In The Cradle of Industry and Liberty

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DONOVAN HEAT TREATING CO., INC. @ Below: Thomas J. Donovan with the Reynolds family. Bottom, left: Thomas J. Donovan. Bottom, right: Forty foot Reading Furnace taken at our open house in November 2013. Donovan Heat Treating Co., Inc. (DHT) is a commercial batch heat treating facility owned and operated since 2005 by President/ CEO Metallurgist Jeffrey D. Uhlenburg. Metal heat treating is a 4,000 year old science that provides steel with the strength required for bridges and infrastructure, makes springs springy, and enables the manufacturing of many of the products we all use every day. And, while the industry may be old, material science, manufacturing processes and business practices are always evolving. Maintaining quality, service and relationships in the ever changing steel industry as well as the local and global economic climate is what makes Donovan’s unique and has enabled this company to thrive for over seventy years. Donovan Heat Treating adds value to the metals manufacturing process by imparting large steel plate, piping, and related products provided by customers with the properties (i.e. hardness, strength, flexibility, etc.) required by that customer for the desired grade of steel, typically within very specific tolerances. Donovan’s services include heat treating, abrasive blasting, quenching (air, water, and oil) and collaborating with customers to refine heat treating methods and procedures at the very start of the metals manufacturing process. “The Donovan Company” as it was previously known, was founded in 1943 by Thomas J. Donovan, Jr., who had been a salesman for a steel warehouse firm. Donovan, Jr., began his business in a single row house at 1615 North Second Street, utilizing fourteen by eighteen inch diameter salt pots to treat tool steels. Two years later, a new building was built, doubling the shop size to nearly 5,000 square feet. At that time, a ten foot long car bottom furnace—under a two ton crane—was installed. The business grew steadily, assisting the war effort throughout the late 1940s. Donovan, Jr., died in 1965 and, having no heirs, his will left the business to a number of key employees. Lillian Siegfried, who had been Donovan’s secretary, was the major stockholder, and when she decided to retire she put an ad in the newspaper offering the company for sale. Donald Uhlenburg responded to the ad and, with the aid of an SBA loan, purchased the company in 1972. By 1976, Donald sought to expand and acquired the company’s current location at 7399 Tulip Street from Theodore and Joan Wilhelm through a lease purchase agreement. As part of the expansion and relocation, Donald added atmosphere heat treating equipment and moved the salt pots so the company could continue to be one of the most reliable and efficient heat treaters in the area. In 1980, DHT added a second atmosphere IN THE CRADLE OF INDUSTRY AND LIBERTY 140
furnace as well as a custom flame hardening line. The company currently has four heat treating furnaces, including a recently modernized forty-one foot Reading Box Car furnace, and offers abrasive blasting. infrastructure, military/government equipment and can provide timely emergency repair services to industrial manufacturers in neighboring Mid-Atlantic States. DHT prides itself on service to its customers, and its commitment to the City of Philadelphia. In October of 1988, a six-alarm fire resulted in a 100 percent loss. Donald, company owner and DHT president at the time, decided to rebuild at the Tulip Street location in Philadelphia. The rebuilding effort required close collaboration between DHT management, employees, customers and financers, including loan assistance from the Philadelphia Development Corporation (PIDC) and the City of Philadelphia. Conveniently located just off I-95 and I-73 in the Mayfair section of northeast Philadelphia, DHT facilitates large-scale industrial production for clients throughout the United States and for international customers who transport metals along the I-95 corridor through the Ports of Philadelphia, Baltimore and New York. Approximately ninety-nine percent of the company’s work originates from outside the City of Philadelphia. Key industries served by DHT include steel mills and warehouses, foundry and forge shops, metal fabricators, aerospace manufacturers, energy and other industries. DHT facilitates the production of metals for airplanes, oil and fracking, bridges and Jeffrey is actively engaged in the twentyfour hour, five day/week operations of the facility. He also spends his time building customer relationships; promoting Philadelphia’s manufacturing community and leading discussions on energy policy and other issues critical to the heat treating industry. Jeffrey served as president of the Metal Treating Institute (MTI) from 2008 to 2009 and is actively involved in the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), where he served on the board of directors from 2012-2014 representing the challenges faced by small and medium size manufacturers and working to maintain a thriving manufacturing sector in the United States. DHT has been a member of MTI since 1973 and is committed to being a commercial heat treater of the highest quality and providing excellence in service. The company values honesty, integrity and loyalty as key elements to building and maintaining relationships with its customers and employees. @ Above: Left to right, Jeffrey D. Uhlenburg, president, receiving the MTI’s “Industry Award of Merit” from James Roberts, MTI president. PARTNERS IN BUILDING PHILADELPHIA 141
