies with high-precision gear work.  These include such diverse yet demanding customers as aircraft, military ordnance, every car in the starting field at the Indy 500, the winning boat in the America’s Cup and, perhaps their crowning achievement (pun intended), the Mars Rover.  Already onboard Spirit and Opportunity, Forest City Gear products will deploy the solar panels and drive the wheels on the next generation of the Rover project, scheduled for lift-off in late 2011.

Meanwhile, back on planet Earth, the company celebrated its 55th year in business with a  good old-fashioned corn boil on the company premises, July 24, 2010.  Owners Fred and Wendy Young, along with their family, welcomed all the employees, their families, many suppliers, customers and friends of the company from the local Roscoe, IL community, to dine, socialize and stay out of the rain with them.  Fred also gave tours of the facility, explaining to even the youngest visitors how a gear is made, measured and applied in the “real world” of mechanical motion, in all the industries served by this longtime market leader.

Highlight of the event were the karaoke performances by many of the employees, including the owners, who took all in attendance back to the halcyon hippie days of the 60’s with their heartfelt rendition of “I Got You, Babe” by Sonny & Cher.  While the likelihood of the Young’s leaving the gear business for the glitz and glamour of the entertainment world is minute, every second of their performance brought rousing cheers from the enthralled mass, under the big top tent erected in the company’s parking lot.

There was face painting and a bouncy house for the kids, though Fred was looking at the latter with a mischievous grin, all afternoon!

In the end, despite a bit of rain, a good time was had by all, as they say.  The hosts had allocated 4.5 ears of corn for all in attendance and many folks ate their quota and then some, while many were seen exiting the event with ears aplenty in hand, courtesy of Wendy!

Besides, where else on a rainy Saturday could one get a detailed explanation of the AGMA gear rating system?

See photos attached for more of the fun.  For the real risk-takers, click here to see the Young’s singing for their supper!

For more information on the event or the company, please contact:
FOREST CITY GEAR CO., INC.  11715 Main Street Roscoe, IL 61073-0080 Phone:  815-623-2168 Fax:  815-623-6620 Web:  www.forestcitygear.com Email:  sales@forestcitygear.com Attention:  Fred Young or Wendy Young

PR agency contact for Forest City Gear:  Tim Daro Bernard & Company 847-934-4500

Continue reading

FOREST CITY GEAR ACHIEVES ITAR REGISTRATION

Gear manufacturer supplying various defense sector customers completed registration process on March 31, 2010

Roscoe, IL-Forest City Gear supplies some of the world’s leading companies with high-precision gear work.  These include products for various defense sector contractors, which would be subject to the strict guidelines of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).  This standard is designed to “establish and maintain a procedure for identifying and complying with export authorization requirements for the sale and shipment of defense articles, the performance of defense services and the transfer of technical data” by the companies involved, pursuant to the Arms Export Control Act.  Applicable products include those on the United States Munitions List (USML).

Specifically, ITAR requires that Forest City Gear maintain a strict record of all manufacturing procedures and defense articles produced, as well as visitor records and the tracking of all potentially sensitive documents such as engineering data and shipping logs.  Under the guidelines, only U.S. citizens may visit the facility, where no cameras or laptops are permitted and only citizens may work for the company, during the design, engineering, manufacture, production and handling of products and all relevant data related to defense projects.  Exchange of data, especially via the Internet, is highly restricted, plus no non-citizen may access data in any way, without authorization from the State Department or a specially issued exemption.  A non-citizen may also visit the plant, but only with a previously completed letter of authorization, stating they understand and comply with all relevant ITAR standards.  And any non-citizen must be accompanied by a company official at all times.

The registration process was completed on March 31, 2010, after over a year’s effort to comply with all applicable standards, procedures and paperwork.

Overseeing the registration process and executing all documents for Forest City Gear was the company’s CEO, Fred Young.  Quality Manager Joe Luy will oversee the internal process and procedure.

Forest City Gear supplies gears and gearwork for all types of military ordnance, as well as numerous military aircraft, vehicles, instrumentation and other defense devices.  The company has also supplied gears on Jeep’s for decades, long before they became consumer items.

