Wabi Iron & Steel Corp. uses specialized alloys for iron and steel castings.

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Iron and steel product supplier Wabi Iron & Steel Corp. isn’t just adapting to the globalized marketplace – it’s aggressively pursuing it.

The 100-year-old company, based in New Liskeard, Ontario, Canada, exports to Australia, Chile, Ghana, Ireland, Mexico, Mongolia, Russia, the United States and Venezuela.           

“With respect [to] the changing market, it’s important to maintain our ability to compete on a worldwide scale,” says President Peter Birnie.  “Our success depends on maintaining this competitive edge by continuing to explore global opportunities.”

Wabi produces key components for the underground mining, forestry and construction industries and uses specialized alloys for iron and steel castings.

As Wabi’s mechanical and foundry divisions continue to experience success, the company expects to double in size within the next five years, raising its work force significantly.

Acquisitional growth
This growth will be made possible by acquiring “competitive equipment, finding and employing highly skilled technical people and creating relationships with world-class companies,” Birnie says.         

These relationships include the developing partnership between Wabi and Chinese casting and forging supplier China Heromin Machinery Canada Ltd. of China Yituo Group Corp Ltd. and Ukraine’s Yasinovatsky Machine Building Works.

Wabi says it will resell the company’s products directly to customers or distribute to dealers and remarket the products in North America.

Long-term relationships
Birnie says such expansion calls for the senior management team to visit and build relationships in every country or market where Wabi chooses to compete. “We’re trying to find what customers’ needs are and we’re trying to meet those needs in a competitive way,” Birnie says. “We’re prepared to go to places like Chile and Australia to meet the people and find out what it takes to add value to their processes and to make them successful.”

Long-lasting Products
But just as the industry’s geography expands, its product demands intensify – literally. “[Customers] are being forced to go deeper into the earth’s crust to go after ore bodies,” says Stan Gorzalczynski, manager of mine services.

“The weight and speed of developing technologies for mine elevators is critical.” Gorzalczynski says these demands have forced Wabi to work at extending the life of its products and minimizing equipment downtime.

Strong Products
Because the mining environment can be incredibly harsh, the integrity of the products must be strong.
The secret, Gorzalczynski says, is in the alloy for wear – resisting cast products.

“Alloying is like baking a cake,” he explains. “You’ve got a recipe and that recipe has a few ingredients that make it better than the next guy. “It’s a bit of a trade secret and that gives you a competitive advantage, which results in a better product.

“We take a lot of time to listen to our clients in the field and we incorporate what we hear.”   

Birnie adds that Wabi, which is ISO 9001 certified, is able to maintain its continued improvement through the skills and collaboration of its workers, it’s suppliers and the partnerships they are developing on a worldwide scale.   

 “We care about our employees, suppliers and partners, we pick leadership people and organizations that have the skill and drive to lead,” he says.

We All Belong
Although the financial success of Wabi Corp. is crucial, Birnie says he is equally dedicated to improving the mental well-being of his employees and the community. In 2007, Birnie founded the business organization We All Belong Inc., which creates revenue to benefit the Canadian Mental Health Association.

For more than 25 years, Birnie has researched and promoted mental health education and calls these efforts “the most important work I’ve done in my life.”

Birnie says that one of the initial hurdles that has to be overcome is the stigma associated with mental health.  For this reason, he began with the help of many people to work over 25 years to encourage mental health public education. Birnie says public education is most effective when it is lead by the private sector, partnering government and government related agencies.

The private sector portion he envisioned was creating a business relationship with the local artist group Northern Artists to sell their art to the company’s contacts across Ontario, Canada, the United States and around the world. 

“If our company continues to improve, that’s a good thing, but the reality is we have 135 people here and there are a couple of dozen employees who work with us who I see are struggling,” Birnie says. “Mental illness touches all of our lives and I know our employees and our community will benefit through recognition of these issues and through funding for the local Canadian Mental Health Association. It’s just the right thing to do.”