Ben Tackett, Ryan McLaughlin-the Interview

We are very pleased to be able to offer you our very first two person interview with Mr. Ben Tackett and Ryan McLaughlin of McLaughin Furnace Group in Avilla, Indiana, USA. It is especially appropriate in that Ben and Ryan have been friends from childhood and now work together.

Hi to both of you today, lets start with some basic background; how do you two fellows know each other and how did it come to pass that you are working at McLaughlin Furnace?

Ben – Hi Gord! Ryan and I are really excited for the opportunity to interview with The Monty. 

Ryan – Ben and I have known each other since grade school and grew up playing sports together. We spent a lot of time together growing up including a lot of time at my dad (Jeff’s) house. We’ve even been in each other’s weddings.

Ben – We both went separate directions in college, Ryan to school for Sales and Business and I for Mechanical Engineering. As we were getting close to graduation, Jeff was in the process of buying Vesco in Connecticut and offered us the opportunity to move to Connecticut to help run and grow the new company. 

Ryan – After a couple of years, we both ended up back in Indiana with the focus to help grow McLaughlin Furnace Group as a whole.

Ben – Having grown up around Jeff, I was thrilled with the opportunity to work with Jeff and help him grow his company. Jeff has been like a father to me (in fact a lot of people think I am his son) and has taught me so much over the years. My knowledge in heat treating and business are all owed to Jeff.

And what are you each responsible for at McLaughlin?

Ryan – As the General Manager, I oversee Production, Field Service, and Sales / Customer Service

Ben – As the Director of Operations, I oversee Business Operations and Accounting and still get to spend quite a bit of time in Project Management and Sales.

Perhaps you could give us an idea about what products you have to offer and some details about the company itself? By the way I am sure many of our readers would be very curious to know how big McLaughlin is in terms of sales for 2023-even a rough estimate would be interesting.

Ryan – Our core products are both batch and continuous atmosphere furnaces. We have some standard products, but we focus especially on providing tailored equipment for customer specific needs. This design process involves shared decision making between us and customers from start to finish. It is easily one of McLaughlin’s earliest design principles that Jeff has done a nice job of carrying through to our products today.  We also offer equipment retrofits, rebuilds, direct and tube fired burners, and a wide array of field services to round out our capabilities. Our expanding field service team has traveled all over the world this year showcasing our ability to improve customer efficiency and reduce downtime.

Ben – And as far as sales go, we are well over $20 million dollars for the year. Our sales team has pushed hard to continue expanding into new markets this year and it has been a great success. A big thanks to your team as well for another successful year of growth!

I am sure you are very proud of all your products but is there any one offering that you are particularly proud of?

Ben – In particular, I love our Tru-Carb IQ Line. Our team behind Jeff has brought to the market a truly innovative and efficient Batch IQ Furnace. We implemented designs and technology different than the industry standard for reduced maintenance and highly uniform processing for the tightest of customer’s specs. I think we have delivered the Tru-Carb to market with some sharp competitive advantages over our competition at a great price.

Ryan – I would have to say that I am proud of our Tru-Mix Endothermic Gas Generators. Jeff spent years developing the Tru-Mix system with our engineering team that has proved well worth the time. Our system is consistently 30% or more cost effective to produce endothermic gas than the competition. Our Tru-Mix generator is reliable and a game-changer for heat treaters. The “set it and forget it” design behind the Tru-Mix is on of its best features. An endo generator is an often overlooked, but it is one of the most critical pieces of equipment in a lot of heat treating processes. Reliable, high quality endothermic gas can truly reduce operating costs. 

Out of all of the projects you have been involved with what to you was the most interesting? It doesn’t have to be the largest, it doesn’t even have to be the most involved rather which one did you both really enjoy working on.

