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“One Source”
News for the associates of BPC - one of Feb./March/April 2007
the largest independently-owned producers Vol. I, Issue 3
in the US of precision machined parts
701 S. Main Street
Sheridan, IN 46099
317-758-4451
Mary Frances Remembers the Early Days
Biddle Precision Components How to Park Airplanes Visit our website:
This is the third in a self-described oldest employee As evidence of Ken’s willingness to try new solutions, www.bpcinc.biz
series of articles about officially retired in 1992, and Mary Frances tells about the airplane-parking problem.
the history of BPC. In is still active as its Chairman As a pilot, he was often in the position of needing to
this article Mary of the Board. Mary Frances maneuver his plane in and out of the hangar. Working
Frances Baird,
Baird, the only child of com- with the company’s head of maintenance, Ken had a
daughter of Biddle’s
pany founder Ken Biddle, wit- turntable constructed inside the hangar. Since his
founder, remembers
the beginnings.
nessed firsthand the start from
its early infancy in 1939 to
plane was a twin-engine, he just had to pull onto the
turntable, cut one engine, and gun the other. The plane Inside
present day, and remembers it would turn about and be ready to pull out of the
quite well. hangar for the next flight. A design still very unique
to this day!
Working at Home ■ In the Spotlight:
She was just a young girl in A Touch of Home Curtiss-Wright
high school when her father Mary Frances credits her mother Velma for being a
made the first company equip- very valuable asset to her father. Of course she was
ment purchase from Sears—a there from the start, smoothing the burrs off of ■ Milestones
lathe and typewriter, as well as manufactured parts, but as the business grew she
a used sewing machine for became a skilled hostess. Many early customers Service Awards
Mary Frances because she enjoyed delicious meals at the Biddle home after a day and Birthdays
liked to sew. Evenings would of meetings and tours at the plant. Although all of her
often be spent finishing pans
full of metal parts her father
meals were good, Mary Frances particularly
remembers folks enjoying Velma’s meat loaf, oatmeal ■ Healthy Living
would bring home with him. cake, and (Ken’s Home Economics
As many boxes were being Mary Frances Baird favorite) beans
taken in and out of the apart- and cornbread.
Teacher Patty Swank,
ment, it became of suspicious Noblesville
interest to the family’s neighbors, some of whom A Lot of
thought Ken might be in the bootleg business. Mary
Frances figures they were pretty disappointed to learn
Admiration
As Mary Frances ■ Biddle’s Has a
the truth, that the Biddle’s were just making extra deeply admired Strong Year
money filing off metal burrs. her parents, her Brian Myers
admiration is not
Working and Playing Hard limited to just
When you hear the stories of those early days, the them. Mary Mary Frances Baird, Velma ■ Biddle’s SMED
days when Ken Biddle was working multiple jobs and Frances recognizes and Ken Biddle at a trade
his wife and daughter were filing metal burrs, it’s easy the crucial role
Program
to imagine their lives being all work. In fact, Mary good employees show in Miami in 1957. Rick Durbin
Frances describes her father as a very energetic person play in the success of BPC. “They’re wonderful peo-
who might possibly have worked around the clock in ple,” she often says and speaks warmly of their loyalty
his quest to get ahead. Mary Frances remembers it as a and conscientiousness. As an example, she tells of
good time and really enjoyed growing up then. “We attending the recent company open house and being
worked and we played, but worked harder than we asked by Sharon Reners if she’d like to see a demon-
played”. Far from being a chore, their evening work stration of the two machines. Her expertise and pride
provided the family a great deal of enjoyment as were clearly evident and Mary Frances feels fortunate
they’d “talk, talk, talk”—forming a bond she worries that the company continues to be staffed by such good
many families today are too busy to experience. workers, many of whom are second and third genera-
tion employees.
