Steel Mill Equipment Builder Thrives in Appalachia

Jock Buta, Butech Bliss

Butech Bliss, a company based in Salem, Ohio that designs and manufactures processing equipment for the world's metal processors and producers, has endured decades of a tumultuous industry through determined strategic planning. With local ties dating back some 150 years, the company's leadership team is looking to – and effectively utilizing the resources offered by – Enterprise Appalachia to secure a stable, globally competitive position in the industry.

Company History
Butech Bliss' history began in 1871 when the Buckeye Engine Company built a plant in small-town Appalachia to produce steam engines. In 1920, the E.W. Bliss Company purchased the defunct Buckeye facility to relocate its rolling mill division from Brooklyn, New York. Bliss thrived for several decades as a builder and retrofitter of rolling mills for the booming domestic steel and aluminum industries. By the 1970s it had enlarged its facility to cover 240,000 sq. ft., equipped it with 200 ton cranes and installed some of the largest machining centers in the country to manufacture its giant rolling mills.

The 1980s brought tough times for Bliss. John Buta, a former Bliss Engineer who had left the company 15 years prior, migrated from Paxson Machine and started a new company in Salem, Ohio called Butech, Inc. Butech grew and in 1988 bought a former manufacturing plant adjacent to the Bliss facility. During this time, Bliss struggled due to a culmination of poor management and a decrease in demand for steel, nearly forcing it to close, but the employees saved the day by purchasing Bliss for $6 million, operating as Bliss-Salem. With hard work from the employees, Bliss soon thrived in both the U.S. and foreign markets, as did its neighbor, Butech. In 1996, Bliss won the Governor's award for excellence in exporting.

Then, the steel crisis of 1998 hit, and Bliss was unable to rebound as it had in the past. Bliss-Salem closed in 1999 and a French company bought its designs and the Bliss name while Butech purchased the real estate and facility. John Buta's son, Jock Buta, who had worked at Butech since his teen years, had just earned an MBA and took the position of executive vice president. John and Jock began forging a strategic plan that leveraged its expertise in heavy machine design with the huge manufacturing capability of the former Bliss facility. The Butas envisioned a company that would design and manufacture equipment that could compete in an increasingly global economy.

Despite the number of domestic companies connected to the steel industry that have died slow deaths over last several years, John and Jock were steadfast in their commitment to make Butech Bliss a lasting company in the community. They envisioned creating several hundred well-paid jobs in Ohio and generating a substantial amount of business for local suppliers.

To achieve his ambitious goal, the Butas made a number of strategic acquisitions to diversify its products and to target additional markets that could utilize its strength in engineering and manufacturing. This included buying the Bliss name and designs back from the French company in 2005, when they changed the company name to Butech Bliss. The Butas also invested $10 million in capital upgrades, which have helped decrease energy costs and increase efficiency of production. They replaced boilers with radiant gas heaters; implemented power management systems; installed new efficient lighting that achieved a one-year payback; installed computed numerically controlled (CNC) machines; and retrofitted several cranes with remote control. Additionally, the company recently purchased its first robot to automate the welding of hundreds of pounds of weld on its equipment.

Forging Ahead
Over the years, despite poor domestic steel sales, Butech Bliss grew from just a few employees to more than 250 employees and even in this economy the company has remained profitable. In fact, their coil processing equipment customers include the majority of North American steel/metal companies such as U.S. Steel, Alcoa, Nucor Steel, Mittal, and AK Steel. Butech Bliss' steel processing equipment now operates in more than 50 countries, but still they are a small player in an industry now marked by consolidated, multinational companies.

Nearly all of Butech Bliss' domestic competitors have been driven out of the industry as a result of the devastating closures and consolidations within the U.S. steel industry. Former industry giants like Wean, United and Mesta have been sold to foreign owners. Most of its competitors are from Europe and Asia where they source engineering and manufacturing worldwide from low-cost countries.

