How a Fleet Supplier Became a Leader

Adrian Steel Co. is an employee-owned company with 150 employee/stockholders that today specializes in van upfitting. President Harley Westfall attributes the company's 40 years of success to the direction and teamwork of his father's original employee core group, and to the dedication of today's "A" team members. The letter "A" not only stands for "Adrian," but in athletics stands for a varsity team, tough competitors, and a good coach. Both Harley and his father, Bob, have had careers as football players and coaches. All-American fullback Bob Westfall founded the firm in the Southeastern Michigan town of Adrian in 1953. Harley didn't join the firm until 1976, but he took over after Bob died in 1980.

Early Products Were Outside the Fleet Market

From dealing in structural steel beams, trusses, and stanchions, the company moved into job shop work, and manufactured block racks for cement block making. Later, the company devoted time to making sheet metal cabinets and galvanized steel pans for Acme Industries' air conditioning units.

In the late '50s, when they began production of automotive seat frames for a local automotive supplier, Stubnitz & Greene, employment reached 70, of which 65 were seat frame welders. Facilities were expanded to 32,000 sq.ft., up from 14,000 originally. Then "Stubby's" took production of seat frames in-house, and Adrian was left with a facility and good workers, but no staple product - only the small cement block rack business.

It was a critical period, so the number of employees was cut to 10. A combination heating/air conditioning unit was developed for sale to motels, and stock was sold through a public offering at $2.50 per share to raise money.

Results were less than outstanding; it was again time to go back to basics. In the ensuing 1962-63 period, Adrian tried several products: material handling racks, refuse containers, a cart for the Post Officer, and some decorative book shelves. In those lean days, meeting the payroll sometimes meant borrowing money.

Adrian Begins Upfitting Vans

In 1963, Adrian was chosen as a subcontractor for some sheet metal work to make component and tool storage bins for Ford Econoline vans owned by Consumers' Power Co. in Jackson, MI. From then on, Adrian dove headfirst into the van interior business and decided to forego the cement block rack endeavor.

By 1870, management realized a need to install their products in new vans purchased by fleets for use where local installers did not exist. Thus came the wholly-owned subsidiary in Lordstown, OH, to take vans from the nearby GM van assembly plant, install racks, shelving, decals, alarms, and lights, and quickly return the upfitted vehicle to the GM distribution system for transport to the delivering GM dealer.

Adrian's Upfitting Operation Takes Off

Today, Adrian has 10 non-company-owned installers, plus three wholly-owned subsidiaries, of which, two do "factory installations" in two different states. In total, the entire installer network covers more than 20 different types of vehicles for General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler. Vehicles upfitted include full-size vans, minivans, full-size pickups, compact pickups, sport/utilities, station wagons, and sedans. Annual volume runs between 12,000 and 15,000 installations.