Chalmers & Kubeck Inc.: Up and Running

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Keeping businesses on their feet maintains Chalmers & Kubeck’s position in front of the competition

There was a time when local repair shops would go the distance for every customer, working around the clock to fix critical machine components with care, precision, and craftsmanship. For Chalmers & Kubeck, that time is now.

Established in Aston, Pennsylvania in 1950 by Doug Chalmers and John Kubeck, today’s Chalmers & Kubeck employs over 240 highly-skilled machinists, welders, and fabricators who perform expert industrial repairs and maintenance to keep businesses running smoothly.

In the span of 67 years, Chalmers & Kubeck has leveraged its reputation as a dependable, sought-after local machine shop serving Pennsylvania’s manufacturing industry to become a valued, authorized service partner for manufacturing firms of all kinds from New England to Florida. Chalmers & Kubeck’s reputation for on-time turnarounds, great pricing, and sterling service is a matter of record.

As the largest independent machine shop in the U.S., Chalmers & Kubeck’s capabilities are truly impressive. Each of their eight AutoCAD 2000-capable maintenance and machining centers are equipped with state-of-the-art CNC milling technology, rotating and reciprocating equipment, and overhead cranes that can lift up to 75 tons.

The combination of technology, equipment, and skilled staff enables Chalmers & Kubeck to take on virtually any type of repair from thermal spray, metal stitching, and crack repair to pump and gearbox engineering and valve service and repair.

The company’s agile and responsive field service organization is on-call for companies anywhere in their service area on a 24/7 basis, as are its onsite teams. And it’s not only personnel that Chalmers & Kubeck sends to do offsite repair; the company also has comprehensive field machining capabilities.

Chalmers & Kubeck supports industrial machine requirements across a wide variety of industries, from chemical companies, utilities, oil and gas operations, pharmaceutical firms, and steel and paper mills to OEMs such as GE, Limitorque™ and Durco Valves, Hansen Transmissions, and many others.

“We’ve developed a one-stop shop,” stated Ken Barnes, a Chalmers & Kubeck director. “Whatever it is, we can repair it, weld it, machine it, metallize it—whatever it takes.”

Quality for the Long Run

From ISO 9001:2008 certification to ASME standards for welding, stamping, and other techniques, Chalmers & Kubeck maintains a slate of certifications that enable them to meet stringent federal requirements across a continuum of crucial needs. Chalmers & Kubeck demonstrates a commitment to quality that keeps its customer list growing.

“The only way you can build a reputation is on quality,” noted Jim Moore, Chalmers & Kubeck’s General Manager.

A 53-year veteran of the firm, Moore has been on the front lines of industrial and technical development, shepherding the company through the continual advancement of machining and repair technologies and techniques.

Moore also directs the company’s nuclear division, overseeing the establishment of a nuclear quality assurance program that is designed to meet both the ANSI/ASME NQA-1, Quality Assurance Program Requirements for Nuclear Facilities and the 18 criteria of 10 CFR 50 Appendix B that enable them to work on nuclear facilities and components.

“Whether we’re working on a pressure vessel, doing valve repair or any work that needs to be done, we carry the appropriate weld procedures to support that work,” he affirmed.

Chalmers & Kubeck’s recently established Beaver Falls, PA facility includes a valve repair facility and custom machine shop. The shop supports industry in Western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, and West Virginia.

Schedules are of extreme importance for an operation like Chalmers & Kubeck.

Said Barnes, “We’re able to control schedules by limiting the services that require outside vendors to non-destructive testing and heat treating. That enables us to keep to the schedule we desire because we don’t need a lot of outside vendors coming in to support our work.”

Moore added, “If a company is losing $100,000 per day on a piece of equipment and the OEM takes a month or two to turn it around, if I can get it turned around in say a week or two weeks, we save that company a lot of money. We do whatever we can do to get our customers back online.”

A Culture of Great Work, Trust, and Independence

Like Moore, many of Chalmers & Kubeck’s employees have been with the company for decades. Barnes, a power industry specialist, began his career with the company in sales and moved through the ranks to his current role as a director.

“Our exceptional service comes from a stable and committed workforce dedicated to meeting our customers’ needs,” he stated.

“Our employees are empowered to make good decisions,” Moore added. “We move people up through the ranks, whether they started by sweeping floors and then became a machinist or an estimator. As we’ve diversified, we’ve given our departments the freedom to work on their own, and we oversee it. When people can make their own decisions, that’s how the loyalty and longevity stays.”

We asked Moore why he’s chosen to spend his career at Chalmers & Kubeck. With quiet reserve characteristic of the hard-working Pennsylvanian, he said, “It’s a very well-run family company. It looks after the employees and will promote you if they think you can do a decent job. They will put you up through the ranks, and that’s what they’ve done with me.”