The company recently celebrated its 55th anniversary.  Forest City Gear was founded in 1955 by Fred Young’s parents, Stetler and Evelyn Young, in Rockford, Illinois, near the company’s current facility in Roscoe.

ITAR is managed by the Department of Homeland Security, the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls and other government agencies, at this time.  Only vendors listed on the Approved ITAR Vendor List are sent quote requests on ITAR-restricted materials and products.

For more information on the company, please contact: FOREST CITY GEAR CO., INC. 11715 Main Street Roscoe, IL 61073-0080 Phone:  815-623-2168 Fax:  815-623-6620 Web:  www.forestcitygear.com Email:  sales@forestcitygear.com Attention:  Fred Young or Joe Luy

PR agency contact for Forest City Gear: Tim Daro Bernard & Company 847-934-4500 tdaro@bernardandcompany.com

Continue reading

FOREST CITY GEAR HIRES AND PROMOTES SIX EMPLOYEES

Joe Luy

Gear manufacturer on the grow, says President Wendy Young

Paul Lindquist

Roscoe, IL-Forest City Gear (FCG), a precision gear manufacturer here, today announces the hiring of four new employees and the promotion of two longtime employees.  “We’ve been growing steadily in the last two years, despite the economic conditions, and this news reflects that situation,” comments company President Wendy Young, who runs the business alongside her husband, CEO Fred Young.

Effective immediately, the following new individuals have been retained in the roles indicated:

Joe Luy-Quality Manager
Bruce Haxton-Gear Processing Engineer
Paul Lindquist-Process Engineer
Jim Cagle-Cost Estimator

Andrea Bagwell

Also, these longtime employees have been promoted:

Krista King

Krista King-Order Processing
Andrea Bagwell-Estimating/Quoting Assistant

Briefly, Joe’s role will be the supervision of the company’s quality lab, acknowledged as one of the finest metrology centers in the gear industry.  Over a third of Forest City Gear’s current customers are other gear companies around the world, who bring FCG work they cannot do themselves, either on tolerance or consistency.  Joe will also manage the company’s ISO and ITAR registered programs, the latter having been secured this past March.

Bruce will be responsible for the transitions from design to manufacturing protocols at FCG.  He brings an impressive background in gearmaking to the task.

Paul oversees the utilization of the companies 80+ machine tools to streamline production workflow through the shop, again considered one of the world’s leading gearmaking facilities.

Jim Cagle

Jim will help keep pace with the hundreds of RFQ’s received each week at FCG, a daunting task, to say the least.

Bruce Haxton

Krista moves into an expanded role in purchasing, working with numerous vendors and the strict guidelines of the many government, aerospace and defense contractors served by FCG.  Her primary role will be processing purchase orders for the company.

Andrea will be responsible for the preparation of quotes, serving the now larger department of inside sales engineers and others, including Fred Young, who continues in his longtime role of reviewing and estimating particularly challenging gearmaking jobs at the company.

The company recently celebrated its 55th anniversary.  Forest City Gear was founded in 1955 by Fred Young’s parents, Stetler and Evelyn Young, in Rockford, Illinois, near the company’s current facility in Roscoe, approximately 90 miles northwest of Chicago.

For more information on the company, please contact:

FOREST CITY GEAR CO., INC. 11715 Main Street Roscoe, IL 61073-0080 Phone:  815-623-2168 Fax:  815-623-6620 Web:  www.forestcitygear.com Email:  sales@forestcitygear.com

Attention:  Wendy Young or Fred Young

PR agency contact for Forest City Gear:
Tim Daro
Bernard & Company
847-934-4500
tdaro@bernardandcompany.com

Continue reading

Forest City Gear’s green efforts

Forest City Gear went green in a number of ways.  Here is a picture of their “Zen” bench and sitting area.

