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In The Cradle of Industry and Liberty

An illustrated history of Philadelphia's manufacturing sector paired with the histories of local companies that make the city great.

An illustrated history of Philadelphia's manufacturing sector paired with the histories of local companies that make the city great.

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Above: <strong>The</strong> DeVal shop assembly area.<br />

Below: <strong>The</strong> DeVal shop testing facilities.<br />

“At this point, the company really broke<br />

out,” Durinzi explains. “<strong>The</strong> business boomed<br />

during the ‘80s <strong>and</strong> we had 400 employees<br />

working out <strong>of</strong> a 150,000 square foot facility.<br />

Annual revenues reached $20 million plus.<br />

We were working around the clock on several<br />

projects to get the equipment out to sea in<br />

record times.”<br />

Defense contracts are closely tied to world<br />

events <strong>and</strong> as tensions eased in the early<br />

1990s, the number <strong>of</strong> military contracts began<br />

to decline, partly because the Navy began<br />

doing more remanufacturing in-house.<br />

To aid in the transition, DeVal started<br />

looking for some promising civilian markets<br />

so it could diversify its product line.<br />

This commercial business venture involved<br />

the remanufacturing <strong>of</strong> Department <strong>of</strong><br />

Transportation (DOT) equipment for various<br />

states such as Delaware, New York, North<br />

Carolina <strong>and</strong> Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.<br />

Additionally, DeVal produced the first generation<br />

<strong>of</strong> LED smart signage <strong>and</strong> Kiosks. This<br />

business <strong>of</strong> smart signage was greatly affected<br />

due to the economical impact following the<br />

9/11 terrorist attacks, when advertising revenues<br />

dropped to low levels. This business<br />

product eventually dwindled to zero. <strong>The</strong><br />

DOT remanufacturing programs also slowed<br />

down after several years, leaving the Defense<br />

Department as the only product line <strong>and</strong><br />

customer, as it was in the past.<br />

<strong>In</strong>dependent computer s<strong>of</strong>tware has been<br />

developed so that DeVal may monitor <strong>and</strong><br />

regulate internal performance, vendor performance,<br />

annual requirements <strong>and</strong> external<br />

field performances.<br />

DeVal’s extensive capabilities allow for<br />

multiple or diverse programs <strong>and</strong> projects<br />

that include cleaning <strong>and</strong> s<strong>and</strong>blasting; certified<br />

welding <strong>and</strong> sheet metal fabrication;<br />

machining, milling, drilling <strong>and</strong> heat treating;<br />

specialized tooling, die <strong>and</strong> fixture processing;<br />

hydraulic teardown <strong>and</strong> assembly <strong>and</strong><br />

testing with a fully equipped hydraulic test<br />

station; electrical assembly <strong>and</strong> troubleshooting;<br />

a self-contained polyurethane paint line;<br />

computer assisted stock inventory control;<br />

certified weight testing; assembly, finalization,<br />

IN THE CRADLE OF INDUSTRY AND LIBERTY<br />

112

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