PR Machine Works began a two-day celebration for their 50th anniversary on Friday, representing enduring innovation and entrepreneurship in Richland County. The company expanded from a garage in 1964 to an 86,000-square-foot facility in Ontario with 70 employees and the addition of sister company, Slick Automated Solutions (SAS).
Guests were greeted by company President Mark Romanchuk and his wife and Vice President Zoi Romanchuk. But it all began when the late Gene “Pat” Romanchuk worked at General Motors in 1964. He started PR Machine Works in his garage in Mansfield using his skills as a tool and die maker.
“In the early days my dad did some work for Rupp Industries, not Gorman Rupp, but Mickey Rupp and go-karts and centaurs and mini bikes. Then it really morphed, for about the first 25 years of the business, it was 100 percent defense contracts. We were 100 percent tied to defense spending,” stated Mark Romanchuk.
“Then when I came on, I converted the business from defense-related business to more commercialized. So, today, what you see here is commercial type work. When I came back in 94, 20 years ago, the Cold War was over, President Clinton was in office and defense spending was going like that [downhill], so guess what happens? When you’re 100 percent tied to one type of business, your business starts to nosedive too, and I said, ‘Hey I’ll help you figure out how to diversify more and prevent these huge swings in your business,’” he added.
“His [Gene Romanchuk] original vision was to become a contract manufacturer,” said Mark Romanchuk. You start in business and what you do is make someone else’s parts. Many times businesses don’t want to be involved with the actual manufacturing. They want to design it, market it, do the assembly and maybe service it, but they don’t want to be involved with the actual part making. They want to buy all that, assemble it, and send it off. So that’s where we come in.”
That’s what happens at PR Machine Works. At their sister company, SAS, the company does the design work and production.
“Especially in this country, people don’t as much anymore do everything from A to Z. They contract our certain parts that they don’t do well and they contract it out to someone who does it really well. Like we make parts really well,” said Mark Romanchuk.
Their markets include the automotive industry; off-highway vehicles, like ATVs and farm tractors; and the firefighting industry.
“We do parts that go in a nozzle that goes in the end of a hose that controls the flow of water and the spray and the type of spray. We’ve made medical parts over the years. So it’s really a broad kind of diversified customer base that we have,” noted Mark Romanchuk.
He continued, “The beauty of that from a business standpoint is that you’re very diversified so if one market goes down, you’re not going through these big valleys and peaks and trying to hang on when things are slow. We slowed down in 09 during the Recession but we were still okay. We didn’t go out of business; we were still profitable because of that diversified customer base that we have.”
But Mark Romanchuk is currently serving as a representative (R) in the Ohio House of Representatives and Zoi Romanchuk has taken a larger role with the company.
“Mark and I have always worked in the business together since we came back to Mansfield and I was taking care of the administrative things in the front of the business while he was running the technical side,” said Zoi Romanchuk. “When he got elected in 2012, he stepped away from the business and he’s in Columbus working for all of the people of Richland County and I’ve taken over the business. That involved learning a lot of technical things which I still haven’t learned everything there is or that I could learn. I’m working on that every day.”
Innovation is key to their success, according to Mark Romanchuk.
“You can maintain that level of innovation that’s needed to stay competitive by having a world class workforce. It really boils down to talent and having that workforce that continues to innovate and come up with new ideas that keeps us competitive with everyone around the world,” he said.
At PR Machine Works, that workforce includes programmer Steve Fensch and Quality Assurance Manager Joe Waggoner. The constantly changing product line is challenging and rewarding.
“You never know what you’re going to face daily,” said Fensch.
Waggoner added, “I would go crazy if I worked on the same part every day.”
And Fensh said, “And I wouldn’t have a job.” He is constantly programming new processes, while Waggoner focuses on quality and efficiency. They work together to process parts, anticipating problems, and refining and reducing cycle times for any given part. The newest piece of equipment that facilitates that goal is a C&C lathe that enables them to reduce the number of steps in producing a part.
A number of officials visited Friday, including Ontario Mayor Randy Hutchinson.
“I’ve known Mark for a long time, and it’s great to have this company in our town and it shows that manufacturing is alive and going in Ontario and Richland County. We really appreciate having them here,” said Hutchinson. To Mark Romanchuk, he added, “Keep up the great work and keep growing.”
Speaking to employees Ohio Auditor Dave Yost said, “Congratulations to all of you. It takes a whole team to get to 50 years and I wish you 50 more years.”
The celebration continues on Saturday, July 26, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with public tours of the facility, food, and fun activities for the children. PR Machine Works is located at 1825 Nussbaum Pkwy, Ontario, Ohio.
“You can maintain that level of innovation that’s needed to stay competitive by having a world class workforce. It really boils down to talent and having that workforce that continues to innovate and come up with new ideas that keeps us competitive with everyone around the world,” said Mark Romancuk.