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IN THE CRADLE OF INDUSTRY AND LIBER
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IN THE CRADLE OF INDUSTRY AND LIBER
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CONTENTS 4 FOREWORD 6 ACKNOWLEDGEME
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@ Michael A. Nutter, Former Mayor,
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For the historical images that enli
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This is a history of manufacturing
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While other manufacturing centers w
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@ Above: Workers at Midvale Steel p
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aircraft that dates to the earliest
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would hold into the early nineteent
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technology, transportation, and com
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age had joined the Religious Societ
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Philadelphians lived in the city’
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“and many boats, which are useful
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Quaker merchant Thomas Masters purc
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INDUSTRY INVENTORS Manufacturers in
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Quaker upbringing. Known as the “
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MAKING A CASE FOR AMERICAN MANUFACT
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up cotton manufacturing operations
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After receiving a patent for the en
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The Globe Mill on the Cohocksink Cr
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@ Opposite: Detail from 1849 map sh
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of the town’s total population. S
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On a positive note, a group of Fran
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factories with a powerful energy so
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and flagship for Commodore Matthew
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@ Left: Penn Steam Engine & Boiler
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Garrett & Eastwick Locomotive Works
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seen. The episode brought Hagner co
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United States, the nation’s de-fa
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The turn of the twentieth century p
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in various categories at the Centen
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makers, 20 stove manufacturers, 12
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and lace, in which Kensington manuf
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through exploitation of their worke
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@ Left: Yard locomotives at Midvale
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among the largest in the world at t
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factory nearby. This became the lar
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she writes of the sad circumstances
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@ Clockwise, starting from the top:
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BEER AND TOBACCO Beer making contin
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MILK AND ICE CREAM Like any major c
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the Philadelphia Phillies. Located
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and a half later from a city of man
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After major cutbacks in the auto in
Page 91 and 92: into countless lunchboxes throughou
Page 93 and 94: hangar space in 1980 at Northeast P
Page 95 and 96: is the nation’s largest manufactu
Page 97 and 98: fuel for local industries, current
Page 99 and 100: centralize operations in the buildi
Page 101 and 102: BOOKS AND ARTICLES Bridenbaugh, Car
Page 103 and 104: Sutcliffe, Andrea J. Steam: The Unt
Page 105 and 106: Penrose, Bartholomew & Thomas shipy
Page 107 and 108: PARTNERS IN BUILDING PHILADELPHIA H
Page 109 and 110: @ Left: An early Kingsbury advertis
Page 111 and 112: PARTNERS IN BUILDING PHILADELPHIA 1
Page 113 and 114: Aerodynamics. The name DeVal was a
Page 115 and 116: packaging and shipping; and nondest
Page 117 and 118: Another step in product advancement
Page 119 and 120: PHILLY CASE From the basement of a
Page 121 and 122: Under Yost’s direction, The Rowla
Page 123 and 124: The story of Tioga Pipe is a classi
Page 125 and 126: neighborhood. The increased product
Page 127 and 128: Humphrys is one of the oldest manuf
Page 129 and 130: The Doherty brothers realized, to s
Page 131 and 132: Centrally located off the Pennsylva
Page 133 and 134: Jersey and Delaware. Outgrowing the
Page 135 and 136: Philadelphia is famous for its appr
Page 137 and 138: injection molded plastic to enter t
Page 139 and 140: had expanded from smaller pieces fo
Page 141: for many years and they know the fi
Page 145 and 146: and Salmon Streets. The company wou
Page 147 and 148: The company capitalized on the stra
Page 149 and 150: discharges. The supercapacitors are
Page 151 and 152: products that are custom designed t
Page 153 and 154: Today manufacturing matters, now mo
Page 155: LEADERSHIP SPONSORS Historical Publ
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