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Aluminum Coil Anodizing Company
Jose Garces, the well-known and well-respected Iron
Chef, once said: "Don't be afraid to adapt new ingre-
dients into your own techniques, and traditional in-
gredients into new recipes." Now, while Chef Garces
was obviously speaking about cooking innovation, the
same sentiment could easily be applied to Aluminum
Coil Anodizing (ACA).Overthe last fifty plus years, this
company has built, tweaked, tinkered, and most im-
portantly, adapted its way into maintaining one of the
highest market shares in the coil anodizing industry.
ACA'sprecursor originally began in 1961, through the
tinkering of Ronald Rusch, whose efforts resulted in
the development of a coil anodizing line. Working with
his brother, William Rusch, the two partners perfected
their anodizing process and launched their business.
After five years of growth, the brothers went their sepa-
rate ways, and Aluminum Coil Anodizing was born with
. '
40 Business View - June 2015 MANUFACTURING

2. Ron at the helm. The company soon needed a bigger
space, so Ron moved it to a new location in Stream-
wood, Illinois, where it remains today. ACAthen cre-
ated a sister company down the street (Lawrence &
Frederick) to coordinate smaller projects, and togeth-
er, the new business put a dynamic executive team
in place to guide the company through the next forty
years.
No business can succeed without adapting, and as
overseas competitors jumped into the industry that
Ron created, it became apparent that the success of
ACAwould be built upon a finely tuned mixture of old
school ideals and new school verticals.
Today,ACAis North America's largest producer of an-
odized aluminum and metallic sheet lighting products.
It is also the leading, ISOcertified, technology provider
in this area. "Our biggest market has always been light-
ing," says Ken Alessi, the President and COOof ACA.
"We export all over the world - USand Canada, Mexico,
South America, as well as emerging business in Asia."
The company focuses on several other areas, as well:
architectural and specialty, automotive coil, and solar.
However,ACAis not without the type of challenges that
many 21st century companies must face. New and
emerging technologies have killed as many ventures
as they have created, but for ACA,the competitive re-
sponse was simple and direct: find new ventures, re-
build, and repeat.
"As lighting switches to LED, the automotive market
has become very exciting for us," continues Alessi,
"specifically in regards to starting from scratch and
moving forward. Expanding to different types of appli-
cations in the auto market is the quickest way we can
expand our market share."
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~; MANliFACTUFUNG' Business View - June 2015 41
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4. And Aluminum Coil Anodizing doesn't stop there. The
business is currently looking for new clients in the ar-
chitectural and aerospace areas, in addition to offer-
ing top-rated embossing and dyeing services. It's all
part of the innovation culture that springs from ACA's
offices at 501 East Lake Street.
And, in order to guide the changes needed in this ever-
evolving environment, it is necessary to have a first-
class team at the helm. "We have a sales team that
does face to face meetings; they're constantly trying
new things, new colors, and new opportunities. We
have a small executive team who still get together on
a daily basis to discuss the best way to handle where
we're going."
With its nimble, vibrant workforce, ACA has been able
to maintain its market share despite a shrinking mar-
ket, even while it continues to venture into new sec-
tors. And, as always, its customers remain a high prior-
ity.
Robert W. Mielke
Senior Vice President
Risk Management Navigator
P: 847.485.2390
E: rmielke@dspins.com
www.dspins.com
MANUFACTURING Business View - June 2015 43

6. "We're very proud of our service." says Alessi. "We're
always able to respond quickly to our customers'
needs."
So where does a company with this high level of exper-
tise and tenacity go from here?
"Our goal is to expand our efforts into automotive - dif-
ferent types of applications in the automotive market
will give us a bigger reach," Ken continues. "We're
excited about looking into the architecture and appli-
ance industries. We dabbled years ago and think we
can make both of these a viable alternative in the next
four to five years."
ACAhas also been launching new innovative products
on a regular basis - specifically its new Super Ultra-
white Series, a higher reflective metal solution for
LEDs, as well as traditional Fluorescent Technologies
(which are offered in HG, LG & TXL surfaces). "R&D
with high tech companies, weekly meetings to discuss
new opportunities, and new product innovation," says
Alessi. "Anyone of these could be a big hit for us."
For fifty-four years, ACAhas been known for ingenuity
and perseverance. The company has remained strong
by putting the right people in place while adapting to
the ever-changing environment it created. Aluminum
Coil Anodizing is a 21st century company that has
stood the test of time.
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MANUI=ACTURING Business View - June 2015 45