Moving Metal

As revenues and profits increased, so did Reliance’s investments in innovative technology. Soon after Met- al-Rama closed, the company bought one of the nation’s largest high-precision, heavy-duty slitting lines. Built by Forte Equipment Company of Chicago and operated by push-but- ton controls, it handled 20,000-pound coils up to forty-eight

“Reliance Metal-Rama.” It was scheduled for May 12 and 13, 1966, in order to bring in the post-Easter crowds before they departed on summer vacation. Before that happened, Reliance had to speed up the installation of two major improvements to the plant. The first was a $250,000 automatic stacker for bars and structural com- ponents. Manufactured by Euclid Crane & Hoist Company in Cleveland, the bar stacker was the largest of its type in the world: stretching twenty-one feet up into the air, it could handle 60,000 pounds of material that was housed in 1,200 trays. Next, Reliance added a 13,000-square-foot bay to accommodate the mobile home and trailer operations, which had recently been elevated to division status. Then came preparations for the exhibition. Reliance had no choice but to divert much of its sales staff to the job. The company also had to arrange with Vernon city officials to handle the traffic from the expected 2,000 visitors. The internal configurations of the warehouses likewise had to be altered so that they could stay in operation while the guests passed safely through. It was an enormous undertaking. Reliance Metal-Rama opened to much acclaim in local newspapers and the trade press. Motorized trams carried visitors through the plant, while salesmen and equipment supplier representatives manned stations along the route to explain the work taking place at each specific station. Zurbach even arranged for two double-deck Santa Fe lounge cars to be towed onto a rail spur inside the plant so that the guests could have refreshments while enjoying a sweeping, elevated view of the operations. In all, some 3,500 visitors toured the plant during its two days—1,500 more than expected. Better yet, sales in May were higher than in any previous month in the company’s history.

The Euclid structural bar stacker installed at the Los Angeles metals service center in the mid-1960s was the largest available. It dwarfed its operator, who used pushbuttons to move up to five tons of metal in 180-degree turns.

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