ENID — GEFCO’s new parent company is considering significant capital improvements at the Enid production facility, President Aaron Harmon said.
Astec Industries Inc. completed the acquisition of GEFCO on Oct. 5, Harmon said. He said the acquisition included the purchase of the Failing, King Oil Tools, SpeedStar and Steco Trailers brand names. Those product lines now will be manufactured under the GEFCO name as a subsidiary of Astec Industries.
Harmon said the product lines will remain the same and will continue to be manufactured in Enid. Those product lines include portable and mobile drilling rigs, drilling equipment and trailers.
There were no layoffs and no planned reductions in work force due to the acquisition by Astec, Harmon said. Rather, he said, the company has “increased its number of employees somewhat” at the Enid location since the sale.
Harmon said Astec currently is considering capital improvements to bolster GEFCO’s future manufacturing capacity.
“We are reviewing some capital improvement plans to this facility that would allow us to grow, but there are no plans in concrete at this time,” Harmon said.
He said a capital investment in the Enid facility of up to $10 million “is probably a goal over the next several years.”
Steve Anderson, Astec Industries vice president of administration, said Astec plans to streamline and modernize some of the production processes at GEFCO.
Astec Industries, based in Chattanooga, Tenn., specializes in manufacturing equipment for asphalt road building, aggregate processing, pipeline and utility trenching and wood processing, according to the company’s website.
One of the company’s sub-areas, known as “the underground group,” specializes in drilling equipment for oil field applications and water wells for new construction.
“Astec Industries now has 18 subsidiary companies, GEFCO being the newest member, and they serve in markets we’re interested in, particularly in the energy and construction fields,” Anderson said. “We felt GEFCO was a very good fit with our existing companies, particularly in our underground group.”
He said GEFCO has “a very good management team” and the company has “some good opportunities to grow and expand the product line.”
“It’s a nice acquisition for us, and we feel like we can grow the GEFCO operation and bring some new manufacturing capacity by investing in smart tooling and things like that,” Anderson said. He said Astec also will be looking at the efficiency of the plant layout at GEFCO.
Anderson said Astec’s larger purchasing power may reduce some of the input costs at GEFCO.
GEFCO was founded by George E. Failing in 1931 and has been sold several times during its history. GEFCO celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2006.
In 1906, Failing moved his family to Tulsa, where he worked for the Tulsa World. In 1909, shortly after his marriage, he went to work in the oil business, building shops around the oil patch and a larger store in Tulsa. By 1911, Failing had seen the potential of the oil fields and moved his family to Cleveland, Okla., for a job with Oil Well Supply Co.
He went to work in the Garber oil fields in 1917, and in 1918 he opened Garber Tool and Supply Co., a small machine shop where he serviced cable tool and rotary rigs. He later acquired the sole account for Sullivan Machinery Co., which manufactured a portable drilling rig that was powered by steam. Failing later developed the first portable oil rig and was able to drill more wells in a day than conventional rigs.
After near-business failure in 1929, he produced an innovative rig that could be set up faster and drill quicker than contemporary rigs.
Failing had moved to Enid in 1934. He added a truck-mounted rig built for coring and shallow drilling, and 20 percent of that production went international. A year later, five models were prepared with depth capacities from 250 to 500 feet.
According to company information, GEFCO’s Enid production facility includes 47 acres and 7.5 acres under roof.