Greetings from ALMCO!

Happy New Year! All of us at ALMCO are wishing that you have a busy and productive year.

The first half of 2022 was a wild one. Orders were coming in at nearly 50% over forecast and we became very busy, very quickly. At the same time, costs were rising, and component availability was falling. Our team had to adjust and find additional sources to get the parts we needed to build our equipment. The second half of the year was also busy, with five out of six months above our forecast for incoming orders.

ALMCO added several employees in 2022 and had two retirements. As these new employees gain experience, they are getting more efficient and have us in a good position to service our customers in 2023. We will be adding three more positions in 2023 to support the company growth we’ve seen over the last few years.

As I reflect on 2022, I also think about the changes that have taken place since I became General Manager in 2019. There have been many changes in our industry that have affected ALMCO and our customers; COVID-19, shutdowns, supply chain issues, steel pricing, component availability and pricing, worker shortages, etc. Even though our industry has experienced all of this, ALMCO continues to be very busy, and our customers have reported that they have been busy as well.

Another thing that I reflect on is our culture relating to our equipment function, fit, and finish. I have stated several times in these newsletters that ALMCO stands behind our products. At ALMCO, we choose to resolve these issues the best way, not the cheapest or easiest way. I am proud of the ethics in our organization. We have a lot of great people here and a lot of great customers too.

The ALMCO Lab continues to be busy and one of our new positions is Lab Technician Ken Viktora. If you’re not familiar with our lab services, we provide free sample parts testing and process development to find the finish that is right for your specific application. Our Lab Manager, Doug Brown, has put through a requisition for additional lab equipment and there are several machines in the works. These will be newer, improved versions of existing designs. Our corporate R&D group is also working on developing new equipment models and options this year.

I hope that you can spend some time with family and friends this quarter and I wish you well!

Best Regards,

Tim Grahn
General Manager