The Milan News-Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Clark Perforating celebrates 60 years
Owners are planning a catered lunch to celebrate with staff
By Sue G. Collins, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: March 20, 2008
In 1965, H.A. Clark Sr. moved his family and the small manufacturing business he founded in 1948 from Rochester, N.Y., to Milan to better serve his important customers in Michigan and Ohio.
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Sixty years later, Clark Perforating Co. has maintained many of those same customers, plus 400 others by providing quality workmanship quickly and accurately and is now run by the founder's grandchildren and great-grandchild.
Sally Clark and her cousin, Ken Clark, are following in their fathers' footsteps. William "Bill" and H.A. Jr. "Bud" worked the business with their father, building it to a successful family-owned and operated manufacturing site run by Sally Clark and Ken Clark with Ken's daughter, Valerie, in the wings.
They still do work for Ohio Fabricators, one of their grandfather's first customers who specialize in producing wire mesh filtration for the hydraulics industry.
They still do work for Wayne Wire Cloth Products who manufacture filters and wire cloth components for automotive, aviation and aerospace technologies.
"And, sometimes, we don't know how the pieces we sell will be used by our customers," said Sally Clark, president of Clark Perforating.
Mostly, she explained, the pieces will be used as filters and screens of some sort or even as speaker grills.
The company prides itself on doing one job well — supplying perforated metal and material in coil, full size sheet or cut-to-size blanks.
"We don't have a minimum order and have over a hundred dies to perforate holes in a variety of shapes, patterns and sizes," said Sally Clark, who counts her company among only about 30 in the nation who do similar work.
The materials come in as raw sheets of brass, copper, zinc, steel, plastic or aluminum and are then oiled and fed through one of eight presses. Clark buys some 80,000 pounds of material each month, perforating 30 to 40 percent of the surface before shipping the final product out and recycling the "punchings" as scrap.
Clark said the cost of metal has doubled in the last three years and recycling has become an important part of their business.
The company has automated much of the oiling and coiling processes, with computers added to aid some fabrication and controls.
"Otherwise, we're doing pretty much the same thing, the same way our grandfather did," Clark said. "And, that's really the way we like it."
While there may be other applications and new business, Clark is happy to work to maintain its customer base and not take any unnecessary risks.
Clark does, of course, keep up with the industry, meeting pressure from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and renewal requirements from the International Standards organization for ISO 9000 certification.
"OSHA used to visit every eight to 10 years, now they are here every one or two years," she said.
Slow and steady
The factory on Allen Road resembles an airplane hangar, lying low to the rural landscape and visible from southbound M-23.
The original factory, now the front office, was built by the Clarks in the 1950s. In keeping with the company philosophy of measured growth, the humped additions were made one at a time only when it was most necessary.
Sally Clark said her grandfather was adamant about not taking too much business from the automotive industry.
"I respect that and understand, especially now, why he believed in keeping a diverse list of customers," she said.
Less than half of Clark's business comes from the automotive industry.
To celebrate 60 years of business, Sally and Ken Clark are planning a catered lunch for employees and friends in April.
"Our employees are like family. The guys are genius, can repair just about anything and keep everything in-house," Sally Clark said. "We respect their input and really think communication is everything."
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