Butech Bliss officials pointed out that earlier this year the largest U.S. mill builder was sold to one of the dominant European manufacturers. As a result of this sale, Butech Bliss is now one of the last American-owned large steel mill equipment builders in the U.S. In the face of many domestic companies being gobbled up by large European manufacturers, Butech Bliss is focusing on niche product markets.

Advantages of Enterprise Appalachia
By leveraging the resources offered by Ohio's Appalachia Region, the Butas believe that the company is armed to achieve a victory for American heavy equipment manufacturing. They attribute much of the company's success thus far to two key advantages provided by Appalachia Ohio – access to a skilled workforce and access to supply chain and markets.

Ohio's Enterprise Appalachia makes it easy to leverage academic centers and skilled labor. The region is home to 25 institutes of higher education, and as evidenced by Butech Bliss, this strong academic community delivers relevant knowledge through an intelligent workforce, which truly helps companies grow and prosper. Butech has worked with local universities not only to meet recruiting needs, but also to conduct research and development for the company.

Jock Buta said, "We do a lot of new product design. It is here where we see enormous growth potential. Superior designs enable us to compete with the big guys. This is exactly why we need skilled engineers. Thankfully, being located in Appalachia Ohio has enabled us to tap some of the best engineering talent in the country – just by looking in our backyard."

Butech really needs two key types of workers, though, and Appalachia is abundant in both. They need both a skilled workforce for metalworking (the benders and bangers to do machining and welding) and they also need talented engineers. Buta says that there is a "nice availability of both types of workers in this area." Recently, as a result of its skilled workforce, Butech Bliss won a huge piece of business from the German division of ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steel producer. Arcelor hired Butech Bliss to build the world's largest hot-steel slab shear. ArcelorMittal required a machine capable of cutting three-inch thick by 84-inch wide hot steel slabs traveling up to 250 feet per minute through Europe's largest steel mill. Jock Buta commented, "They said our design was the best solution in many key aspects." He added, "They preferred our designs over the big guys ... It was a real victory, quite an achievement for us and a testament to the skilled labor provided by Appalachia Ohio."

In addition to the skilled labor found in Appalachia, Butech also benefits from the region's easy access to supply chain and markets. Being located in the Steel Belt, stretching from Chicago to Pittsburgh, Butech is afforded access to a number of suppliers to support its niche business. In fact, the company purchases components and specialized processes equal to tens of millions of dollars a year from nearby suppliers, many from Northeast Ohio.

Another way that Butech Bliss has been able to stay competitive is by leveraging Enterprise Appalachia's access to markets. The company is located in Columbiana County, right in the middle of the Cleveland-Pittsburgh industrial corridor, the fourth largest population market in the country. It is the only one market geographically centered in the middle of five of the six largest population markets in the U.S. As such, more than 50 percent of all the cargo that moves in the U.S. moves either east or west through Ohio, through Appalachian Ohio, because of its superior transportation infrastructure. In fact, Columbiana County recently finished building a multi-modal port, which will help Butech Bliss in transporting their heavy machinery. Needless to say, access to world-class transportation systems has provided Butech Bliss with cost-effective access to domestic and international markets, creating the potential to achieve profitability more quickly than companies outside of Appalachia.

Key to Success
Being located in Ohio's Enterprise Appalachia has provided Butech Bliss with all the criteria for success, enabling it to be one of the few companies that have survived and thereafter thrived in an industry that was experiencing turmoil in the U.S. The company is one of the stalwarts of American heavy manufacturing and holds on to its Appalachian roots. This year Butech Bliss is targeting $50 million in sales and 220 employees.

Situated amid the rolling tree-covered hills of eastern Ohio, Enterprise Appalachia – as evidenced by Butech Bliss – is a gateway to opportunity. It's a vibrant, growing area that is proud of its strong rural American values and rich historical traditions. Butech Bliss is yet another great story of growth and achievement in Ohio's Enterprise Appalachia Region.

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