In addition to an aggressive recycling program, Forest City has implemented a number of other changes:

  • Changing lights from T-12 to T-8, using 25, 28 and 32 watt lamps.
  • Tinting windows with low-E film, to minimize heat and lower energy costs during the summer months.
  • Replaced several heating/AC units with high energy efficiency units (Energy Star).
  • Installed programmable thermostats throughout the building, and a large ceiling fan in the plant.
  • Sun reflecting covers for skylights.
  • Replacement of less efficient air compressors.
  • Strategically planted shade and fruit trees, shrubs and plants, all around the building’s grounds.
  • Turning off plant lighting during the lunch period, and as required in bathrooms, lunch room, conference room and warehouse.
  • Adding sophisticated power factor optimization devices on factory motors.
Continue reading

FRED YOUNG, CEO OF FOREST CITY GEAR, SPOKE AT THE NCMA SYMPOSIUM 2010 ABOUT “GROWING GLOBAL MARKETS”

FRED YOUNG, CEO OF FOREST CITY GEAR, SPOKE AT THE NCMA SYMPOSIUM 2010 ABOUT “GROWING GLOBAL MARKETS”

Roscoe, IL-Forest City Gear’s CEO Fred Young spoke on “Growing Global Markets” at the National Contract Manufacturers Association (NCMA) Symposium 2010 held at NIU Conference Center in Rockford, IL on Tuesday, March 23, 2010.  This year’s symposium focused on “International Contracting: Winning Business In Emerging Global Markets.”

With the use of the internet and social media, we have access to businesses and products without the limitation of boarders and time-zones.  More and more companies, even small, family owned businesses like Forest City Gear, find themselves very active in the global market.  During his speech. Fred stated that “although the title suggests I deliberately set out to grow global exports, in reality, we fell into it accidentally.” He explained it was his customer’s desire for cheaper production and assembly, along with their unwillingness to lose Forest City Gear’s quality and service, that initially brought FCG into foreign markets.  Once recognized in these new markets, Forest City Gear’s unwavering belief in concentrating on high quality, doing what others cannot do expediently and having the most up-to-date gearmaking equipment brought them additional business in these countries.  As a result, staying true to these principles has established FCG as a leader in the world market for high-precision gears.

As Fred briefly described the history of Forest City Gear, founded in 1955 by his parents, he stressed that quality and on-time delivery have been essential in proving and maintaining the company’s reputation of excellence since its inception.  Fred believes the greatest lesson his father taught him was to reinvest every last dollar.  He further believes reinvesting has been a key factor in their success on the global market.  Over the past 30 years, FCG has reinvested 25%-40% of gross sales each year into new equipment.  FCG’s philosophy is: when you are competing with other gear companies all over the world, it is important to be on the cutting edge.  “Others have primarily shot themselves in the foot with the lack of reinvestment.  Those who would had been considered leaders 50 years ago didn’t reinvest to update and bring their machines current and, as a result, they cannot compete in today’s global market.”

FCG believes it is a serious error if you don’t know your competition, know what they are delivering and how they do it. In addition to keeping his facility focused on quality and excellence, Fred visits gear companies and machine builders all over the world.  Seeing how others run their facilities is “critically important”, as it provides knowledge and insight in offer something better than what the competition is producing.

“The future of exporting manufacturing is critical to the health of our country, we need to educate our youth, keeping that notion going is important to our future.” FCG continues to have a strong presence in the world marketplace by keeping their facility current, educating their employees with top-notch trainers who have global experience and by cultivating a reputation of excellence and helping others, even their competitors.

“Our clients are now all around the world and they found us in Roscoe, IL.  Who has ever heard of Roscoe, IL?  But we have developed a reputation for gearmaking excellence… Forest City Gear is always seeking, always exploring and always learning.”

Forest City Gear was founded in Rockford, IL in 1955 by Evelyn and Stetler Young, parents of Fred Young.

To watch the full video presentation of Fred’s speech, go to: http://vimeo.com/10460533.

For more information on this announcement, please contact: FOREST CITY GEAR CO., INC. 11715 Main Street Roscoe, IL 61073-0080 Phone:  815-623-2168 Fax:  815-623-6620 Web:  www.forestcitygear.com Email:  sales@forestcitygear.com Attention:  Fred Young

Agency contact: Tim Daro Bernard & Company 847-934-4500 tdaro@bernardandcompany.com

Release:  FOREST CITY GEAR CO., INC.

Date:  March 29, 2010

Continue reading