Ben – Right now we are currently working on a very interesting project with a large energy company. This project is a very large atmosphere belt furnace which isn’t completely out of the norm for us, but the client is extremely fun to work with. It has been a great collaboration between our design teams to implement a new process into production. Their team has also been all about the technology available in the industry to improve their process… this really sparks my engineering passion. In short, I love working on projects with clients that have a passion for their product and process. Passion drives the excitement for me. 

2023 has been a very memorable year for McLauglin-two milestones come to mind. The first is partnering with furnace builder Rohde of Hanau, Germany, the second is selling the VESCO division in CT earlier this year. How has each of these events altered or enhanced McLaughlin overall? 

Ben – Partnering with Rohde has been exciting for McLaughlin. Their SRU unit is a fantastic and well recognized product across the world. We hope to continue to help them expand their SRU sales within North America in the next year.

Ryan – The sale of Vesco was a strategic move for McLaughlin Furnace Group this year. This allowed us to narrow our focus to strictly the atmosphere furnace market and developing our product offerings. Through the sale, we have been able to further invest in the growth of our facility and our team behind our products. We’re very excited for where 2024 will take McLaughlin Furnace Group.

Earlier you mentioned that over the years McLaughlin has supplied a vast variety of furnaces; Batch IQ furnaces, carbottoms, endothermic generators, tempers, nitriders and box furnaces. What is the next step for McLaughlin?

Ryan – We have been very focused on our marketing associated with the Tru-Carb IQ and Tru-Mix Endo Generators recently, but from the top down, McLaughlin has been really focused on continuing to expand into new and different captive markets. We are working to increase our customer base by tapping into these different market segments. While we may be a young company, we have a lot of passion and firepower behind our team and we are continuing to gain a larger market share. We are a force in the industry.

Lets change direction a little bit and talk about the industry in general. I will start off with a rather provocative statement that an old friend and very experienced furnace salesman used to say to me; “there is nothing new in the heat treat industry”. I can’t say I entirely agree with him but I will say that nothing changes quickly in this industry. What do you guys think-is technology changing in the industry or is it just “tinkering”?

Ben – I think the technology is here in front of us and continuing to develop. Saying that there is “nothing new” in the industry to me comes from someone that is not open to embracing the technology. As I mentioned earlier, we are working with a very innovative customer right now that wholly embraces the technology available, and I think they will have one hell of a product when all is said and done. Technology isn’t always about computers and all of the data available. Technology also incorporates new raw materials. A lot of our competitors in the industry are failing to utilize and provide these technologies to their customers. At McLaughlin Furnace Group, we have made it a focus to use different technologies to enhance our customer’s processes and efficiencies. 

Are there too many players in the furnace building industry? In North America we have at least half a dozen “atmosphere” companies and at least that many “vacuum” builders (note that I am including foreign suppliers who have a strong marketing and service presence in North America). Is this too many? Can the market support that many suppliers?

Ryan – I can’t say that there are too many players. No one company can manufacture and service it all. Ultimately, diversity drives change and innovation. For example, McLaughlin Furnace Group has continued to rapidly gain market share in just sixteen years. Jeff built McLaughlin Furnace Group on the foundation of innovation, top notch customer service, and speed. We have forced other manufacturers in the industry to evaluate how they do business and mold their models to compete with us. In the end, the companies that truly provide great products and customer service will take more and more market share and the companies that cannot deliver on time and support their products will fall to the wayside. 

Care to make a prediction about the market in 2024? Personally I am sick and tired of hearing over and over about a recession, a recession which never seems to come. What do you think is upcoming for the industry and for McLaughlin?

Ben – I don’t see it slowing down in 2024. As always, some industries grow while others become stagnant, but I think 2024 will be another solid year. 

Ryan – A lot of industries are growing rapidly right now. We don’t have time to wait and think about a recession. McLaughlin is looking forward to continued growth and another record year in 2024. 

Thanks guys, really appreciate the time and thought you have put into this. 

Ben – Gord, as always, it was great talking, and we really appreciate you thinking of us for an interview. We will talk soon!