Working Around the Clock
She remembers her father being ahead of his time. He Many Memories, Many Stories
decided to try a lot of things people said wouldn’t As she sits in her favorite plaid chair in her Carmel
work. He offered customers heat treatment plating home, she’s surrounded by family photos and
when no one else was. He used cash incentives to children’s toys, and it’s quite clear that Mary Frances is
encourage employees to stop smoking. Ken once took enjoying her new job of being a grandmother to five
a memory course at Butler University with his grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren. Not
granddaughter Darlene. Turns out he was a natural. surprisingly, she talks about their creativity, funny
After that class he was able to remember every antics, good looks, and their smarts. As these kids
employee’s name and birthday. No doubt there were provide lots of stories for her now, it’s clear she’s
also some flattered customers who were impressed giving them many stories and great memories as well.
when he successfully remembered so much about
them too.
MILESTONES Biddle Has a Strong Year
FEBRUARY 7 Kevin Stahl Brian Myers, Employees have the most
BIRTHDAYS 8 Walter Mercer President impact on growth and
10 Thomas Barnes performance.
1 Xiong Cheng 12 Michael 2006 was a
6 Larry Moss `McPhearson very good
13 Judith Delph 13 Billy Reners year for A company’s success in the
15 Robert Johnson 15 Richard Durbin Biddle. Sales marketplace today requires the
17 Byron Hammack 16 Trena Malbone best and brightest workers. We
were up 9%
23 Brad Meyer 16 Michael Teter invest in our employees because
17 Larry Boyer over 2005,
25 Tonya Kercheval they are the center of everything
28 Sharron Reners 17 Jeffrey Vickers and profits
17 Rodney Wheeler were the best since 1998. The we do. Employees are not only
28 Bradley Surber
18 Christy Minear- manufacturing economy is still the foot soldiers of the company;
McClain robust in most market segments, the spirit of their work lets
MARCH 21 Dennis
BIRTHDAYS and it was very evident for us. customers know how the
Campbell company is perceived in the
1 Richard Cokley 25 Billie Bougher Our backlog was strong almost
3 Stephen Smyser 26 Harold all year, and when it dipped at marketplace.
4 David Biddle Stapleton all, it gave us a great opportunity If we produce high-quality
4 Dawn Lewis 26 Paul Walton to cross-train our associates in goods, we spent less time and
8 Janet 27 Anita Parrish money fixing them, and we have
other departments. We saw the
Lindenmayer 29 Janet Prater better customer satisfaction and
30 Tony Bailey arrival of many new pieces of
8 William Murphy more repeat sales.
12 Ricky Stone machinery; two more
12 Janet Fisher FEBRUARY SERVICE Hydromat’s and several new
ANNIVERSARIES CNC lathes & mills. The new 2007 looks bright for us also, as
13 Gregory Smith
10 Years technology is a key ingredient in orders are already strong. We
15 John Myers
17 Patrick Butcher Richard Reeves our ability to compete in this have more new equipment on
18 Philip Smoot global marketplace. As new the way, and the hiring of
19 Gregory Bell APRIL SERVICE qualified operators continues.
offshore companies emerge and
23 Laura Holliday ANNIVERSARIES Stay tuned for more updates.
30 Years the domestic shops continually
26 Russell Bauer improve, we must keep up in
30 Dave Tudor Dale Leap
order to survive.
Employees in
APRIL Memoriam
BIRTHDAYS Did you know that the Automatics
1 Boyd Campbell Meredith Barker BPC
Department area used to be Sheridan’s
5 Timothy Hale 1919 – 2006
TRIVIA
only roller skating rink?
IN THE
SPOTLIGHT
Curtiss Wright (Teledyne) has an interesting heritage with its roots dating back to the Wright brothers’ first
flight in 1903. Today, as it was in the Wright brothers’ days, Curtiss Wright Corporation is centered upon
engineering and looks to markets where their engineering expertise can gain market advantages. There are
three business segments to Curtiss Wright: Motion Control, Flow Control and Metal Treating.
