BARRON Appoints Manager of Operations
Scott Michael joined Barron Industries as a shift supervisor in 2016, was promoted to plant supervisor, and is now the company’s new manager of manufacturing operations. Michael’s position is being expanded because of increased work volumes, mainly in the aerospace and defense industries.
“We promote folks like Scott Michael into key roles because we want to build a team that’s going to carry the company to the next level,” said President and CEO Bruce Barron. “We now have 25 key management employees who are growing Barron Industries. I’m confident that in the next three years, we’re going to grow substantially in the aerospace, defense, and oil and gas markets, and this great team — this family that we’ve built, is going to be the key to our success.”
I sought employment at Barron because it’s a foundry,” said Michael. I’m actually attracted to the heat. It’s a family company – family-owned with a family feeling. It’s like working at home.”
Founded in 1983, Barron Industries is a unique full-service manufacturer of high-precision Investment Castings, machined components and complete assemblies. Barron offers complete turnkey product manufacturing of components for Aerospace, Defense, Automotive, Oil and Gas, Nuclear, Medical, and other commercial industries. Capabilities include CAD engineering, rapid prototyping, CNC machining, plating, painting, assembly, laser etching, and custom packaging. Ferrous and non-ferrous alloys poured include Class II armor, stainless steels, tool steels, aluminum, cobalt, and nickel-based alloys.
In 2019, Barron’s orders for aerospace investment castings increased by 20 percent, and the Michigan-based company projects an additional 20 percent growth in the aerospace industry in 2020. Barron produces critical cast precision components used in aircraft and defense technologies for both domestic and foreign markets including the Cockpit Control Feel and Drive Actuator for the Navy’s V-22 Osprey and fuel and HVAC systems on the Boeing 767 and Apache helicopter.
Other aerospace investment castings manufactured by Barron Industries include:
- Exhaust components – inlet and outlet tubes, diffusers
- Hydraulic pump housings
- Brackets
- Door latches and hinges
- Passenger seat components
- Cargo securing and handling hardware
- Fluid pump and control components
- Instrumentation housings
Ensuring it’s precision investment castings meet the stringent quality standards of the aerospace industry, Barron Industries has achieved NADCAP Accreditation for Digital Radiography, a Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) process for aluminum, steel and stainless steel components. Barron is also NADCAP Certified for Penetrant Testing, another form of Non-Destructive testing, as well as for welding. In addition, Barron Industries is AS9100D Certified and has achieved conformance with NIST 800 cybersecurity controls required for defense company suppliers that handle Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI).
Barron Industries produces precision-machined components for many of the ground vehicles manufactured by world-leading defense companies including General Dynamics Land Systems, BAE Systems and Oshkosh Defense.
Barron manufactures precision cast components for the GDLS Stryker and Abrams tank programs, the Oshkosh Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV), as well as BAE’s Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV), Paladin Integrated Management (PIM) and Bradley programs. Typical components supplied by Barron to the defense industry include mounts, instrumentation housings, power distribution chassis, towing components, antenna mounts, hatch rings, hinges, latch assemblies, and exhaust components.
Barron has acquired a new 10,000 square foot manufacturing plant to increase production capacity for its precision-machined castings and assemblies. The company has also grown its workforce by more than 30 percent and invested in new equipment at its existing 65,000 square foot manufacturing facility in Oxford, MI. The investment casting company has expanded its engineering and inspection capabilities with the addition of a new FARO Quantum S 7-axis, high-definition laser probe scanner, and 8th-axis rotary platform. Certified to the latest ISO standards, the innovative portable coordinate measuring machine (PCMM) allows Barron to easily verify casting quality by performing 3D inspections, dimensional analysis, CAD comparison, and reverse engineering while saving time and reducing scrap and rework costs.