Our part controls the lifting of the flatbed platforms on semi-car carriers. Biddle became involved in this spool
after the car hauling industry demanded lighter transport trailers to conserve fuel. Teledyne came to BPC
early in 1993 to develop a close tolerance aluminum spool to solve the leaking valve problem and to further
reduce the overall weight of the valve. The success of the new lightweight directional control valve has
allowed Teledyne/Curtiss Wright to capture a significant share of this market. In addition, we now
manufacture 13 more part numbers for Curtiss Wright.
Biddle’s SMED Program Takes Off’
reductions over the past 3 our team approach to SMED,
by Rick Durbin years. our setups have been reduced
– Mfg. Manager The program places great up to 50% in most areas. For
emphasis on team example, in July of 2003 the
In July of 2003 participation. We form groups average setup in the
the average plant- in each department that Automatic’s department was
wide setup was 4 include: operators, setup 13.9 hours. At the end of
hours, with as many as 100 people, supervisors, and 2006 it had been reduced to
setups completed per week. managers; then focus on a just 5.9 hours. This will give
Now that customers are work center to identify us more opportunity to grow
demanding smaller quantity “waste” in all steps of the our business with customers
deliveries with a quicker setup process. Many hours of and to be more competitive in
turnaround, the need for some video are watched together the marketplace. Plant-wide
type of setup reduction and then critiqued as a group setup averages have dwindled
became very apparent. The for solutions. Unnecessary to just 2.1 hours as of the end
metal stamping industry was items/moves or what we call of 2006. A true testament to
showing great setup time “Waste” for example, might be our dedicated workforce!
reductions with a program searching for tools, waiting on Through continued
called SMED (Single Minute gauges, or other needed items. application of this program
Exchange of Dies), and that is Once this waste is identified, we hope to drive our setup
what we adopted. Since it can be reduced, or better times even lower.
starting this program, we’ve yet ‘eliminated’.
have seen some incredible We have found that with
HEALTHY
LIVING Our founder,
DID YOU Ken Biddle
KNOW? obtained his
private pilots
license in
Cooking School by Teacher & Cook, Patty Swank 1946; the same year he built
Some home economics teachers have gourmet tastes. I don’t. When I the Sheridan Airport. It is
attended Ball State, back in the late fifties, my favorite place to eat was the
still in operation today, and is
cafeteria in the student center. All the recipes were from scratch by, what I
called then, old fashion cooks. I can still “taste” the scalloped chicken or the home to over 38 aircraft. It
baked chili. I am always looking for recipes and I have found one that reads has a 3800’ paved & fully
like it might be similar to their baked chili. lighted runway, and is the
only privately owned airport
Baked Chili in Hamilton County with a
paved runway.
Cook two pounds of hamburger. tomatoes with juice and a one pound
Drain. In oil, saute 1 medium onion, can of chili beans. Place in a casserole
chipped, until transparent. To the dish and bake at 350 degrees for one
cooked meat and onion add 1 cup hour. Serves 8.
uncooked elbow macaroni, 1
teaspoon salt, 1 quart diced canned Enjoy, Patty
CALENDAR
In the next issue:
OF EVENTS More History of BPC
Customer Interview
February March April
4 Colts Win Superbowl Thru the
25th Conner Prairie 1 Palm Sunday
9-11 Indianapolis Hearthside Suppers
Symphony 6 Good Friday
“Be My Valentine” 9-11 Indianapolis Arts and
Antiques Show 8 Easter
State Fair Grounds
12 Lincoln’s Birthday
14 Valentine’s Day
Daylight Savings Time
Begins ✿
17 St. Patrick’s Day
14-25 Beef’n’Boards
“Thoroughly Modern
Millie”
21 Ash Wednesday
22 Washington’s
Birthday
“One Source”
701 S. Main Street • Sheridan, IN 46069
(317) 758-4451 • (317) 758-5260 Fax
www.bpcinc.biz
